“It Is All Trust — All Gift”
When I walked into a room of Mofem icons at my first Exponent retreat in 2002, any static image of the paper, the retreat, or these women was shattered by the liveliness, complexity, and dedication required to create and protect this sacred space. I realized quickly that Exponent II was not a fixed organization, but a passageway — a hall of mirrors between worlds that shape-shifts right along with everyone involved in it. It survives because of its coven-like commitment to intergenerational exchange where Founding Mothers try not to treat newcomers like noviates, and newcomers learn not to demand exemplars. It is here where I learned that trust is a gift — neither earned nor taken. To offer trust is to be a vessel that both holds and pours, offers and receives — like plastic pitchers at a potluck. Hundreds of pitchers, thousands of hands, filling, pouring, blessing via sacrament sips and baptismal fonts of water and never knowing which is which until right then, or a decade from then. We are those vessels who simultaneously hold and pour — write and read — lay on hands to bless and offer up hearts for blessing.
Exponent II was not a fixed organization, but a passageway — a hall of mirrors
It is all trust — all gift — this living Exponent II that binds these pages and blends voices at retreats in New Hampshire, and tends to aches that need our collective reaching all over the globe. It is the people who made these pages. And it is you, the person reading them right now, or a hundred years from now. It has been one of the deep joys and privileges of my life to be among them.
Aimee grew into adulthood with Exponent II as a board member, president, and editor in chief between 2002–2015. The relationships, skills, and ideas nurtured by the Exponent community continue to sustain her work, spiritually and growth into middle age.
Baltimore, Maryland
Categories: Shout Outs
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