4/1/22
This post is a departure from my regular travel blog. The travel blog will resume tomorrow. This post, however, is directly tied to my vision and mission for my journey.
Some of you may recall that I have dreamed up a concept called fairy godfunding. (If you’re not familiar, please take a look at the linked article, which outlines the concept.)
Further, an important part of my vision for this particular journey around the US and Canada is for me to meet amazing people, and connect them to each other. I want to know of—and, ideally, meet—people who are dreaming up, and manifesting, projects to make the world a better place. Part of how I see my role on this journey is to discover and meet some of these folks. Part of my role is to connect them with each other, so that people doing similar work can offer each other emotional and/or strategic support to maximize the effectiveness of each other’s work.
And part of how I see my role—on this journey, and in life, in general, going forward—is to serve as a sort of broker between people with good ideas and the skills to implement them, and people who have the desire and means to support these people and their visions financially.
I haven’t been exactly sure how all this would come together. I have chosen to lean into magic in many ways on this journey, and doing so has led me to indeed meet a number of inspiring people, connect certain people together, and even find my first fairy godfunder for myself. (If you are reading, fairy godfunder, thank you again!)
But I haven’t been sure how I might identify and meet the whole cadre of perhaps a dozen or so future godfunders—both for myself and for others—nor how I might decide whose projects or visions to fund.
Now, an opportunity has crossed my social-media feed, and I’m feeling the nudge that maybe this is how I start: someone I greatly admire who finds herself in sudden need. I can share some of her story and her plea, and send it out into my network, trusting the magic that perhaps it can find its way to one or more people who might feel inspired to help.
I will first offer the disclaimer that my vision for fairy godfunding is that it is about people doing unconventional, often cutting-edge, but beneficial work in the world. It is about supporting them in their offerings to the world, when conventional employers (or a client base) cannot or will not. Fairy godfunding is not, generally, about raising money for medical procedures.
But here we are, in 21st Century America, and unfortunately, people can’t do their work in the world if they are bankrupted or stalled by medical bills.
So! Please meet Isis Leeor. She has recently discovered a very large cyst on her pineal gland, which needs to be removed—very soon—by a skillful and experienced neurosurgeon.
I first encountered Isis on an ecstatic dance floor in Portland, Oregon, where we were both living at the time. She was dancing in a way that I had never seen before. I was intrigued and inspired.
Isis is hard to put into words, but anyone who encounters her, in person or online, can’t help but be moved. She lives more fiercely, more authentically, more close to the bone, than perhaps anyone I’ve ever met. Her work in the world is often esoteric, but also grounded. She teaches people about relating, about sexuality, about love, about living embodied and authentic lives, without regret. She works with clients individually and in groups (I have taken part in both, and found value in all of it) and also offers a lot of free content online through writings and videos. (Look her up on Facebook, or on her professional website.)
Although she primarily works as a coach these days, she has offered clairvoyant readings in the past, and still offers them occasionally, as part of her practice. Despite my general skepticism about such things, I have felt drawn to receive several of these readings from her, and always received some profound wisdom from them.
In one such session, probably eight or nine years ago, she told me that it was important for me to “do my work” (even though she stated that she didn’t know what my work was) even if I couldn’t see how it fit into the larger puzzle of humanity. That my part of the puzzle was important, even if I couldn’t see how it fit into the big picture. I found this heartening at the time, but it feels extra poignant now.
The work I feel called to do now is to serve as a broker between people bringing good to the world, and those who can joyfully and enthusiastically fund them.
People like Isis. It feels a bit poetic to suddenly feel inspired to want to “do my work” in service of helping her to bring about this life-saving brain surgery. She had not previously occurred to me as someone for whom I might seek a fairy godfunder, since she does have her own successful business, and up until this recent turn of events would not have needed external funding.
But when I first read on Facebook that she was facing this medical crisis, and was setting up a GoFundMe, my first thought was, “Ugh! You can’t bake-sale your way to brain surgery!”
And sadly, that seems to be true: of the $115,000 she is seeking for the surgery and recovery period, she has thus far raised about $13,500, and donations seem to have leveled off there. This sum represents 189 individual small donors, and I absolutely love seeing how people’s friends and community do show up for them, as best they can, in times of need.
And yet… that leaves more than $100,000 she still needs. We cannot bake-sale our way to brain surgery.
So this is my humble plea, on behalf of a truly remarkable person: Do you, dear reader, know someone who might be able to fund up to $100,000 for this surgery, to keep this remarkable person’s vision for the world, and work in the world, here in the world with us?
Because I believe the world needs to know about pleasure. About owning oneself. About strength, and passion, and love, and authenticity. Isis embodies and shares these ideals in a way that I haven’t seen from anyone else.
Isis has already survived a bout with medical malpractice. (As she states in the GoFundMe blurb, this bankrupted her, and led her to live overseas to reduce her expenses… although, true to form, she has also thoroughly enjoyed and made the best of those overseas adventures.) She has survived the suicide of a husband. She teetered on the poverty line for years, all while finding ways to both support herself, find beauty in life, and help others to do this for themselves. I want to see her recovering, and then continuing to thrive.
If you know someone who might be able to help—for the full $100K or even a smaller portion of it, since Isis tells me she is brainstorming other ways to possibly raise more funds—feel free to direct them to the GoFundMe page, or to contact Isis directly with questions, or to contact me (green “contact” button above) with questions.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. May we all have abundant health and thriving.
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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a one-hour phone or video call with me!
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Want to support my vision financially? I am in the process of manifesting $50,000 in lieu of a “salary” for the year of this journey. You can make a one-time or monthly contribution, or even become a Fairy Godfunder! (Heartfelt thanks to all my patrons and supporters!)