Better Than Compromise
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Win/lose is the game we usually play, but in the end it becomes lose/lose. So we turn to compromise. Not quite what either of us want, but what we will settle for. Really? Is that the best we can do? Four years ago we faced a divisive election and today another that feels like round two on steroids. Back then we met it with a vision for Better Than Compromise that still feels true and relevant today, so we are revisiting that vision to see how it can continue to lead us today. Join the conversation!
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Photos and reflections by Jeanette Mayo
The turn of the calendar tempts us with promises of newness—fresh starts, better habits, upgraded versions of ourselves. But what if, instead of charging ahead with self-improvement schemes, we took a cue from winter’s stillness? What if we let go of the relentless hustle and embraced the radical idea that we are already enough?
Fabric’s January series, “Give Up,” has invited us into this counterintuitive wisdom—the grace of resting, receiving, and recognizing our inherent worth. Nature doesn’t demand that a hibernating bear emerge as a “better” bear. Spring’s renewal is not about striving but about unfolding what has been there all along.
In Wintering, Katherine May reminds us that transformation often happens in the quiet, unseen spaces. And in Belonging, Toko-pa Turner challenges us to strengthen our “receiving muscle,” to accept the support woven into our interconnected lives. “You are the receiver of too many generosities to count,” she writes. “Count them anyway.”
So, what if we stopped trying to earn our existence? What if we acknowledged the trees, the friendships, the small kindnesses that hold us? What if, instead of striving, we surrendered to belonging?
You are the gift. That’s enough. May it be so.
-Ian