Introducing: Community Tuesdays!
A weekly check-in for people who value process over product, and a reminder about our Zoom gathering tonight
In the In Tending community, we have a lot of people who want to get together with other adults and talk synchronously – that’s why we launched our online gatherings a few months ago. But given that caregiving is a calling with unpredictable hours, there’s always a handful of people who have to miss our Zoom gatherings at the last minute due to kid bedtimes, work demands or sheer exhaustion.
What we know, though, is that caregivers are incredibly resourceful when it comes to maintaining connection despite the barriers we face. Our relationships are held fast not just by big gatherings but by small-but-meaningful check-ins, day after day. And we realized we needed to honor that.
For example, “building community” for busy caregivers can look like:
Texting updates on our budding flower garden to our pollinator-loving neighbor so they can cheer us on.
Sharing a “THIS WAS SO GOOD” conversation about a life-changing book or podcast with a colleague, in the five minutes before we have to dash off to teach a class or respond to a patient.
Admitting quietly to a fellow tired caregiver on the playground that we too have gone a few days without bathing a child (or ourselves) as the days grow warmer and wilder.
In this community lately, there’s been a particular zest for talking about the creative process vs. simply humble-bragging about the product.
Enter: Community Tuesdays, an asynchronous way for In Tending community members to check in, once a week, about a project in progress, using Substack’s subscriber chat feature.
Here are four chat check-ins we hope to test-drive this month:
Week 1 (Tues 3/25): Intentions
In this thread, we’ll share our intentions for the month and cheer each other on.
Week 2 (Tues 3/31): Mutual Aid
Think of this one as an Ask Me Anything feature meets digital Buy Nothing group. You can pose questions related to your intention to the group, or you can share a recommendation that may help someone else.
Week 3 (Tues 4/7): How’s It Going?
Show us that process photo of your literal or figurative seedlings, and we’ll celebrate alongside you!
Week 4 (4/14): What You’re Not Doing
Hearing from others that they’re RSVP-ing “no” to the next kid birthday party, or leaving the dishes in the sink for a day or two, can help us to remember that we too are allowed to release old expectations that are no longer serving us, so that our new intentions have room to grow.
Note: We debated calling this “The F@#$’s You’re No Longer Giving Thread,” so if you like that line better, we can always test drive that one next month. :)
For folks who still enjoy meeting face-to-face, we’ll still plan to Zoom together monthly, including tonight, at 8pm. Tonight, we’ll be kicking this cycle of Chat threads off in real-time with a spring-solstice-themed intention-setting circle.
As with all of our In Tending gatherings, this one will include:
Time for guided meditation
A facilitated circle discussion
Creative prompts for taking this discussion further in your own practice
We especially recommend joining us live for this one if:
It’s been a while since you set some intentions, or you’d like some support in choosing one for the month.
You’re craving togetherness and conversation with other caregivers who are smart, and compassionate, and who totally get what’s hard about this whole “having my own hopes and dreams as a caregiver” thing
You’re new to this community and want to ensure we’re cool before you start sharing your intentions with us.
IMPORTANT: If you haven’t already, please complete this form to sign up to receive the Zoom link for tonight and future months, and to peruse the available options for supporting our community.
Participation in our In Tending community offerings is free for now, but we welcome donations to support the time and effort it takes to offer these. These include offering your time and energy without contributing monetarily right now, if that’s not possible for you.
If you can’t make it to tonight’s Zoom call (again, we get it!) then we hope you’ll join us before or after in this week’s Community Tuesday chat, which is already live.
EXTRA CREDIT: You can get to know some of our community members, and preview an In Tending chat thread experience, by checking out this fun recent subscriber thread, in which we shared pictures of our perfectly-imperfect meditation/yoga spaces (complete with cute dog photos!)
Can’t wait to share what I’m NOT doing! Love that thread!!