‘So long as the gift is not withheld, the creative spirit remains a stranger to the the economics of scarcity.’*

Watchmen traditionally were those who guarded a city at night, watching and waiting through the darkness for the dawn to arrive safely when the people would awake to the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

There is a new breed of watch-women and -men needed today.   They will be about their work in the background, helping people to realise their true worth given their skills and experiences and dreams, towards being confident in themselves and projecting this in their contributions to others.

Scarcity hates a gift.  It is seen as wasteful to some.  To others, it detracts from their sense of specialness – something they deserve and others don’t.  What kind of crazy world would we live in if everyone was seen as special?

Others, though, have seen enough of small worlds or microcosms of gift-sharing in which everyone contributes, knowing that a universe of abundance is not only possible but it is dramatically healthier than what we have at the moment.

Such spaces are where we can both discover and be supported in our worthiness – tribes creating a better future.

‘Everybody should be quiet near a little stream and listen.’**

‘I remember the many occasions on which help has come from precisely those people whom I though had nothing to add to my life.’^

Those who are strong are not the people who want to be recognised, honoured, and served.  The strong ones are those who know who they are, are deeply aware of others, and have the power to serve in a myriad of imaginative and inventive and beautiful ways.

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who sought and found out how to serve.”^^

(*From Lewis Hyde’s The Gift.)
(**From Ruth Krauss’s Open House for Butterflies.)
(^From Paulo Coelho’s Aleph.)
(Albert Schweitzer, quoted in Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck?)