Mama Renew

Mama Renew and Dancing Star Birth participated this past weekend in the Healthy Families Conference.  We were happy to reconnect with many clients, friends, and colleagues.  It was a pleasure to meet Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine, and learn from her, and we thought we’d share some highlights from her talk on Building Community:

O’Mara proposed that within each circle of parents is the smaller foundation community of the family itself.  We were touched by her sharing of home as a sanctuary - the place where we feel safe enough to let our guards down and be vulnerable, fall apart, and then regather.  Within this sanctuary of the family we can put into place elements to facilitate this sense of safety such as privacy, beauty, quiet, regular meals, and freedom from overstimulation.  With this strong foundation we are then able to reach out and contribute to our larger community of families, building the social web that will support us through the years to come.

The work of Paul Hawken in his book Blessed Unrest explores the massive network of over 1,000,000 groups big and small doing work on social and economic justice.   As O’Mara explored the power of what happens when people come together, we were reminded of the importance of the work that we do with Mama Renew and Dancing Star Birth.  So often we see both prenatal and mothering groups continue on as a circle of support for months and even years beyond our time with them.  Each small circle of parents supporting one another is part of a much larger movement of groups big and small creating community in our busy world.  Each time we reach out, we are building one more connection.

Those present at the conference brainstormed together some creative ideas for fostering community such as:

Cohousing

Build community in your home by choosing to live with other adults or families.

Shared Days

Share household duties with another family – spend the day together playing, cooking & cleaning together.

Meal Coop

Each family makes a large meal and shares it with 2-3 other families.

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What are some unique ways you have helped build community as a family?

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