Written by Alan Colley, Host2Host Founding Member, former H2H President & co-host of the Summit Prairie Fire Lookout Tower in Tiller, OR

Each gathering around the table has its own dynamic. 

Coffee shared with another is infused with its own unique energy. 

Each and every interchange we have with a guest has its very own dance. 

The skilled host knows how to sing and dance so everyone wants to dance and sing along.

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From an article in the Summer 2022 issue of Orion magazine...

“Ultimately, a society’s laws and policies change because the hearts and values of people change. And art, in all its forms, provides a direct route to people’s hearts, regardless of culture or background….The [whatever] movement needs artists and writers of every stripe just as much as it needs lawyers, scientists and activists.” (Manish Bapna)

This quote prompted me to think more deeply about how much this sentiment could so easily apply to hosting. Yes, we need people who are skilled in the mechanics and logistics of how to run a hosting business, but we also need artists and poets who raise our imaginations about the grand possibilities of hospitality and welcoming.

I want to ponder…

The poetry of hosting.

The song of hospitality

The delightful dance of welcoming. 

Isn’t this what calls us?

Isn’t this is what draws us in

and gives us the energy and spirit that carries us along?

Isn’t this what our guests feel from the first encounter?

Perhaps we could explore this poetry as the current that reaches beneath our work and lifts us as both guests and hosts.