A few weeks ago, Brandt called- so excited that he had just learned of the Karma Clinic model. When we first spoke, he was just so excited and said, “I’m going to do this! It just makes sense.” I knew he was serious but had no idea how quickly indeed he intended to take this project off the ground. Turns out, Brandt was in the process of opening his clinic in Portland– after practicing as an Acupuncturist for many years in Florida, he was invited to teach at NCNM and moved across the country, to serve in the capacity of a teacher. He decided that he wanted to do the clinic gift-economy style, and indeed 2 weeks later, he had his first patient! So, Brandt jumped head first into a gift-economy clinic and he loves it. As if this were not enough, he’s invited his colleagues at their clinic to jump in with him— and so, even they’re going to be practicing completely gift-economy style well-care on the days that Brandt is at the clinic.
He’s so inspired to serve, he just told me today that he wants to teach a gift-economy style seminar too! He was just invited to speak at a seminar in Hawaii, and was made a generous offer to speak there… in turn, he responded by saying I want to gift it and allow the participants to pay-it-forward in any way that they want. Truly incredible. What inspires me most about him is the energy with which he serves– for him, its truly about giving. Sharing his gifts and living in line with his spirit.
And indeed, the gift-economy model truly speaks to the spirit of healers… because somewhere in the collective history, we have the gene of service— give without any expectation of something in return. In most cultures, healers have shared freely their gifts and have been sustained by the community in which they serve. We– the ‘modern’ gift-economy community healers– attempt to do the same. Testing, experimenting- is this model viable in the present day? Can a society that so enmeshed in consumerism and me-centeredness, actually create a community that sustains the servers/ healers of that community? So far, the answer is a loud and clear YES. YES. YES. The community, and universal energy, does indeed sustain those that are gifting in alignment with their spirit. And that’s a beautiful thing. Over the past few months, we’ve received so many gifts, monetary and otherwise, that have really given us the clear signal that the work we are doing and the service we are providing is something that is very much needed.
I could share many moving stories but I have two that sit really close to my heart. One is that of a woman… several weeks ago, this woman sat in front of me- having explained on the phone that she can’t afford much but really needs the help on her healing journey– and after 2 hours of sitting with her, I decided I really need more time to get to the root of what ailed her. At that point, I asked her, would she be open to spending more time talking even though we were at the end of our time. She says well, I don’t really want to impinge on your time and outside life. And I said no no, I’m here– in this moment, I’m only here to serve you. And she said ok, let’s do it then. Turns out, it was an hour and half later that we finally finished. After which she said wow, this is more of a gift than I have ever imagined- I really don’t have much money to give you. And I said no way, you don’t owe us anything- this is a gift with no strings attached. At this point, something opened in her and tears started flowing down her face. She said thank you… that was more of a gift than I could have ever imagined!
The other is a bit shorter… of a brother that came to the clinic. At the time, he didn’t have a job. At the end of the visit, he received the “receipt” and he quietly accepted the envelope and left. A few weeks later, we received a beautiful heartfelt note that read “I would like to offer 4 hours of my time to any cause that you feel would be beneficial to all beings…” WOW! 4 hours? Now thats generosity! I had gifted 2 hours of my time, for him to double it and send it back- not only to us but ‘all beings’ is quite powerful and moving. And to top it off, he emailed recently asking whats the address he can mail a check to because now that he has some income flowing in, he would like to contribute in that way too!
Being able to experience such beautiful things is quite a blessing. Another blessing has been an addition to our Berkeley Karma Clinic crew, Darius Sohei. This brother just walked in, totally aligned with the gift-economy spirit. He’s an incredible healer and it is an honor to have him as part of the community. Today he captured it so simply: “I do gift-economy because this (his art and skill in healing) was gifted to me.” And that rings so true for me… I truly believe that our gifts are to be shared with and gifted to others… so we are in gratitude to all those that are recipients of these gifts, directly or indirectly.
