Blog Post Title One
Hi everyone, it’s your Friendly Neighborhood Mowg.
I’d like to thank you and welcome you to this wonderful thing we are building. Jess and Marcela would like to do so as well, so in order for you to become familiar with our voices, ideas, personality, and energy, we figured we’d each send a small little welcome. Then we realized that Hearthstone, the Spirit of the community we are blessed with, might also have something to say, so we’ll be sending a message from Her as well in this little bundle. Individually short and sweet, but multiplied by four through necessity. Bear with us, please.
As Mowg and the website person, I wanted to let you know we’re going to be adding to our website, maybe sending out some questionnaires so we can better meet your needs. …Maybe you hate email. Maybe you’d prefer short videos. Or long videos. Or little positive texts in your day if we feel so inspired. (Or maybe you don’t want to feel spammed because you have enough going on. We feel you, we do too.) Finding out your needs helps to be sure we don’t overstep any boundaries.
We are all pretty strong on boundaries.
We’re also going to be adding some more folks to our Elders page. We didn’t want to do it without their permission and it’s so beautiful to find out they are also enthusiastic about this project.You can always reach all three of us at Founders@HearthstoneCommunity.org if you have any concerns or questions about the Community or the Website.
Welcome to the Hearthstone Community.
We have literally been waiting for you.
======================
From Marcela:
Hello, I am Marcela. I am here to help support your learning and help you connect with others.
Welcome to Hearthstone and welcome to community!
=========================
From Jessica:
Hello and welcome! (This is Jessica btw...) I feel truly blessed to be writing this welcome note for the incoming community. What started out as a conversation and quite possibly an unspoken prayer between friends has quickly begun to blossom before our eyes. Mowgli, Marcela and I share this vision of a spiritual community that welcomes all paths and faiths. A community that embraces our nature as humans to come together in community to learn, share, thrive and grow. A community where good knowledge is shared freely between teachers, elders and the community. Not just the community of today, but for future generations as well.
Brick by brick this community has begun to lay a foundation of hope, love and family, and each one of you that chooses to step forward into this community adds another brick. A community NEEDS all types of people. Some are called to be builders, nurturers, elders or students. Some may be called only to hold space for others. But I am sure that regardless of the role you will play, you are NEEDED, you are VITAL and you are VALUED.
So I thank you in advance for your part in Hearthstone, whatever it may be.
Here's your official welcome, from me, to our Hearthstone Community.
I look forward to getting to know you and I can't wait to see how being part of Hearthstone helps you on your journey.
Brightest Blessings,
Jessica
=======================================
From the Hearthstone Community Spirit:
Hi, It’s Mowg again to wrap it up. We originally asked the Spirit of Hearthstone Community to give us a “Welcome to the Community” message, and she didn’t understand. “Why do we welcome them if they are already here?” (In her mind it appears that “welcoming” is something you do for outsiders, and once you’re here the fact that you are welcome is assumed.) We rephrased the question and asked, “There are things that are obvious to you because you are Spirit and are so very old. We need to be reminded of the obvious things because we are Human. What would you remind us of that we have forgotten?”
She showed me images, one of two very primitive people (cavepeople?) gathered around a fire telling stories, then an image of someone in their home on their computer. (She didn’t use the word “computer,” she used the word “electrical,”) and she said, “You have forgotten that electrical community is not the same as physical presence.” She showed me images of people holding each other, crying. Of people holding a woman giving birth. Of an adult in the forest with a child, pointing out tracks and bird calls, the child serious and paying attention, eyes following where the adult was pointing, learning how to travel and be in the world. “There is Power and Shared Knowledge in being together, but there is also Joy. The Joy is not a by-product. It is being treated as an unexpected benefit.
It is more than that. It is the Purpose."
Hearthstone doesn’t say, “Welcome.” What she says is, “By coming here you are part of a larger group, and there is Joy and Learning and Belonging and Sharing here.”
To me, that’s what “welcome” sounds like if you broke it down to its prime numbers. Joy, learning, belonging, sharing…that feels like the things being welcome is made from. I’d love it if it were phrased prettier, but as you work more with Spirit you find you sometimes are dealing with a language or cultural barrier to translation.
(Want to learn more about that? There’s Joy and Learning and Belonging in it… )
I’m not sure how to close this. Spirit is a tough act to follow… so I’ll just say “Welcome To Hearthstone Community,” and ask you to enjoy the time you spend with us learning and growing. We are all privileged to co-create this event.
Feel free to contact us at Founders@HearthstoneCommunity.org
Blessings!
Mowgli
Jessica
Marcela
and the Hearthstone Community Spirit