This is the last week to sign up for the next Feminine Climate Leadership Cohort, which starts July 17! If you’re interested in the program, you can register at radicalsupport.org/fcl or set up a free chat with me to explore whether its the right time to join.

I’ve been a big fan of R.M. Rilke for years but I just came across this quote for the first time and I’m so in love with it, especially the lines “give birth to your images” and “they are the future waiting to be born” (wow!)

It’s got me asking:

What are the ‘images’ that live inside me that are waiting to be born into the world?

It also makes me think of an exercise that we do at the beginning of the Feminine Climate Leadership Coaching Group where every participant writes what we call a “declaration”— it’s their promise to themselves regarding what they are willing to get from being in the program— the process starts with this question:

In the next 5 months (the duration of FCL), with the support of this group, what are you willing to experience, learn and do?

Answers are always vast, but here are some examples of how participants answer:

• I’m willing to deepen my commitment to climate justice and discover what the “next level” of doing truly satisfying work looks like for me.
• I’m willing to protect my precious energy so that I have time to cook beautiful meals and spend time with my loved ones
• I’m willing to get better at showing up with grace and gentleness for myself and my colleagues as we navigate the inevitable challenges of our work…

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I always show folks these amazing declarations from Octavia Butler:

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How cool are these?!

I love this example, because it’s wild to think about Octavia writing this out inside of her notebooks before she was the visionary, bestselling writer that we all know and adore.

I have no way to know if this is how it went down, but here’s what I imagine in my mind:

Regardless of how Octavia actually came to writing these declarations, I just think reading these words of hers make for the coolest example of how powerful it can be to get really clear on what’s meaningful and important to us.

These “declarations”, “images” or visions, whatever you want to call them, are just the starting point… once we see what we really want, then the real work, the work of figuring out how to make it happen, begins.

In FCL we start with writing our declarations. Once they’re clear, our hearts are beating a little faster and we're sitting a bit more alert in our chairs because it’s both thrilling and scary to declare what you really want. From there, the real work begins as we set out to navigate the beautiful, uncertain, fertile territory of figuring out how to birth our desires into the world, step by step… and navigating that exhilarating and challenging adventure together is what FCL is really about.

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Grateful to be in community with you,

Jess

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Jess Serrante, she/her, Jess@radicalsupport.org​
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