KinKeeping Matters!
Because KinKeepers "Keep the Kin Together"
KinKeeping is the time-honored concept of “keeping the kin connected.” This site is all about raising awareness of KinKeeping, and helping us all think about the work, thought, planning – and follow-through! – that it takes to maintain true, honest connection with those we care about in our world.
KinKeeping. It Matters.
KinKeeping. Love that word. My Minnesota farm-kid background means I knew about the importance of each family member, the way we each mattered in our family’s ability to keep crops growing straight and true, keep the cows milked and the livestock fed – and the garden...
KinKeeping Takes Work
There's the Work of BEING A KinKeeper ... KinKeeping requires more than just making a choice to be a KinKeeper. Or recognizing that we are already KinKeepers . We can let these principles fill our souls – we can invite in KinKeeping thoughts and dream up new,...
Paperchains For KinKeeping
Why A KinKeeping Chain Building your KinKeeping network – or acknowledging, valuing and communicating with the one you already have – involves choice. It’s like adding one little extra thing in your day – so using a little symbol that makes you think of “connection”...
Meet Judy
Author Judy Keefe wants to raise your consciousness of what she calls KinKeeping, all the ways people connect with their world. She believes in the importance of intentionally, purposefully helping to “keep the kin together.”
Judy's Book: KinKept
Each link we have to someone or something outside of ourselves is like a link in a colorful paperchain. It’s on this theme that Judy has created the series of little true stories in her book, KinKept.
In a Disconnected, Crazybusy, Lonely World . . .
We all need KinKeepers
Who helps keep you connected to life?
What are you doing to help yourself and others avoid loneliness?
If you have a strong sense of feeling connected securely to people in your life, you’re experiencing KinKeeping – someone has KinKept you and is probably KinKeeping you right now! Probably a lot of someones . . .
How Strong are the Connections in Your Life?
- Do you ever think about all the things that go on in your life that help you stay connected to your family and friends?
- Do you have a solid, sure sense of belonging to a group – whether it’s a big one – or one as small as you and a partner or friend?
- How secure do you feel in your relationships? Do you know how secure others feel about their relationship with you?
- Who are the people who matter to you? And who do you matter to?
- Who makes a difference in your life? Who are you making a difference for?
Judy’s Definition of “Kin”
Kin = The people in our lives to whom we’re related (connected) in one or more of these three ways:
1) By blood – shared DNA, bloodline connection
2) By law – in-laws, adoption, legal connection
3) By choice – those we CHOOSE to connect with in our KinGroups – kindred spirits who form our Tribe, our Community; these chosen, curated KinGroups include people we choose to hold relationship with at various levels of connection.
We can also feel Kinship with our own selves, with our higher power – Spirit, mysteries, the animal kingdom, plants and growing things, the land itself – Mother Earth, even rocks and stones, etc.
We do not have to be LONELY – we can reach out with KinKeeping offers to others, and we can be sure we respond when we receive a KinKeeper’s invite of any kind.
Questions for Judy?
Short Version: What is KinKeeping, according to Judy, anyway?
For me, “KinKeeping” became simply a word that acts as a container for all those little and large, casual or vital, one-time or consistent thoughts and actions that pass between people and help keep them connected. The threads of connection … the ties that bind us together. The knowledge that someone has our back – and we have theirs.
KinKeeping helps keep people connected to ... what?
KinKeeping connects people to themselves, to their higher power or Spirit, to each other, to the plant and animal world, to anything that matters to them. Feeling connected, knowing we belong, being part of a KinGroup or a Community, meets a very deep human need. And it requires doing the work of mindfully considering each relationship we have, as well as investing in each one according to our own priorities/values, which can change over time.
What is required for KinKeeping to take place between people, per Judy?
KinKeeping between people often requires an offer of connection – and a positive response to that offer. Both sides of the exchange are vital. If KinKeeping offers are not made, responses cannot occur. Then connections will wither and perhaps die.
— Thus my strong interest in promoting thinking about this topic as well as participation! As older generations pass from the planet, we can encourage the young to value and intentionally take actions – to keep KinKeeping alive, to keep people connected, to meet that need for belonging. As loneliness grows in a culture, we suffer. As we connect and form communities and collaboratives, we grow! We need each other.
Can anyone be a KinKeeper?
Heck, yeah! Some people are naturally KinKeepers; others had it modeled for them and so they mirror the KinKeeping they saw and experienced. Others simply CHOOSE to learn KinKeeping ways and to do KinKeeping actions. Some folks love to make offers – and invite people, be the one who starts events and gatherings; others find it hard to do so – but may love to respond to the offers. They furnish the “crowd” that gathers in their KinGroup. One is not better than the other – we can all learn to be intentional about maintaining strong ties to our kin – whether they are kin by blood, legal means, or by choice.
How will KinKeeping be fostered in the world?
We can learn from those who are natural, masterful KinKeepers! Hearing their stories, learning the impact of their actions, watching someone reach out and nurture the one next to them, or the one around the world – all these tools can teach us much. And we can innovate our own creative ways of KinKeeping that are original with us and that resonate with our KinGroups. In my book, KinKept: Intentionally Nurturing Connection, I share over 50 little stories that show ways people nurtured me or those I know by KinKeeping us. There are millions more ways to be a KinKeeper!
Why would someone want to be a KinKeeper?
It’s a wonderful antidote to the pain of Loneliness and Isolation! And it’s something we can initiate – we do not have to wait for anyone to make a KinKeeping offer to us. We can take a deep breath, risk being refused, risk being vulnerable – and reach out — let someone know we’d like to spend time with them, get to know them. Or get re-acquainted. Or invite them to a group we’re part of. Or create a group that includes them. Sure, they may refuse – but we are at least trying to close the gaps between us and others, and perhaps even the gaps between them and others.
People might want to KinKeep because then, through their efforts, they can make a difference for themselves AND for those they care about.
Because … KinKeeping Matters!
If you're willing to share a Favorite KinKeeping story, please send it in an email to: stories@kinkeeping.com - Thank you!
Website Credits due and gratefully given:
Brian O’keefe, www.braincandi.com – Web development
Sharla Ember, Website Design