When you invited me in, over four years ago now, I came…tired, broken, yearning. I had given everything to others, my insides raw. I arrived with little energy to meet the new challenges.
You replied, “Come, heal.”
You said, “We are whole beings first.”
You invited, “Here we reimagine what the future can be.”
From exchange visit among Thousand Currents Nepal partners in 2018.*
There was a “we” that held us. A “we” that was thick and ripe and pregnant. I had not been part of a “we” that was as honest and accountable…ever, really.
“We” were far from perfect. There was stumbling and bumbling. But alongside any hurts and disappointments, you always offered ever-present learning, acceptance, a chance to try again.
Most organizations are not so generous.
You call us to more, while upholding our enoughness.
You call us to less, because we are but one among many currents of change. You demonstrate a “right role” alongside those fighting for their families and communities, their self-determination, their lives, for Mother Earth.
Thousand Currents, I am beyond grateful to be among your “we” for these past four years. I’m proud of what I threw into the gumbo pot. I’m proud of our work together to resource proven and powerful local movements, grounded in what tethers us to each other and to the planet.
How thankful I am to have played this small part in such a vast, moving, interdependent global picture. I’ll continue to do my part, because you welcomed me, taught me, healed me, and gave me a glimpse of the potential in the multitude that will be with me all of my days.
I am forever changed by you. I am forever called by you.
And as I leave you, you whisper, “May you continue to know your voice, power, force, and direction…”
Once a current, always a current. Let us all continue to flow…
Friday will be the last day of my tenure as Thousand Currents’ Director of Communications, where we attempted to tell truer stories of how to change the world.
What moves my heart demands I leap…and now, know me as Jennifer Lentfer, writer and poet first, writing coach and communications strategist second.
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*Photos above by Geet Sharma of fotocause.org. (To see just how great they are, I suggest: open image in new tab.)
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Dear Jennifer, your strength and courage will continue to serve you through the many changes that are ahead. What a beautiful expression of “we” and the wholeness that is always there for us. So happy you found that expression in Thousand Currents. Blessings on your journey and thank you for the impact you have had on my life as a board member of a small non-profit doing international work. In your book and in your writings/posts etc. you have helped me to reframe the real work of our organization and “how matters”
Congratulations and best wishes for your next beautiful steps.