Ginny Wilson-Peters' Blog
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” Marianne Williamson
I’m not sure you can say that I write a “blog” when it has been two months since the last posting. I could say it is because I’ve been busy, but that would be an excuse. The truth is that I find myself wondering if something I write will be important enough to impact people’s thinking. Yes, this is ego at play. I find myself reading other writings and listening to other speakers and thinking, “wow, they have it together.”
And then I was introduced to the video link about everyday leadership and it has inspired me beyond words. In the past two weeks, I’ve shared the video with my MBA leadership class, our QC Leadership Academy and four of my Women in Leadership groups. In all cases, the results have made for engaging conversation about “lollipop moments” and yes, a few tears.
I encourage you not just to view this video, but to do two things. First, share it with others. And second, think about someone that has created a lollipop moment for you—and tell them about it.
Okay, one more request. Please share your moments with us in the comments section.
“When we are seen by the heart we are seen for who we are. We are valued in our uniqueness by those who are able to see us in this way and we become able to know and value ourselves” Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom
A campfire in the center. A camp counselor playing a guitar. Counselors with names like Birch and Patches and Froggie. And a circle of girls belting out their favorite songs. Sitting in circle at Girl Scout camp is among my favorite childhood memories (yes, even better than the Girl Scout cookies). Many times we would march to the campfire and begin with a ritual to remind us of the sacred space we were entering.
My early memories of campfires were perhaps the seeds of my passion for sitting in circle with other women. Circles are certainly not unique to Girl Scout camp; women and men have been sitting in circle for centuries prior to my experience.
I will admit though that after my Girl Scout years, I went for many years without experiencing the positive support and energy of a circle of women. I grew up as the only girl in a family with three older brothers. In my twenties and early thirties I didn’t appreciate the value of connecting closely with other women. About ten years ago a friend gave me a book called “Circle of Stones: A Woman’s Journey to Herself” by Judith Duerk. It is a book about the power of women coming together in a circle. “How might your life have been different if there had been a place for you, a place for you to go to be with your mother, with your sisters and your aunts, with your grandmothers, and the great- and great-great-grandmothers, a place of women to go, to be, to return to, as woman? How might your life be different?”
Reading Circle of Stones re-ignited my earlier passion for circles. And I took action. Even before I left my previous job to start this company, I began inviting women to sit together monthly. Intuitively I knew that we were to sit in circles. Our first circles met in my living room and we created our own rules for coming together. Many of those early rules are in place today—and they are consistent with the guidelines put forth by others for creating circle as a sacred space. When we moved into my current office space, we continued to pull the chairs together and sit in circle. Building code doesn’t allow for a campfire at the center but we do have a place in the center with something representing each of the four elements: earth, fire, water and air.
Over the years I have had the privilege of creating leadership circles for hundreds of men and women. Why do people continue their commitment to these circles? Because the circle is a place where we can listen and learn and grow. Sarah, a woman in one of our leadership groups said the monthly meetings were “a place to breathe”. Another woman last week said the women’s leadership group is the one day a month that she most looks forward to coming to work.
If you’re not part of a circle right now, I encourage you to find one or create your own. Some websites and books to provide guidance are:
http://www.turningtooneanother.net/
The Millionth Circle by Jean Shinoda Bolin
Sacred Circles: A Guide To Creating Your Own Women’s Spirituality Group by Robin Deen Carnes and Sally Craig
Posted in Balance, Women in Leadership | No Comments »
