The Give and Grow

The Combine is all about giving things space to grow: People. Ideas. Community. And, yes, sometimes plants. So @theGiveandGrow’s week of workshops couldn't have found a better home. 

First, The Combine lobby was transformed into an oasis of positivity. Greenery bursted from basketball planters, custom-painted for sale by 10 local artists to support the “Give” in The Give and Grow. Their whole vision is fostering the next generation of girls’ and women’s wellness through mentorship and sport.    

Fittingly, that energy flowed all the way back to our ball court, which happens to double nicely as a venue for open discussion, like the one led on September 20th, by The Give and Grow founder, Olivia Ho. The whole conversation, The Yard was buzzing with creative and kinetic energy ready for release.  

Yoga mats unfurled, attendees got up on their feet and flowed to the music to put the ideas they were talking about into action with a quick movement session— blood pumping and a true sense of community kindling.   

The next day of growth focused on creation: Everyone was passed their own white basketball— a blank canvas to let imaginations run wild as each painted their unique design. Then they chose a plant to pot inside it. 

 It was an immersion in the importance of wellness: caring for it, letting it grow, and expressing it through movement and play. The beauty of reclaiming an ordinary basketball as a one-of-a-kind home for your plant is hard to put into words. But maybe that’s the point. Personal growth isn’t something you talk about, it’s something you do, and something you feel, once you get the right space. Here at The Combine, it just fit. So, swish.