The Care Neighborhood

Autumn Reflections Happy Fall, Y'all!  -from our family to yours At The Care Neighborhood we had a few practices over the season. Cozy AF (alcohol-free) Nights Honoring Ancestors on November Eve / Halloween Social Hours Self-care Micro-practices Thanksgiving As we transition to the next season, I want to pause and reflect and recap a few things from the autumn/fall. Cozy AF (alcohol-free) Nights:  Statistics show that alcohol consumption has increased over the past few years, especially during the Pandemic. I found myself drinking more than I wanted and drinking every day in 2020.  I reached out to a counselor, and she gave me the advice to try a sober night once or twice a week.  It could help to break the pattern, help me practice other methods of relaxation, and cut back my alcohol consumption overall.  I was glad to share my own practice in The Care Neighborhood, invite community care into this self-care practice.   Here are some ideas for an alcohol-free night on any day of th

Hello Neighbors! And Happy September! This past season likely had a mix of emotions, highs and lows (feelings and climate); still, we hope that overall you are well.  It's been a full summer for the Gonzalez-Rowley family at The Care Neighborhood.  We celebrated Pride with a local community.  Enjoyed family birthdays...We have so many June Bdays between us!...We got to travel a bit - a trip out east, seeing family and friends by the lake, a road trip to a nearby destination. The end of summer heat invited time for rest and The Care Neighborhood's Celebration of Play! So, here it is: The Summer Summary... May Plant Blessing June LGBTQ+ Pride We celebrated with a nearby neighborhood with to-go Pride Picnics, Window Paintings, and raising funds for a new youth drop-in center. Birthdays A little bit goes a long way for someone to feel special on their special day--A bit of cake, decorations, and good friends to celebrate! There's also occasions to make a splash...A trip to the

Plants bless us in many ways...... The food we eat   How we show someone we love them Sending thoughts in times of Grief Medicine / Herbalism Ceremonial Beauty all around us Mutual sharing of life. They breathe out and we breathe in. Clothing  Protecting  Crafting The joy of blessing plants is the practice of noticing what we might have taken for granted. Seeing how small, simple in the tiniest crevice and how huge it is, complex and woven into everything. To be mindful of the earth, our source, our home. And there can be a justice element - how we care for our plants is how we care for each other. To push back on our greed and our striving, and to reject the ways we might ask others to toil and labor thanklessly for us.   How can we be kind and grateful? To see the beauty and the blessing and not ask for too much.  We remember that every harvest won’t be perfect.    We sit with the sad parts too - hunger, pests, sharing with rascally animals we didn't intend to share with, and bel

Animals are our companions or pets... They are also mysterious cohabitants of the planet who play different roles and sometimes seem to live by different rules than we humans. We have working and resourceful relationships with animals.  We are grateful for their service in many ways... Food Transport Labor  Therapy Throughout the Spring, in The Care Neighborhood we turn attention to our relationships with other living things: Animals in April and Plants in May.  Now, in loving kindness for our pets... May they be happy, well, and peaceful Photos which are not mine are from Unsplash. Credit to Photographers: Natalie Rhea, Greta Scholderie, Varun Verma, and Ryan Stone