December Newsletter
Hello Good People!
and welcome back from thanksgiving. However you celebrate (or don't) the holiday, I hope you were able to take time and reflect on gifts and giving - the natural gifts that we can easily identify (light, life, air to breathe, living in the world and the gift of knowing others), and the gifts we do not ask for but find their way into our lives. My small, growing family hosted my large, growing family for the thanksgiving meal, bridging traditions ranging from the deep south to the far midwest. We each reveled in each others company, in that fleeting understanding of what family can be, and what family always is.
I had the opportunity to hear music from Aaron Copland's opera The Tender Land. Particularly a song called "The Promise of Living", about thanksgiving, harvest, the sharing of work, and the dignity of labor, struck me with a simple hopefulness, of what is possible when humans can look at each other and understand that their living is only possible through each other, that our individual desires and dramas and dreams are only possible because we are in community with one another.
It is with these thoughts that I enter December, the welcome darkness of winter, reflection, and quiet cultivation of new life.
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New Video from smartMeme
smartMeme’s new short video features a number of climate justice activists talking about framing the climate crisis for the upcoming United Nations COP 15 summit in Copenhagen. If you’re hungry for stronger links between justice and ecology check this video out.
You can view it @ http://www.smartmeme.org/climate
December 7-18, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to negotiate the next global climate change treaty -- and social movements from across the planet with be inside the talks and on the streets to demand a just solution to the greatest crisis facing our generation.
As polluting industries launch a massive PR and lobbying blitz, smartMeme will be there fighting back with the power of story. SmartMeme is deploying a strategy team to support some of the folks featured in the film including delegations of indigenous leaders, environmental justice advocates and representatives from some of the communities most impacted by fossil fuel addiction.
If you want to help support this work please spread the video and considerate making a donation at http://www.smartMeme.org/climate. As you all know every little bit counts!
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Childbirth Self-Education/Community Preparation Group
My friend, herself a midwifery student and mother-to-be, Anastasia Libovich will be facilitating this innovative childbirth self-education group. Pass the information on the folks you know who are planning for parenthood.
First Meetings:
Monday, December 7th, 10am @ Gentle Spirit Midwifery
764 St.Nicholas Avenue
New York, NY 10031
(Located on the Lower Level)
Thursday, December 17, 6:00pm @ Astoria, Queens
(Location to be given upon RSVP)
A self-led group for women and their partners, including women that are pregnant and for women who are interested in becoming pregnant. The purpose of the group is to build on our existing knowledge and to create a community where we can become empowered to enter pregnancy and birth in a conscious and supportive community.
The group meets every other week to discuss, share, and investigate topics of interest, concerns, and feelings about pregnancy, childbirth, and beyond. The workshops will be interactive and inclusive, meaning all member will have the opportunity to present if they would like. There is no fee. Future locations will be determined by convenience.
Please email the facilitator, alibovich@gmail.com or call with any questions and for the upcoming schedule.
Hello Good People!
and welcome back from thanksgiving. However you celebrate (or don't) the holiday, I hope you were able to take time and reflect on gifts and giving - the natural gifts that we can easily identify (light, life, air to breathe, living in the world and the gift of knowing others), and the gifts we do not ask for but find their way into our lives. My small, growing family hosted my large, growing family for the thanksgiving meal, bridging traditions ranging from the deep south to the far midwest. We each reveled in each others company, in that fleeting understanding of what family can be, and what family always is.
I had the opportunity to hear music from Aaron Copland's opera The Tender Land. Particularly a song called "The Promise of Living", about thanksgiving, harvest, the sharing of work, and the dignity of labor, struck me with a simple hopefulness, of what is possible when humans can look at each other and understand that their living is only possible through each other, that our individual desires and dramas and dreams are only possible because we are in community with one another.
It is with these thoughts that I enter December, the welcome darkness of winter, reflection, and quiet cultivation of new life.
-----
New Video from smartMeme
smartMeme’s new short video features a number of climate justice activists talking about framing the climate crisis for the upcoming United Nations COP 15 summit in Copenhagen. If you’re hungry for stronger links between justice and ecology check this video out.
You can view it @ http://www.smartmeme.org/climate
December 7-18, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to negotiate the next global climate change treaty -- and social movements from across the planet with be inside the talks and on the streets to demand a just solution to the greatest crisis facing our generation.
As polluting industries launch a massive PR and lobbying blitz, smartMeme will be there fighting back with the power of story. SmartMeme is deploying a strategy team to support some of the folks featured in the film including delegations of indigenous leaders, environmental justice advocates and representatives from some of the communities most impacted by fossil fuel addiction.
If you want to help support this work please spread the video and considerate making a donation at http://www.smartMeme.org/climate. As you all know every little bit counts!
-----
Childbirth Self-Education/Community Preparation Group
My friend, herself a midwifery student and mother-to-be, Anastasia Libovich will be facilitating this innovative childbirth self-education group. Pass the information on the folks you know who are planning for parenthood.
First Meetings:
Monday, December 7th, 10am @ Gentle Spirit Midwifery
764 St.Nicholas Avenue
New York, NY 10031
(Located on the Lower Level)
Thursday, December 17, 6:00pm @ Astoria, Queens
(Location to be given upon RSVP)
A self-led group for women and their partners, including women that are pregnant and for women who are interested in becoming pregnant. The purpose of the group is to build on our existing knowledge and to create a community where we can become empowered to enter pregnancy and birth in a conscious and supportive community.
The group meets every other week to discuss, share, and investigate topics of interest, concerns, and feelings about pregnancy, childbirth, and beyond. The workshops will be interactive and inclusive, meaning all member will have the opportunity to present if they would like. There is no fee. Future locations will be determined by convenience.
Please email the facilitator, alibovich@gmail.com or call with any questions and for the upcoming schedule.