Early Blooms in the Hummingbird Moon 🌸🐦
Reflection Jam on Sunday + Season on Becoming + What we’ve been up to
01/ This Sunday – Hummingbird Moon Reflection Jam (3/2, 5–7pm) ✍️
On the Hummingbird Moon (March), Anna's Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of early blooms and perform spectacular displays as we continue a Season on Becoming. Join us.
Join us for our monthly Reflection Jam! Take stock of the past month through guided journaling and sharing, accompanied by cozy lofi beats. Honor your experiences with thoughtful prompts and close with a simple intention ritual. More details here.
“Even though I opted for the solo track and was journaling to myself, I felt seen, connected, and celebrated.” —James
🗓 Sunday, March 2, 5–7pm, 📍550 Laguna (The Commons) — Register here
02/ Season on Becoming 🌱
This month in the Contemplarium Year observing our human journey in the San Francisco Bay Area, we mark the transition from the Season on Origins (Nov–Jan) to the Season on Becoming (Feb–Apr).
The Season on Becoming (Feb–Apr) begins with the early blooms of the manzanitas and their hummingbird friends in February. In California native gardens, it’s time to clear the accumulation of branches felled by last season’s storms. Now the weeding and pruning, the sowing and propagating proceed in earnest. By season’s end, the hills are bursting with flowers.
In our human journey, this season celebrates the emergence of who we want to become. From the sprouts of our human natures, rooted in our contexts, we choose to cultivate our strengths—of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, moderation, transcendence, and all their kaleidoscopic varieties. Through continuous and careful tending, we honor these strengths as the continuous and embodied expressions of our agency.
Here at the SF Contemplarium, we’ll lean into these themes in this season’s programming. Keep your eye out for more upcoming opportunities to join us.
03/ What have we been up to? 💫
✍️ Newt Moon Reflection Jam. Of course, as always, we enjoyed a great installment of our monthly flagship event on 2/2. The vibes were good and the connection was flowing!
February has also been another month of behind-the-scenes momentum:
🤝 Partnership with The Commons. We’ve launched our partnership with The Commons to offer signature Contemplarium programming to their members. In March, we’ll be kicking off Journey Groups there, which are small cohorts of 6-8 people who meet regularly to deepen connection and make space for moments of respect and care in their lives. We’ll also begin offering Honoring Circles there, which are drop-in sessions for sharing and hearing joys and sorrows of the community.
🔰 SF Contemplarium Membership Program. As we mentioned in the last newsletter, we are hard at work to launch our membership program, to realize a people-powered institution here at the SF Contemplarium. We’re still working on the groundwork to build the foundations for a strong community. Keep your eye out for ways to get involved when we are ready to open up invitations!
⛪️ Exploring a physical storefront. We’ve taken the first steps to venture out and learn as much as we can about what it would take to launch and open a physical storefront. We’ll continue making steady investments so that we can take advantage of opportunities to make this happen and test this important part of the vision of the SF Contemplarium. (If you have experience with SF retail real estate, we’d love to pick your brain if you’re open to it!)
🎬 Telling our story. To create a sustainable institution, we’re learning how important it is to effectively share the story, work, and vision of the SF Contemplarium. We’re exploring ways we can use video and improving our website and social media presence. (If you’re gifted at these things, let us know!)
💪 As always, learning. Perhaps the most significant learning this month was realizing how many priorities we’re trying to pursue at once. Stepping back and figuring out pacing and sequencing is a muscle we’ll need to continue learning to flex!
04/ Get timely updates through WhatsApp 📣
Want to hear about Contemplarium events and opportunities on WhatsApp as they approach? Join our announcement group at this link here. (It's easiest to open the link from your phone.)
That's it for now!
As hummingbirds feed on the nectar of early blossoms, may we, too, grow vibrant from this season of awakening and aspiration. 🙏
—Seanan, Founder of the SF Contemplarium
The San Francisco Contemplarium is a community institution creating space in San Francisco to honor our human journey, through events, programming, physical installations, and more. Visit sfcontemplarium.org to learn more. See previous newsletters at sfcontemplarium.substack.com.