Gift circle is a regular gathering where people come to express their needs and others can offer to help them. The help is offered as a gift, and not a barter or exchange. Needs can range from a hug to moving books to babysitting to doing a personal process or holding space for another.
Gift circles are an expression of gift community, a concept created by Bill Kauth and Zoe Alowan. Bill and Zoe held a workshop on gift community last October in Fairfield, and this gift circle is a continuation of the idea. Gift community is a new way of creating and culturing community. The question asked of those at the workshop was, “How am I the gift?” “When has my gift been recognized, appreciated and honored?”
When we answer these questions, we can begin to live the gift that we are individually, while within community. We can also begin to ask for what we really need. Gift circle is the practical application of two important questions: “How am I the gift?” and “What do I need?”
