The Warp and the Weft: Holding the Thread

Every November we hold our annual meeting, a time when all shareholders – the owners – of the Brattleboro Food Co-op are invited to come together to listen, learn and participate. Whether in person or virtual there are usually about 100 people in attendance. In addition to the GM and Board officers’ reflections on the prior year, we engage with each other on timely issues that are typically a catalyst for the expression of passionate feelings and thoughts among Co-op members. People are not members of the Co-op by accident! There is intention behind a decision to be a member.

This past November we invited Tabitha Pohl-Moore to lead us in small group discussions on the topic of social justice, diversity and inclusion. We explored what it means to be a Welcoming Community Marketplace. One of the virtual tools Tabitha used was the Wordle. The goal of the creating the Wordle was to have an image that would remind us of our conversations help us hold the thread of any key thoughts and ideas that we would want to carry forward.

The words expressed by members that make up this Wordle reflect themes that weave in and out of every day in the life of the Co-op, in each or our lives, personally. How do we hold ourselves accountable to the core of what’s important in life amid the busy-ness of everyday tasks and demands? How do we remind ourselves that we need to breathe and think before acting – to respond rather than react? The Wordle is just a bunch of words, but each word is connected to a conversation, connected to the exploration of an idea, a feeling, a passion that brings us into a deeper purpose. It’s out of that deeper purpose that we want to challenge ourselves and each other to act, each day and every day.

Maybe the Wordle can help us do just that.

by Jerelyn Wilson, Board President

2020 Annual Meeting Breakout Wordle #1	2020 Annual Meeting Breakout Wordle #2
The above Wordle represents words shared by Shareholders who attended our 2020 Annual Meeting and participated in our break out sessions. The bigger the word the more times it was shared by different groups. Each group answered the following questions: What does it mean to be welcoming? How do we know we are welcoming? What it look like? What does it feel like? What do you see? How do people connect with each other?	The above Wordle represents words shared by Shareholders who attended our 2020 Annual Meeting and participated in our break out sessions. The bigger the word the more times it was shared by different groups. Each group answered the following questions: Looking at Brattleboro Food Co-op now, who might not feel comfortable here? What can I contribute to making the Brattleboro Food Co-op a more welcoming marketplace?