From the Farmhouse Table: May 2022
May 3rd and 4th are GiveBIG in Washington state. “GiveBIG is a statewide fundraising campaign where individuals and organizations come together across Washington to invest in our communities” the website states, “When we give, we take a proactive step towards creating the society we want to live in.”
I don’t know about you but I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of society I want to live in. The collective stressors we’ve experienced these last couple of years have put each of us, and organizations like Hedgebrook, to the test. If I’ve learned anything from this time, it’s that there are two things I turn to when the news is overwhelming or my life circumstances become challenging. It is my community and the arts that give me hope.
At the end of February, I tripped and fell during a walk on the land here at Hedgebrook and sustained a concussion for the first time in my life. This was less than a month before our big annual fundraiser, Equivox! The busy pace of my life came to a screeching halt. The doctor ordered cognitive rest, which basically means to just stop doing everything. I love a lazy Sunday and lounging around with a book on rainy mornings. This was that, nonstop and minus the reading, for weeks. It was surprisingly difficult but my beautifully cultivated community showed up for me when I needed them most.
Neighbors checked in, friends from afar sent homeopathic remedies and bouquets of flowers, pals ferried me (literally!) to and from the doctor’s office, the Hedgebrook chefs shared meals, staff visited and Board members rolled up their sleeves to ensure our organization continued to run smoothly. While I was grateful my part of the Equivox programming had been pre-recorded, leading up to the day, I worried my absence was making things more difficult for everyone else. It was hard not to fret about the negative impact on our fundraiser.
On the morning of Equivox, I poured my coffee and settled into a comfy spot with a friend who wore a fancy bonnet in honor of the day, and Hildy, my dog, who did not dress for the occasion. The anxious thoughts darted in and out. Was my staff feeling stressed? Would enough people show up to another virtual event? I had to keep my eyes mostly off screen but when I did peek, the Hedgebrook community was there in full. Supporters tuned in from places as far away as Northern Ireland, the Philippines, and even the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). The chat was lively and donations came as ever before. I was flabbergasted by the global community of people who recognize the importance of our mission; to uplift the voices of women-identifying writers.
It was the dystopian themed writings of one such writer that gave odd comfort during my time of forced cognitive rest. I have read Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talentsat least 20 times; this time I listened to it on Audible. The familiarity of the narratives, deliciously bleak, kept me company. The voice of this feminist-womanist-futurist (narrated in the first book by the wonderful late actress, Lynne Thigpen) lifted me out of my situation. I was moved once more by what she created and marveled once again at her ability to predict, 30 years ago, our current cultural, political and environmental shifts. Lost too soon, Octavia died at 58, in Seattle, in 2006. I often wonder what more she could have created if she had lived longer. I think about Hedgebrook’s writers and all the stories they’ve told because they’ve been given the radical gift of time. Many of their works have already created their own ripples of impact in the world. This is why writers — poets, playwrights, songwriters, novelists, nonfiction writers, YA and Children’s book authors, composers, screenwriters, journalists — are so vitally important. Writers expand our minds.
On day one of GiveBig, I ask that you consider supporting the stories of future Octavia E. Butlers and Ursula K. LeGuins (a Hedgebrook alum!) by giving to Hedgebrook. You can give big or give ‘small’ but please know that your gift, no matter its size, has power. 501 Commons makes giving super easy. Here are the organizations I gave to yesterday:
Pride Foundation
Leadership Whidbey
Northwest Abortion Access Fund
Planned Parenthood
Hedgebrook
I encourage you to find and support the causes that matter to you! It’s through the patchwork of those organizations that we create the society we want to live in today and the future we want to leave behind.
Kimberly A.C. Wilson, Executive Director