“Small Things. Together, become unstoppable." -- Reinstated Ranger Alex Wild

What's your small thing today? Take these ideas from the 3 Step Reciprocity Cycle to help.

Acknowledge Earth Is Our Home

We are moving into the season of Lughnasadh which is officially practiced on August 1st and this year lands on Friday.

About halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox in marks the beginning of the harvest in the Celtic calendar -- especially for folks in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.

Having worked with the Portland Farmers Market this spring, I've seen layers of harvest starting to come in. From early greens to berries to asparagus to cherries to tomatoes to peaches.

But stands are about to explode with abundance!

Do you feel it in these warm summer days that are actually getting less and less daylight?
Or maybe you are in the southern hemisphere and just beginning to reawaken?

In all that you can and will do, can you honor the cycle of nature all around and in you?

Discover Your Earth Archetype

Sometimes when you discover your Earth Archetype, you start by taking a photo while backpacking -- in heels! Then 6 years later, you raise $2 million dollars, inspire tons of queer people to go outside, headline sold out Pride shows, co-host a reality tv show, and become a Time Magazine top 100 creators.

Yes, I'm talking about the one and only Pattie Gonia. And I'm delighted I got to hear her keynote speech "Joy of Resistance" at a wonderful event called Rabble Rouser 2 weeks ago.

I also loved seeing this crucial step of discovering your Earth Archetype echoed in her presentation.

And Pattie doesn't stop there. She uses this amazing platform to encourage others to find their answer to this question.

No, you don't have to become as loud and noticed as her. Perhaps you are a chef that feeds hungry activists banana bread.

Using the amazing Ayana Elizabeth Johnson's venn diagram (included in a blog post 2 weeks ago) and another amazing framework called the Social Justice Ecosystem map by Deepa Iyer, we see a wonderful connection Pattie made during a Q&A.

In addition to this fabulous example, I love that this theme popped up throughout the day in quieter ways. Like at this Organizing 101 panel. Check out the pic of the presenter’s slide.

Just like the Earth Archetypes, the goal is to shift the question from “What can I do?” to something more empowering and grounding.

Take the "What is YOUR Earth Archetype?" quiz and get started!

Work Together in Community

So with all this talk of changing the question "What can I do?" to something more potent, how does this translate to community?

Well, from a marketing lens, "What keeps people up at night?" Or as shared here, Johnson would ask "What is needed?" and Simons explores where is there real need for reinvention or renewal in the world. Perhaps you even formalize it into a theory of change like Pattie who says people need more experience and love with the nature we are trying to "save."

Who you are fills a need. Go with that. Share that. Sometimes it's obvious like the banana bread. Sometimes, you'll be like Bonnie Wright as she created the tv show Go Gently with Pattie/Wyn that I shared a bunch about last week from their Atmos article:

To me, the story needed to be told. I knew that people were going to say: This isn’t commercial enough. People don’t want climate stories. They just want reality TV in the non-scripted world. But you have to make it anyway. Because if you don’t give the audience the opportunity to want to watch this show, how will we ever break that cycle of watching those other shows that will only get green-lit and funded? I think we are, across so many other industries, part of this generation that we do need to break the gates down or the gatekeepers of certain worlds or the people who say, Oh, no, only this sells. Well, maybe not actually. So I think the whole making of it and the potency to why now is even more passionate to me. There’s urgency to it. Telling a story that’s beautiful and fun is urgent. The time is now.

We're doing something similar with the reality tv show How on Earth?. Join us!