Clapping out of the circle

I was going through some old emails today and found one from 2020 from my friend Susan Phillips in Minneapolis who shared a really moving message about the closing of an important Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) back then. It relates to how to end a container.

If you’ve been with me in real life you know that I like to end a gathering in a crisp and decisive way. I think it’s important to know when you are done, when the work is complete and when the next thing happens. So for years I have used a practice that I learned from Tim Merry and which he learned in Soweto, South Africa at the Soweto Mountain of Hope Project. This little ritual to end a time together uses three sets of three claps as little blessings. The first set is to clap for ourselves. The second set is to clap for our communities. The third set is to clap for our work in the world.

Susan introduced this practice to the YLI and when the program closed one of the participants, Nou, led the final claps, and she framed it this way:

“We clap on the inside for ourselves – may we always remember our worth, that we are more that what people say, that we are brilliant, that our voices are powerful, that we have wisdom regardless of our age and that we come from a strong line of ancestors.  As we all graduate from YLI tonight, may we walk into the world with courage, confidence, knowing our worth and perseverance through hard times.  The world isn’t always kind but know that no matter what happens, no matter where we go, we will always have friends here who believe in the fullness, not of who we were yesterday, but of who we are today and who we will become tomorrow.  We clap on the inside to remind ourselves that change starts with us.  Let us use our personal power to shine bright, to create, to lead, to heal; and vow never to let anyone take that away from us.

We clap in the middle to celebrate the community we have build here over the last 7 months; to acknowledge each of your leadership journeys, your commitments til the end and the contributions you have made this year and to remember the power of coming together across difference.  We also clap in the middle to honor the people in our community who are fighting for justice; and to also commit ourselves as leaders to doing what we can to making our neighborhoods and cities a better place for everyone.  We are the ones we have been waiting for y’all.

As we clap on the outside, may the universe hear our dreams, our cries and desires for change and justice.  May our actions inspire people around us to listen deeply, fight harder and love more.  Lastly, we clap on the outside to send our collective energy rippling throughout the world.”

It’s been four years since I got that email, but Nou, wherever you are, your actions continue to inspire me.