A Winter Dream

Last night I had a dream that someone had 85 Acres of land in Bethany, Connecticut and they were interested in working with Stable Grounds Sanctuary.

They were offering it to us for just $995 a month (an absolute steal in these parts).

It had a small vineyard and also grew enough produce to have a large Farm Stand. It had various structures that I knew could be for horses but in the dream they also housed also elephants 🤷🏻‍♀️ (I’ll leave the dream analysis to you all).

There were also a couple of houses and multi-purpose buildings on the property.

I think I woke up with my brow furrowed because for the majority of the dream I was trying to pin down the current owners to find out if that $995 price was for a certain part of the land– if it included use of all the structures– if it included the multiple businesses that were on the property– what exactly were we going to be leasing or buying???

And I couldn't find out. I kept trying to meet with the owners and ask these questions and I was struggling!

I remember turning to our board member Latha in the dream and saying “look how much food can be produced here! Wouldn't it be amazing to make this available to people in New Haven?” –with the subtext being that the current operation on that land was really only for people living in the wealthier suburbs.

I thought it was interesting that I had this dream the night after New Year's Day.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day doing a lot of business planning and organizing in my home. Sometimes I like to do New Year's resolutions however, as a Jewish person we have a few different kinds of New Years and I did some of those back in September during Rosh Hashanah.

A big goal that I have for the Sanctuary for this year is to build out the back end business structure so that I, and eventually other people, can have salaried positions under the Sanctuary.

Currently all of the clinical and coaching work that I do is under my private practice, a separate business. We would like to explore ways to see if all or some of that could be moved under the Sanctuary.

Another relevant aspect of my private practice work that could be done under the Sanctuary is that which I do with Indigenous communities.

Having been trained as a psychologist by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Psychology Internship Program and Dr. Tami DeCoteau, I have since been fortunate to assist in trainings for numerous tribes in trauma-informed care for Indigenous people.

For these trainings, I join Dr. DeCoteau to travel to various reservations where she leads multi-day workshops for tribal members related to a specific aspect of healing colonial trauma. My role is to support development of the trainings, co-facilitate, and sometimes lead workshops as well.

Most recently Dr. DeCoteau and I have been working with the Navajo (Diné) Nation in one of their specific communities whose school district decided to train all of their staff in trauma-informed practices with children. So far we have gone out twice since this past October and will be back for one more training later this month.

Image: Canyon de Chelly, Navajo Reservation, Chinle, AZ.

This work is deeply important to me. My learning from the people of Standing Rock is what informs a lot of my thinking about the goals of Stable Grounds Sanctuary. It helps me continue to center the nuance of trauma healing that includes the histories of the land and its people. It helps me support folks of all identities to become curious about their ancestors, the lands from which they come, and how these stories impact us at present.

So I write this blog post to invite you into this dream I had last night.

Can you imagine this land? These 85 acres? Can you see it?

Can you see people tending it who know its history, who hold knowledge of and care for the descendants of the land's original people? Do you see yourself there?

Can you see us all approaching with curiosity, wondering about the plants and other living beings that this land needs in order to create and sustain a sense of Harmony (a concept central to Diné culture that I have been thinking a lot about)?

Can you see sunshine on rolling hills? Can you see a small herd of horses (or elephants, apparently… 😳) in the distance?

Can you see these buildings and structures where we gather to create, to grow, to heal?

And can you imagine all of this for the low-low price of just $995 a month? …I kid.

In times such as these I feel that our dreams and imagination and ability to create together is of utmost importance.

Join us. Hold tight with us. Create something new with us.

Happy 2025, y'all.

In solidarity,

Rebecca and the SGS Team.