We sang a gratitude song before the meal, thanking the Earth and each of the meals’ contributors for their acts of generosity. It felt like a homecoming. I started attending the bi-weekly garden volunteer days, buoyed by the laughter and peace that come from the simplest of tasks in community: spreading mulch, pulling out tomato vines, or struggling to build a greenhouse. I showed up to the story nights, fire circles, and potlucks, reveling in this way of being so dramatically different and more fulfilling from what I had known before…
