Revival Gathering:
Reviving the ART of Social Change

I have done A LOT of events over my life in a variety of sizes and capacities. I chose to feature this 250 person cultural incubator (and disruptor) event I co-produced with my friend Ben Browner on Vashon Island, Wa in 2018. It was really Ben's brainchild and an accumulation of his many most inspired transformative influences that connected with my own work in culture and social systems. Being from a Baptist family, the theme of REVIVING our souls spoke to an intimate lineage of my own. The folks Ben called into this space brought beautiful offerings, wisdoms, art, and authentic concerns around culture and activist complacency in the USA. Revival was a container that held A LOT, and I think everyone involved in this space - especially those of us creating and holding that container - walked away with a deepening of awareness of both our own selves AND the way we are situated in the social conversations we most need to have to tend to our ancestral bones and our hearts.

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There were too many brilliant people involved to name them all, but to give a quick summary, Ben brought his incredible Revival Tea House - the juiciest vibe you'll ever sink into - and other large tents he made and sourced for gathering folks in the long tradition of revivals! Lydia Violet and a delightful group of friends made music and immersed us in catalytic conversations. Lydia continues Joanna Macy's work of the Great Turning. Climbing PoeTree headlined weaving a magic spell upon us all one night, and brought the incredible S.T.I.T.C.H.E.D. workshop continuing their collection of stories and dreams stitched into streamers of bright flags hung in the daytime. Laurence Cole held an immersive grief ritual and Paul Chiyokten Wagner blessed our communal meals and taught us stories from the first people who belong to the area we occupied together. There were film makers and markets of ideas and so much music and folks talking about sustainable futures and asking why the white people weren't talking about racism. Of all the events I've participated in this had one of the most potent kinds of transformative movement in the participants and I'm so grateful I was able to participate in the ways I did.