Parting Gifts
The Long Way Back
Read the Lyrics
This is the long way back to where it begins, where the gift was unwrapped gathering holes as we go, getting older saying goodbye to the ones that we hold… dearer than our own souls. Carrying the love that, like the gift, was on loan seeds in the ground - but as they unfold we have to let go, we have to let go we have to go home So fire up an ember with the grit that remains blaze off the anger and the grief and the pain what's left in your hands? Is it half of the plans? the spirit of forgiveness? or the joy in the land? Light ups when you leave, when the memories have gone stories of culture and the dreams that went wrong courage will come; close out your eyes as the quiet slips in, let it settle your mind we have to go home There's been a wild, wise wind blowing from behind us, from the places we've been we made thrift with our living and light of our days the moments we savoured as they're slipping away… we have to go home now… we have to go home now… Because, this is the long way back to where we begin where the gift was unwrapped gathering holes as we go, getting older saying goodbye, to the ones that we hold… dearer than our own soul carrying the love that, like the gift, was on loan seeds in the ground - but before they unfold we have to let go, we have to let go There's been a wild, wise wind blowing from behind us, from the places we've been we made thrift with our living and light of our days the moments we savoured as they're slipping away… we have to go home now… we have to go home now… So fire up an ember with the grit that remains blaze off the anger and the grief and the pain what's left in your hands? Is it half of the plans? the spirit of forgiveness? or the joy in the land? Light ups when you leave, when the memories have gone stories of culture and the dreams that went wrong courage will come; close out your eyes as the quiet slips in, let it settle your mind we have to go home
Sit With This
- What steps can we take to pivot our inner worlds — to let the world in as it really is and settle ourselves in a place of agency?
- Which stories are being written hard into us by culture?
- In your daily life, which small acts bring you into community with others, with life, with the kindness in yourself?
- Who inspires you by how they live, not what they achieve?
- What is one practice you could commit to that ripples outward?
Audio Recording
The Deeper Dive
Coming soon.
✉️ Letter from the 7th Generation ▾
A practice from the Work That Reconnects · Joanna Macy, Active Hope
An exercise to imagine what someone seven generations from now — roughly 200 years — might think of this moment, and to receive their counsel and courage.
How it works
Close your eyes. Imagine journeying through time to a human living 200 years from now. Don't dwell on their circumstances or everything that happens between now and then. Just imagine them looking back at you, in this moment, in the current circumstances of the world.
What would they want you to know? What would they thank you for? What would they ask of you? Write a short letter — from them, to you.
Facilitation note: allow 5–10 minutes of writing. No need to share aloud unless people want to. The letter is often more honest when it stays private.
🥾 Medicine Walk ▾
A walk held by a single question — with something brought back as its answer.
How it works
Go for a walk alone, if possible outdoors, holding one question: what do I need to release to go forward from here? Don't force an answer — let the walk do the work. Find an object along the way — a stone, a leaf, a stick — that seems to respond to the question, even if you can't say exactly why.
Bring the object back. Hold it. Let it represent what you're releasing, or what you're carrying forward instead.
Facilitation note: works solo or as a shared silent walk with a group, everyone returning to a shared point. 15–20 minutes if there's space for it; can be shortened to a few minutes indoors if needed.