Mutual Care as a Wisdom Way

In the process of nurturing the birth of The Wild Be, it has been and continues to be super important to me to create a model for outward-facing participation in the collective that works toward a conscientious, growth-oriented contribution to a culture of cooperation and mindful reciprocity. That means all parts of it - the whole ecosystem. I considered how my work is seated in my family dynamic; maintaining authentic practices and relationships that underpin my work and service; sitting with what feels balanced (enough) and sustainable; learning, unlearning, accountability and self-inquiry - looking at the past and present to disrupt systems of harm and participate in the present and future in a way that upholds my values and dreams for a collective, liberated life; challenging my values and tending to my shadow and stories; choosing how my work is placed in the world - what it looks like, how it’s offered, accessibility, sustainability, positioning, cycles of contribution and receiving both situationally and on the whole. I also considered what will I ask of those who engage in the work. What will be the required level of accountability in the alchemical exchange that contributes to the whole, that feeds back into the ecosystem. As I write or speak or envision, I ask: Is this true; is this true for me; is this true for me now; are my values in alignment with my action. What has come out of this process is what I am calling (and I am not the first to do so) a Mutual Care Model.

The Mutual Care Model

The model of Mutual Care authentically held by The Wild Be is continuously developing and a living process incorporating much research, contemplation and reflection of life ways born and tended in the crucible of cultures all over the world, both ancient and modern; in-tact, stolen, disappeared, reclaimed, reenergized and/or innovated. Part of any process like this are healthy doses of expansion and contraction, which yield deepening levels of steeping, understanding, humility and action. I'm still on the path and will be for the rest of this life. 

With the intention of contributing to a culture of cooperation and mindful reciprocity, the main thing on my mind is access. This speaks to everything from safety and power/privilege in identity dynamics to personal financial experience to parameters created by our roles in life to literal accessibility issues related to disability. My whole family lives in some marginalized identities so we see the world in an innovative way but wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to spend all that energy to get there. And isn’t it great that we can use our white privilege to make change. Through this lens, the main three ways I can realistically and sustainably work with creating access is through solidarity economics, a variety of offerings and regenerative communication.

Solidarity Economics

For pricing my work, I chose the method of setting three rates for each service. The Community rate, the Care rate and the Solidarity rate. The range reflects what is currently necessary to position my work in a reciprocity economy: Making doing my work economically and situationally possible for myself; accessible for people with a variety of personal financial experiences; and provide opportunity for people to participate in the redistribution of wealth as a practice of community care. The higher pay rates makes the lower ones possible by maintaining sustainability in my ability to offer the work. By providing flexibility in the self-selected fee for each session, more needs can be met and reciprocity and dignity infuse the larger ecosystem of the work - the the practitioner, the clients and the collective.

Because I am an animist and and energy medicine practitioner, I am also looking at the implications of compassionate reciprocity in much larger ecosystems and at a blueprint level. Money (resources and commodities) is one of the most potent energy systems and thought fields on Earth. It has shaped the entire history of humans (and the Earth and our more-than-human kin through our existence) in one way or another and it's a hulk of a thing. My approach is to dive beneath the systems and fields of “money” and gather in the systems and fields of care in the cave of the heart. I believe becoming congruent with our soul in that place (The Wild Be offers soul work, after all) precipitates a natural shift toward equity-based distribution and use of resources and wealth and a demolition of hierarchies of deservedness and meritocracy. We aren't born equal in the eyes of the culture that birthed us. Our unique and personal offerings and receptivity in the larger ecosystem of culture are complex, nuanced and on a very long time line. My work and this Mutual Care Model celebrates that.

Culture of Cooperation

As a neurodivergent person who experiences disability, it's of high value to me as a practitioner to break out of "standard" and often disabling, alienating and sometimes unsafe ways of doing things in effort to open the door for dignity and autonomy in access. Regardless of whether or not I am engaged as a practitioner (my work and I won't be everyone's cup of tea!), this work is so much bigger. I commit to contributing to a collective who are dismantling the standard barrier, inequities and even violence. Beyond neurodivergence, my commitment includes folks with varying erased, marginalized and/or oppressed identities via race, gender, sexuality, chronic illness, sensory differences, mental health stories, class, etc (and there are many etc.!). And it's important to say here that I am choosing transparency and claiming only my heart-expressed efforts. Most days I feel like a toddler but wobbly steps build a strong gate eventually. It remains an ongoing process for which I am privileged and grateful to engage.

While I won't be able to tend every possible scenario, the specific services I offer (and will offer) are intended to address a variety of differences in engagement preferences/ability and personal financial experiences. And I have a great web of referral resources to share. Most important to this work are sincerity and commitment to healing and growth.

At this time, I'm offering Private Sessions. As my work grows, access will expand. I plan to develop and offer community clinics with private sessions (by donation; no one turned away for lack of funds), workshops/group work, and self-tending through movement classes. My substack newsletter and social media provide insights and invitation to reflection. My intention is also to make my website and service-specific tools as ADA friendly as possible. Though I'm excited to get this rolling, the timing of these offerings will move with my personal shape of balance, authenticity, inspiration and financial/resource accessibility as an act of consciously stepping out of habitual overextension of care and participation in the exploitive economy of lack, urgency and productivity.

In addition to professional offerings, I am committed to personally engaging in acts of wealth redistribution and appreciation practices by allocating a percentage of my annual income to non-profits whose work benefits the people and restoration of cultures from which some of my learning comes and on whose back my privilege was built.

Unpacking the Rate System in the Mutual Care Model

Please check out this handy graphic for clarification and self-reflection. It's a living document that will evolve and shift over time. If you have questions or want to do some shadow work around it in a session, please reach out at hello@thewildbe.com.

Which brings me to the access point of regenerative conversation. Regenerative means good soil for growing. This word is used intentionally as a nod toward mutual care and participating in regenerative conversation in a way that heals, restores, grows and illuminates. Not to be confused with bypassing - sitting in the tension of deep soil with your own attitudes, biases and feelings (emotion and body-mind sensation) is important for both processing and personal accountability in relationship with - your own ripple in - the web of life. It makes fertile and generative dialog possible and affords clarity around needs, wants and requests. I hold myself to this practice and it's a firm boundary I hold around communication with others. I welcome earnest inquiry and sincere sharing of ideas from a place of collective care via email and in comments sections.

Warmly and in solidarity,

Pam

Big, big gratitude to the following folks for the inspiration and education in my ongoing creation and implementation of the Pay Rate Self-Assessment and for all the good works you're creating in the world:

Britt Hawthorne (from embracingequity.org blog) https://embracingequity.org/blog/2018/11/29/embracing-an-equitable-sliding-scale

Worts and Cunning Apothecary with Alexis Cunninfolk http://www.wortsandcunning.com/blog/sliding-scale

Ride Free Fearless Money with Hadassah Damien https://www.ridefreefearlessmoney.com/blog/2016/05/sliding-scale-1/

https://www.ridefreefearlessmoney.com/about/fees/

Solidarity Economy Principles https://web.archive.org/web/20220121045848/https://solidarityeconomyprinciples.org/

https://www.ihotuali.com/blog/the-sliding-fee-scale

Little Red Bird Botanicals http://www.littleredbirdbotanicals.com/consultation-fees/