Pumpkin is my dog and she wants to spend her birthday joyfully frolicking in a river on August 6 (before a good bath!). Dawn is my sister and a professor of Special Education at UMD College Park. When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she replied the Rest Deck by Tricia Hersey. I love that my sister is increasingly committed to radical self-care. The deck is a set of 50 reminders to pause, breathe, and take a break from the grind.

Last week, Open Horizon engaged in multiple discussions that highlighted and reflected on radical self-care and radical permission. Not only did we connect with our partners in our Leaders Retreat capstone call, but we also deeply enjoyed learning about the experiences of the 3 Open Horizon-funded interns working with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) this summer.

NHLP Intern Reflections 

“I love to window shop,” the NHeLP intern replied. I didn’t think that the final question we slipped in after a litany of inquiries would be the one that lit up the zoom room. Open Horizon cares about the leaders of the organizations with which we partner. We are invested in establishing relationships with the interns and fellows selected for structured opportunities for exposure, experiential learning, and professional development.

We met with the 3 interns completing Open Horizon Health Justice summer internships with the National Health Law Program. We were affirmed in our partnership. The interns discussed: the projects they worked on, what they have learned about health law and its impact on low-income people; how aspects of identity inform their commitments and experience as aspiring lawyers; and finally, that healing-centered question we started with- how they engage in radical self-care.

“What do you do for radical self-care?” The question evoked enthusiasm, and the answers came from their heart. The interns radical self care is window shopping online, shared with a fearless smile and admitting that she “buys things sometimes”; music, inviting the challenge of new instruments and naming ways the tunes soothe her soul; to cooking, stated with a sigh of passion after this intern unmuted himself to be sure to respond to this question. The call was facilitated by the Executive Director, Elizabeth Taylor, who closed these reflections with her own radical self care practice: breathing!

Elizabeth shared that she valued the breathing practices that aid in regulating the body that she learned at our Leaders Retreat in January. She reflected that it’s not only beneficial for maintaining presence during the day but that it has also helped her tennis!  Elizabeth recently participated in our Leaders Retreat Capstone call and received reminders of the importance of grounding wellness practices for leaders to continue to fully show up, and how they are inextricably linked this question of radical self care.

The Leaders Retreat Capstone Call

On Tuesday, July 25, participants from our inaugural January Leaders Retreat attended a 6-month capstone call with program facilitators, Michele Berry and Naima Savage, from Imagine Us. The event opened with a welcome from co-founders, Lisa Cohen and Hershel Kleinberg, and a short presentation with a snapshot of Open Horizon’s philanthropic efforts to date. The call included an invitation to engage in the next iteration of the retreat programming: Open Horizon is growing a Leaders Network!

Lisa and Hershel’s welcome highlighted the commitment to investing in leaders’ personal development and, further, celebrating the benefits of leaders connecting with each other.  My update of Open Horizon’s philanthropy to date can be found in a set of infographics here on our website: https://open-horizon.org/at-a-glance/.

In clarifying the elevator pitch of what Open Horizon is, I am hearing myself share that we are an organization that “Offer(s) Support Beyond the Check: Funders can provide non-monetary support that increases grantee’s organizational capacity.”1 We are aspiring to partner with organizations that invest in their leaders; we are committed to investing in leaders because healing is perpetual- it ripples.  If the leaders in the organizations with which we partner are cared for, they will have the capacity to care for their staff, who then can show up fully for their programs and communities in which they serve. We are investing in the conditions that foster thriving leaders, staff and communities, not just conditions for survival.

For those interested in details about our evolving Leaders Network please click here!

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What is your radical self-care? What liberation are you seeking so that radical self-care act can be a basic act of spiritual and emotional hygiene? How can you normalize that act?

Happy Birthday Pumpkin and Dawn!

D’Lynn