Succulent Synthesis

Developing your gratitude muscle will transform your social change strategies.

Our planet is in a moment of great transition as our climate changes, migration increases, and we witness the stress on civil society. As we grieve that which we lose, gratitude is a necessary component if you believe justice is possible. Practice gratitude to find internal stability.

Gratitude shifts your brains from stressing about what might happen, to appreciating what is happening. Then your brain can more readily appreciate the beauty and interconnectedness in our world.

My gratitude practice helps me remember how global movements for justice are increasing. I listen to songs from young people leading climate strikes. I scan images from Bogotá, Colombia where Matilda Gonzalez, a trans woman who taught in prisons, is the new Secretary of Women. And I sit down with a picture of my great grandparents to remember how they broke us out of the sharecropping cycle of poverty.

Since the human brain has a negativity bias, gratitude shifts your focus from replaying what did not work toward replicating what specifically is working.

Gratitude requires cultivation. 🌱

I used to have a giant notepad paper in my office that said “I AM GRATEFUL” where I would write down one thing a day. Each morning, it served as a visual reminder of gratitude.

Now I keep a gratitude journal at home, and a couple nights a week, I write down specific moments from the day for which I am grateful.

When you have a gratitude practice, you see the world differently. So when chaos is emerging, remember gratitude.

How will you cultivate a gratitude practice this week?

https://succulentsynthesis.org/blog/gratitude-is-a-muscle

New Blog Post:

Interruption is justice at work — Succulent Synthesis When facilitating difficult conversations, it’s ok to break the flow and interrupt someone.  Now interruption may not be in your style. But for me, interruption is in my roots. Growing up in an African American family, I’d sit at the kitchen table during family gatherings as adults went

Photos from our launch event in October 2019.

Succulent Synthesis is an experimental curriculum to increase cultural organizing power and enhance organizing strategies in the Philadelphia area. Through a 9-month fellowship, cultural organizers partner with community organizing groups to develop new strategies. The project's primary funding engine is a seasonal cabaret where participants, organizers, and community members connect during a curated show and communal meal. This financial model can provide sustainability outside of traditional grant funding, and keeps art central to operations.

And we need you to make this happen! Monthly patreon supporters will make this project sustainable. Plus as a supporter you'll get access to music from the cabarets, stories from current social movements, and more content each month. Support Succulent Synthesis!

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