Donation Report: Community & Nature as Life Rafts in the Sea of Constant Change

I got to facilitate (this does circle back to explaining my gratitude for your donations) a Spring Equinox Mini-Retreat this past Sunday with my friend, Kat Palmieri. I usually think of the Spring Equinox as all daffodils, sunshine and rainbows. Yay, Spring!🤸🤸🤸

What was interesting to me in this Spring Equinox celebration was how much I felt the heavy truth of constant change. As in: even a change as welcome as the beginning of Spring, also inherently means that something else has ended. Even when we want to plant new seeds and bask in the sun, we might be sad to clear away the old roots and say goodbye to what we had before. 

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.” ― Seneca

Getting to the point of donations - and my deep appreciation for this community of meditators - towards the end of Sunday’s workshop, people shared what they were taking away from the experience. The connection between beginnings and endings was a big part of the discussion – but so were two things that people value as life rafts in the inevitable sea of change: 

1. nature’s reliable cycles 

2. community. 

Boy, I found those to be relatable life rafts! If they were preaching, I was the choir! 

The constancy of nature (albeit the constancy of nature’s changes) has always been hugely comforting to me. Frankly, my fear that nature’s cycles are becoming less reliable due to climate change is a big reason for donating 100% of the revenue from the One Small Stone Online Meditations to climate change organizations. I want nature’s rhythm to remain. Existentially, I care. So, thank you, thank you for pooling your money so that we can give to climate change organizations. 

And, this second life raft: community!! Yes! …and, in writing this, I’m trying to come up with a phrase that sounds emphatic without sounding phoney. Neither “Hell, yes!” or “Halleleujah” quite seem like things I’d say - but that’s the level of enthusiasm I’d like to convey! Hell, yes to community - to you! Thank you for being here! It is incredibly comforting, reassuring, and hopeful to be with others. I feel a linking of arms and that feels so good! I’m so grateful for being together, chatting, meditating, and donating money with you. The being together - the community part - is huge! Thank you! (And, if you don’t meditate or donate with us yet, please do!)

So, finally, getting to the actual donation report - and thank you for bearing with me - this community donated $575 to Giving Green for the January, February and March 2026 meditations. Giving Green “identifies high-impact climate giving opportunities that transform systems, laws, and norms so you can make the most of your donations.” 

A full report of all the money donated since we started is at the bottom of this post.

Any suggestions for who we should give to next quarter (April - June 2026)? Current thought is The Berry Center, which puts “Wendell Berry’s writings to work by advocating for small farmers, land-conserving communities, and healthy regional economies.” …and just because this feels fitting, here’s Berry’s poem, The Peace of Wild Things: 

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

- by Wendell Berry