Morning Connections is an informal meeting series over Zoom hosted by Rural Assembly. Our group is for female-identifying rural people who are seeking connection with others. We meet every Thursday at 9:30am ET and again at 9:30am PT. Learn more about Morning Connections and register for an upcoming session.
For more than a year, Morning Connections has been the go-to space for solving problems and sharing stories and resources. We asked frequent participant Jess Limbird to answer a few questions about this Thursday morning ritual.
What drew you to Morning Connections?
I am a connector and natural networker. I recognize the importance of building a network of people who are working toward similar goals of welcoming, healing, and flourishing communities. It was through an initial connection with Taneum that I learned about Rural Assembly and Morning Connections. I was curious and wanted to check it out.
Tell us about yourself, your community locally and the work you do.
I’m Jess (she/they) and while I’ve lived urban most of my life, when I made the transition back to my home state of Tennessee, I decided to live rural because of the relative affordability, access to green spaces, and proximity to family and friends across the state. I chose Marshall County, Tennessee, and moved to Lewisburg in October 2022. I knew when I landed that I needed to find my people- progressive people, queer and trans people, and sober people. I have found all three. Marshall County is home to 35,000 residents and, like most rural places, has limitations on access to resource, leadership, and effective policies that could result in a stronger and healthier social and built environment. My work is as a community organizer, network weaver, and catalyst for systems change. That sometimes results in paid opportunity and sometimes doesn’t. My unpaid work includes fundraising for Juneteenth in Marshall, chairing the county Democratic Party, co-hosting events with the Quiet Congregation, and supporting the multiple, incredible community-based organizations. I particularly love the Marshall County seed library, Helping Hands (a mutual aid effort), and the NAACP Marshall County Branch. My paid work through Confluence Consulting supports nonprofits organizations through thought leadership and project management. I also get to exercise my creativity as an entrepreneur and design offerings like the New Leaders network. All roads lead to people, planet, and progress for me.
What keeps you coming back to Morning Connections?
The connections keep me coming back! During the one-year birthday celebration of Morning Connections, I was super surprised to learn there are three (maybe four?) folks from Tennessee that attend Morning Connections. We need an in-person meetup! I love the fact that we only meet for 30 minutes on a Thursday morning, and we’re able to drop in as we’re able. I’ve never felt pressured to be or do or say something that is not authentic to me, which is another reason I keep coming back. It’s an open space to hold our wholeness and the diversity of rural experience.
“I’ve never felt pressured to be or do or say something that is not authentic to me, which is another reason I keep coming back. It’s an open space to hold our wholeness and the diversity of rural experience.”
What has Morning Connections added to your life?
Very tangibly, it has strengthened my connection to Taneum (who also sits on the Radically Rural advisory group with me). It introduced me to Joyce Washington, who lives in Martin, Tenn., and is a formidable component of the Weakley County Reconciliation Project. Her work is an inspiration to me. Growing up white in Tennessee, I always knew I didn’t know the whole truth about our collective history. It’s a history that is still very much entrenched in the mindset of the powerful here. It’s a harmful mindset. To witness Joyce and others in rural west Tennessee take on this seemingly intractable problem in community is motivation for the work I do here in Marshall County.
How would you describe the atmosphere of Morning Connections?
Because Morning Connections is a women-only space, it lends itself to an emotional depth with lots of reflection on the service we do for our families and communities. There are brief check-ins and the space is left open for what we want to talk about. It’s a facilitated space, so resources are dropped in the chat and connections are made in real time to our individual work. The needs of the group are at the center.
“The needs of the group are at the center.”
Tell us about a moment from Morning Connections that illustrates its value as a program.
During the one-year birthday celebration for Morning Connections, Taneum led the group in a string activity (which someone dubbed the Party Line —super rural reference!) that illustrated our real connection, facilitated in a virtual space. The joy and simplicity of that exercise reflects the real connection and community-building that’s happening in Morning Connections.
You’ve been active with the book discussion group that grew from Morning Connections. We read The Night is Long but Light Comes in the Morning by Catherine Meeks. How has that space added to your experience in the Rural Assembly community?
Change moves at the speed of trust. Connections made and relationships formed during Morning Connections were leveraged in the book discussion group around a really critical but also very heavy topic – racism and its impacts in our lives. I have entered a phase of my own becoming where I am witnessing the transformation of other people in real time, without expectation that they know or think or do exactly like me. It’s liberating and also offers me the opportunity to learn.
Thank you, Jess, and to all the community members who keep Morning Connections going strong!
Morning Connections is an informal meeting series over Zoom hosted by Rural Assembly. Our group is for female-identifying rural people who are seeking connection with others. We meet every Thursday at 9:30am ET and again at 9:30am PT. Learn more about Morning Connections and register for an upcoming session. Join us!
