Cultivating Our Sense of Home – An Earth Day Gathering
For this Earth Day-themed Icarus-NYC gathering, we will explore what is home – as home within self, home within people, home within different places, and homes within a living space. We will come together as a collective in a sharing circle, and through the mediums of stories, songs, poetry, and guided movement exercises delve into the concept of home from a variety of angles and perspectives, from what it means for us to come home, and what the notion of home embodies – internally and externally, tangibly and intangibly.
We will share stories of migration, immigration, displacement, marginalization, and our struggles to find ourselves and build our homes. We will explore what home feels like and share where home resides within our bodies. We will consider what kinds of relationships – with people, with animals, with nature, with land – connect and ground us to our sense of home.
Throughout this gathering, we will seek to investigate more deeply how we can cultivate our authentic senses of self, our connections to the land and to each other, and move towards establishing a greater sense of belonging, presence, and grounding. We will notice – and if needed, challenge – how we make space and hold space for ourselves and for others. We will take time back away from capitalism and seek to cultivate a spirit of collective, communal, non-hierarchical presence and belonging.
We will begin and end this gathering with brief (5-15 min) guided meditations centered on grounding ourselves, coming home to our bodies, bringing us together, and fostering a greater sense of community and connection.
For the sharing circle portion of the gathering, attendees are welcomed – and encouraged – to bring short stories, pieces of poetry, and songs on the topic of home, finding one’s home, and finding oneself to share with the community.
TRANSPARENCY: Though we are committed to collective liberation and are a mixed race collective, our history has traditionally brought in white, middle class people. In order to protect Queer Trans People of Color (QTPOC) from tokenization and psychic harm, we as a collective commit to prioritizing the needs of QTPOC in our public events and promoting QTPOC leadership in our collective. We acknowledge the emotional labor that QTPOC may perform in these spaces, which often go unrecognized. Therefore, we want white cisgender people to independently undo racism, gender binarism / sexism, while remaining accountable to QTPOC. We are currently engaging in an ongoing process of integrating these goals internally within our organization, among our mixed race organizers, and within the structuring of our external events. *
ACCESS ISSUES: The space is accessible for wheelchair users but does not have a bathroom for wheelchair users. We use mics to support people who are hard of hearing.
Bluestockings is wheelchair accessible, with no steps or platforms, and wide aisles between shelves. Our bathroom is not wheelchair accessible. There is a Starbucks two short blocks down the street with an accessible bathroom (at Allen and Delancey). Metered street parking is readily available in the blocks surrounding Bluestockings. Bluestockings is not a scent-free space, but we encourage visitors to please refrain from wearing perfumes, colognes or other scented products (including essential oils) and smoke far away from the entrance to the space.
And then we’ll hang out for a little while and be gone until another month. Make sure to sign-up for the mailing list at the event or email nycicarus@gmail.com.
DATE: Apr. 3th, 2019
TIME: 7pm
LOCATION: Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St, Manhattan
Hope to see you there! Mad love, Icarus Project NYC