A Handwritten Letter to the Month of March
Last week I started writing letters again at our weekly Writers Meet-Up for Bird & Bear Members. I used to write letters all of the time, but technology, time and the mental tornado that has been wreaking havoc on my brain took it away.
Today I’m writing a hand-written letter to the month of March…
Dear March,
46 years ago you welcomed Wes Defoyd into the world, and 29 years ago you ignited a spark on a high school basketball court that became the friendship turned high school sweetheart foundation of the Defoyd family.
26 years ago I backpacked around Europe while studying abroad, and this March I am trying to keep up with our daughter who is doing the same.
22 years ago you rewarded me with the first significant financial reward in my life, helping us pay for our DIY dream wedding.
16 years ago you put me in a breakout room at a women’s conference with @brenebrown , where I began to understand the data and science around my personal and professional quest for belonging, breaking down the barriers to inclusion, and creating more space for the intersections between faith, courage, vulnerability, leadership and love.
15 years ago you turned this quest into what I believed to be a dream job in the wilderness of multinational corporate consulting.
13 years ago you moved our family of 5 from one side of Medway to the other, to a home with a backyard barn that became the space where the quest began to plant local roots.
8 years ago, the corporate dream job had me thousands of miles from home, in the wake of #metoo , with an organization that cared less about inclusion and impact, and more about revenue, reputation and ROI…igniting a new quest to step away from corporate and into my community.
7 years ago I suffered a concussion that locked me in a dark room for a few weeks, where I began to sketch the foundation of the Bird & Bear.
6 years ago that sketch had just begun, and then was quickly thwarted by a global virus.
The past 5 years have been a daily, weekly and annual journey of wild braving, reimagining, resilience and becoming.
Dear March, I’m running out of space to write … but just want to say…thank you.
Lovingly yours, Erin
