Women’s Circles
A Women's Circle offers you time for personal reflection and self-discovery. During the one-hour Circle, you will be invited to write brief responses to a series of questions that are meant to help you connect with... the many things you love about yourself... what you may want to change in your life…. and ways in which you can take loving care of yourself. The theme and writing prompts change each month.
Please be assured that at no time will you be asked to share your insights, thoughts or feelings with anyone else in the Women's Circle. This is time for personal reflection, time for you to take care of YOU.
Dates for Upcoming Women’s Circles:
I have begun hosting a second Women’s Circle each month to better accommodate women for whom the day or time of our regularly scheduled Circle is not convenient – one theme, one set of writing prompts, two different times.
Next up:
Sunday, June 11 at 2pm EDT… 11am PDT... 6pm UCT… 7pm WAT/BST... 8 pm CAT/EET/CEST/SAST… 9pm EAT.
Thursday, June 15 at Noon EDT… 9am PST... 4pm UCT… 5pm WAT/BST... 6pm CAT/EET/CEST/SAST… 7pm EAT… 8pm GST… 9pm PKT… 9:30pm IST
~ Sunday, July 16 AND Thursday, July 27
~ Sunday, August 13 AND Thursday, August 24
~ Sunday, September 10 AND Thursday, September 21
If you are interested in attending one of our virtual Women’s Circles, please email me at Sharon@AwakeningYourTrueSelf.com. Each Women’s Circle has a unique meeting link, and the day before the monthly Women’s Circle, I forward the link to those who have indicated they want to attend.
Seven Stages to a More Joyful You!
Do you remember what it was like to be joyful almost all of the time? To be full of wonder at a falling red leaf or a cloud that looked just like a pony? To run from one thing to the next, excited by the joy of discovery and happy surprises? For many of us, that childlike wonder is a distant memory but we can recapture that state of bliss.
"Seven Stages to a More Joyful YOU!" is a workbook designed to guide you through stages of self-exporation and of creating the life you deserve. The workbook covers these seven stages:
... Self-discovery through written expressions
... Understanding the weight of unfinished business
... Who decides your priorities?
... Self-discovery by studying our speech
... Creating the life you deserve
... Living in the NOW
... Celebrating the one and only amazing YOU!
Three books that profoundly affected my view of life…
Many Lives, Many Masters, Dr. Brian Weiss
Practicing Peace in Times of War, Pema Chödrön
Be Free Where You Are, Thich Nhat Hanh
And other books… I love to read and many, many books have inspired me over the years. This is a list of a few of my favorite books written by women about fascinating women and girls, including some from long ago. Recently, I have begun to include books that are not novels but that have taught me important life lessons. The original list was much longer, but I pared it down to these…
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence, Anita Hill,
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of A Life Interrupted, Suleika Jaouad
Black and Blue, Anna Quindlen
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships, Harriet Lerner, Ph.D
Don't Bite the Hook (audio book), Pema Chödrön
Dying to Be Me, Anita Moorjani
Educated, Tara Westover
Genesis Begins Again, Alicia D. Williams
The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are, Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW
How We Show Up, Mia Birdsong
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
I Was Amelia Earhart, Jane Mendelsohn
In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez
The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
Know My Name, Chanel Miller
Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esqueval
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
Possession, A.S. Byatt
Rising Strong, Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Still Alice, Lisa Genova
Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
Wild, Cheryl Strayed
Wild Swans, Jung Chang
The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
A Poem for You
A dear friend sent this poem to me in a Mother’s Day e-mail a few years ago. (Thank you very much, Jennifer!). It is such a beautifully written piece that I immediately did some research on the poet, Shiloh Sophia McCloud, and discovered her incredible paintings as well. With Shiloh’s permission I am delighted to share her work with you:
Dear Great Hearted One,
by Shiloh Sophia McCloud
This day we honor and celebrate
the women who have given life to us
the women who give life to ideas,
the women who died giving life,
the women who wanted to have a child but didn’t get to,
the women who right now are tilling their fertile soil for new seed,
the women who choose not to have a child but have many children,
the women who are in captivity,
the women who are free,
those who were mothered well,
and those who had crazy mamas,
because any mama who did not love you well, was not well enough,
the women who are struggling this moment to care for their babies,
and the women who right now snuggle with their little ones under feather comforters,
for those mamas who have gone on,
and for those who are mamas to be,
for women who have miscarried precious life,
and those who carried many,
for single mamas who want their mate,
and for married mamas who want to be seen and heard,
for those who never got to have a mama to hold them,
and for those mamas whose children will not speak to them,
for happy mamas and sad mamas,
and the Great Mama of all,
and most of all….
for all women who need remothering,
we unite in our love for you and your quest for
wholeness, connection, belonging and home.
All women today, we honour
All life today, we celebrate.
Blessed Mother of Life,
hear the prayers of your children this day.
Open our hearts to hear that which you are speaking
to us and through us.
Shiloh Sophia McCloud