Values-

Love

Generosity

Compassion

Community

Authenticity

Love is a relational commitment- to be present, to be compassionate, to be kind, to be honest and to be engaged.  I believe that the Divine or spirit or life energy is manifest in the relationship, the right/mutual relationship, between souls. *right relationship was coined by Carter Heyward

“From an ethical perspective, we must be suspicious of any transaction in which one person’s becoming increasingly authentic and self-revealing is predicated upon another’s self-concealment.” Carter Heyward, 1989, Coming Out and Relational Empowerment: A Lesbian Feminist Theological Perspective

Generosity means saying yes to connection, leading with the heart and saying no to scarcity in mindset and reality. It means thinking of another in terms of what you have to offer rather than what you can get.  Growing up in a family where sometimes food was scarce, money was always scarce, yet my mother never hesitated to open her home to guests taught me a valuable lesson that is a foundation of who I am today.  When we didn’t have much food in the house, we offered peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I realized it wasn’t “normal” to eat a sandwich with one paper thin layer of sandwich meat between two pieces of bread. 

Compassion- Is there a greater gift to give another than the compassion of being seen and accepted?  It doesn’t mean we always have to approve of or even support any given behavior, but it means we understand the entire person, their struggles and challenges, their gifts and strengths and their potential.  I spent 12 years working with people who had committed sexual offenses.  They were the most scorned, ostracized, judged and ashamed people I have ever met.  They didn’t expect to be met with compassion, but that is what I did.  There were consequences for their behaviors, their attitudes often objectified and belittled others, and they still deserved to be seen and held with compassion.  In fact, that was the only way I ever saw real change. 

Community- Transformation is best supported in community.  When we show up for each other, work through difficult conversations and hold each other accountable, we are able to grow in a way that is exponentially greater than when we embark on a journey of transformation alone. 

Authenticity- Being fully yourself, celebrating who you are and what you have to offer can only be done once you have practiced self-compassion and awareness.  Showing up boldly as our authentic and true selves ensures that we are aligned with our soul’s purpose.