Sorting through the plastic folder of papers I carry with me everywhere, every day, I found I’d been carrying around a list of my gifts and needs from the last gift circle gathering I’d attended in JP.

I think I’d been intending to do something with the list, though I can’t say what.  Re-reading it made me smile.  Such a departure from my original list at the first gathering, where I described a mere two needs (help washing sweaters and turning over compost!)

My scrawled notes reflect a growing trust, I think, in the process and people involved, strangers though so many of them were. This reminder of my humanity -my own vulnerable desire for connection and understanding– inspires me. Even if those needs are never met through the gift circle, there was value in letting them be known.