Womyn's Summit and the Practice of Community

As Fall really sets in I always feel a surge of creative energy and get-to-it-ness take hold.  The drive to sit and write, the space to contemplate the bigger picture also steadfastly sinks back into me, as the summer months fade from my skin.  These days I find myself thinking of how lucky I am.  How much I love my community of sisterhood, how blessed I am in this life, what a privilege it is to work with those I work with, to create with those I create with, to speak and be heard, and to learn from thoughtful and truthful and grounded people.  

Right now my creative juices are flowing around the beginning phases of planning for Womyn's Summit 2018.  So much of what I feel deep gratitude for has stemmed from this magical gathering.  Womyn's Summit is not only an opportunity for womyn to gather together outside the responsibilities of our daily lives, but also a chance to speak truths we hold back from proclaiming to the greater world out of fear and ingrained shame; a chance to take a deep breath, release, re-group, ground, and gain inspiration; a chance to heal, to remember, to acknowledge our deep selves in a safe and spacious atmosphere; a chance to gain the courage to go back to our communities, speak our truth, and hold space for those not being heard.  Womyn's Summit isn't just an event, it's a practice; a practice in community building, in carrying on tradition, in creating space and time for inspiration to strike, for creativity to be nourished, for our minds, bodies, and souls to be fed.  And so many of us are starving.  At Womyn's Summit we remember that we are not alone.  In this cultural paradigm we allow lies to seep into our bones: we are not enough, our intuition can't be trusted, we should have "it all", we need to be saved, if we just achieve x, y, and z then everything will be perfect... In the conversations and interactions at Womyn's Summit greater consciousness is born.  As we reflect off the brilliant faces and hearts of the other womyn who took the time and gave themselves permission to attend this powerful weekend, we are awoken.  And the truth is so clear: we are perfect and whole already.  We are each perfectly ourselves, imperfect incarnations of every universal possibility, containing the wisdom of all who have come before us.  We are brilliant, intuitive beings who do know.  We are each our selves, we are each one another.  Our experiences are vast, and we share a collective experience as well.  Isolated from our sisters it's easy to forget, but when we gather it's as clear as can be.

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Above photos by Adelaide Rogers and Nancy Bell

In the new year we'll be calling for workshop proposals; calling for womyn to share their craft, their wisdom, their healing practice... We are all healers, we are all creators, we are all wise and knowing beings with something special to contribute to our communities.  What inspires you?  What makes you rage?  What needs healing in the world?  How do we move forward?  How do we come together?  How do we come to our selves?  What will you bring to the table?  Womyn's Summit is the direct result of the particular energy and gifts of those who attend.    

Stay tuned to the Womyn's Summit website and Facebook page for updates, and for the opportunity to contribute to Womyn's Summit 2018.

​So much love, y'all.
​xo