Message from the President - October 10, 2020
We started this year full of enthusiasm for what 2020 held in store for us. We were bursting with ideas and plans to expand Courageous Connections in the year ahead. Plans for another Fun At The Farm fundraiser were well underway and 2020 seemed full of possibilities. Then…COVID-19.
I can hardly believe our lives are all still so impacted by this virus. I would never have believed six months ago we would be covering our faces with masks and, for our own safety, encouraged to stay away from other people. How I miss seeing people’s faces and their expressions. Are they smiling or frowning? I never realized how much I notice and enjoy seeing people’s faces and their expressions. Are they having a rough day and could use a smile from me or are they having a great day and sharing their smile with me and others that cross their path? Our daily lives hardly resemble what they did six months ago and Courageous Connections is no different.
Horses have been one of the greatest teachers in my life to help me learn the art of being flexible when it comes to my plans and expectations! While our 2020 hasn’t looked anything like the plan we had at the start of the year, we’ve been able to navigate through this challenging time with resiliency and patience. Some very positive things have come out of all this down time for us.
We’ve had a little extra time to do things like:
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Spend more time with our herd. We've been teaching some of them a few new tricks since we
had a little extra time to play with them! -
Implement new software to help us streamline our business operations.
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Explore and design a new program within Equine Encounters that includes licensed therapists!
We are very grateful for the many unexpected blessings that have come to us during this time and at the same time we really miss our students. To that end, we have come to the difficult decision that we will not resume our riding program at this time and plan to re-evaluate in 2021. We are absolutely committed to keeping our participants safe at all times.
I have always tried to look at the things that ARE working out for me/us rather than pay too much attention to the things that aren’t going my way. One way we have done that is to explore new possibilities of how Courageous Connections might help our community members navigate through this challenging time. We believe with all of our hearts that now more than ever people need an opportunity to connect with nature, horses and themselves. To that end I am thrilled to announce that our Equine Encounters program has received the ‘essential service’ designation from the Dept of Health of Snohomish County! We couldn’t be more delighted to provide people of all ages with an opportunity to be with a horse and to re-discover the peace and ease that lives within themselves.
With Gratitude and Grace,
Kathy
