In Honor of All Womyn

March observes International Women’s Day, a time of honoring how womyn before us have paved the way in creating a life where we as womyn are respected for our divine contribution to the world around us. Started as a way to honor the movement for women’s rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women, the celebration has now evolved, in my mind, to also include the honoring of our sacred feminine, that unique and divine quality that only womyn share.

It often passes without much fanfare in the mainstream media, at least here in the US, and few womyn that I know actually choose to find a way to celebrate it, or note it’s passing. In other countries it is a National Holiday, and men are encouraged to lavish the womyn in their lives, and womyn are encouraged to have womyn only celebrations. And, unfortunately, in still other countries, womyn are beaten for celebrating this day. Over the years I have done various things to bring awareness to this important event in the small community I live in, including an open mic night, a women’s movie night, sharing circles, ritual and ceremony. This year I am participating in an event that other local womyn are putting together.

A dear friend of mine, Damaris Margaret, many years ago started the All Woman’s Review-a diverse and eclectic gathering of amazing local womyn appearing on stage and sharing personal stories, poetry, song, dance and comedy. After a many year hiatus, when Damaris sadly moved out of town, Bisbee’s Obscure Productions is now reviving the Review this year. It’s going to be a fabulous, fun, entertaining and great night, and I am going to be reading 2 pieces. One is an original, and the other is a very powerful piece that has moved me deeply. I choose to be involved in this production to honor myself, to honor all the amazing and wonderful womyn in Bisbee, to honor Damaris, and to honor the divine holy feminine power.

This is my original piece I will be sharing… I will share the other piece next week (don’t want to  ruin it for those going to the event! ).

i am a womyn..

just trying to make my way

floating thru the minefields

of rape, abortion, abandonment

abuse and addiction

trying to make my way

on the path of

re-discovering my lost spirit

of yesteryear

reclaiming the lost child

that grew to fast, to hard

a painful time

of confusing intangible love

riding the waves

of adolescent-maiden storms

shipwrecked and sharkfood

i was a womyn just trying to find my way

back then

looking for love

in all the wrong places

seeking that valid connection

without knowing what

i was looking for

only that i had not found it

yet

now, i am a womyn

making my way

transforming the mine fields

into flowers

bringing beauty in gently

thru healing

marking each day

as a miracle

i am a womyn making my way

along this wonderous

path of life

with other womyn

by my side

wounded, beautiful, recovering

healing, strong womyn

standing powerful in all

we have been

all we are

and all we will be

becoming bigger and bolder

with each new day

discovering our authentic selves

our hidden spirits

our loving hearts

holding each other’s hands

holding each other up

with these womyn

i am a womyn

getting stronger

releasing the pain

embracing the beauty

making right choices

being healthy

i am a womyn

creating my way.

~margie scott~

6/16/05

This piece was inspired by my Mentor Retreat Coach Helene VanManen, when she wrote a piece of the same name, which honors the lineage of fine womyn she comes from. Why not create your own? Take some time to sit with who you are, then write a piece to share with the world. Post it here, and I will celebrate you!

I look forward to seeing local Bisbee folks this weekend at The Central School Project for The All Woman’s Review. For everyone else, I invite you to take a moment and honor the great womyn in your life, and if you are a womyn, to spend some time celebrating your incredible greatness.

Adding Value and Giving Thanks

(This is a re-post from another blog I had. I share it with you today as I scurry off to the mountains and cold of Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with dear friends. May you have a marvelously abundant and joyful Thanksgiving holiday! Thanks for being a reader. )

Lately I have been pondering, and sitting with, the question of “How can I add value to your life?”. Your being the collective your; all those around me, all those I touch, have contact with, and intersect with in various ways.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, a time when we naturally take stock of all the things we have to be joyfully grateful for, it’s a bit of an interesting twist. As I list my mountains of abundance that I am so thankful for, I also get to consider all the ways that I might be able to positively impact another’s life.

How can I add value to your life? Depending on who I ask will certainly influence the answer. Actually, it is not even imperative that I really ask the other person, it is a question I can ask of myself about another person. “How can I add value to so&so’s life?”.

It occurs to me, that unless those I am asking really know who I am, they may not be aware of how I may add value to their life. If, for instance, the person I asked did not know that I am a Life Coach, they wouldn’t know that I might support them in gaining clarity or in creating balance in their lives. If they know I am a Life Coach, they may not understand that my focus is on Whole Health and Wellness, especially within relationships, and that my passion is in helping others to gain a sense of complete healthiness in all aspects of their life. If they are needing respite and renewal, and didn’t know I facilitate custom designed retreats for individuals and groups, they wouldn’t know I could help them step out of their usual lives and into a safe place of stillness where their authentic voice could really be heard. Likewise, if one was unaware of my community building experience, or organizational skills, networking prowess, or love for collaborative ventures, how would they know to ask?

As we consider the possibility of adding value to lives of others, in ways that they will be thankful for, while we count our own blessings, it seems important that we let others know who we are!!

But first, we must ask ourselves…how do I value myself? In what ways can I add value to my own life? What aspects of myself do I believe adds value to the lives of others? Believing in ourselves and trusting that we have something of value to contribute to the world at large, and knowing what that is, is as important as wanting to make a positive impact.

Sometimes we are not always able to connect to our intrinsic value and positive contribution to the world. Hopefully, this is when our friends and loved ones take notice, and ask us how they can add value to our lives! And then, we get to count our blessings and have give thanks and the circle continues.

Today, I am grateful for many, many things, and I ask: how can I add value to your life?

The Red Tent Temple Movement

Awhile back a Facebook friend, and fellow Womyn’s Circle facilitator that I originally met back East in what now seems like life times ago, posted a link to a movement that she is starting, called the Red Tent Temple Movement. ALisha Starkweather is well known as an extraordinary and skilled facilitator for personal and global transformation and is the founder of the Women’s Belly and Womb Conference and Daughters of the Earth Gatherings; a Women’s Tribal Event, and her Priestess Path Apprenticeship.

ALisa says, ”

“The Red Tent Temple Movement is a way for women to gather our inner momentum, that feeling like the time is now, and to authentically come forward with everything we are as women. It gives us a place to incubate, dream, slow down, without an agenda or plan. It is a woman space where we can share stories, laughter, songs, food and honor our unique feminine cycles that we experience each month, whether we are in our bleeding time or going through peri-menopause and menopause. The Temple provides a way that is more consistent with our actual rhythms, cycles and ways of being in relationship to each other that support, foster and give us strength and courage.

It is time. The women are ready to co-create a vision in the societies we live in and make a place among us where women are honored by honoring our own unique journeys of womanhood. Join us in a revolutionary act. It is more than a woman’s circle. It is a deep learning process of unlearning the busy and finding the moment.

Inside the Red Tents we give ourselves time to remember who we are at our very core, while honoring that to remember we must turn from our identities and roles towards the innermost temple of our own hearts. Come into the Red Tent and stop. In the quiet and sometimes celebratory company of wonderful women, feel. In what you feel, there is much that is waiting for you.”

I am pleased, and happy, about bringing a Red Tent Temple to my local community of Bisbee, AZ. It’s important. It’s time. Womyn need a place to come together, to gather, to reconnect. We live in such crazy times, and our ancient ways of womynhood and divine feminine experiences are getting lost. As we struggle to fit into the boxes of societies demands and our various roles, the essence of our authentic spirit cries out to be heard and attended to. Come to the Temple. Relax. Unwind. Be nurtured by other womyn. Share stories and wisdom. This is how we create, design, and maintain sustainable relationships in our lives. Reconnect to your spirit, your story, your dreams, your purpose. Laugh, Dance and Play. The time is now.

My heart sings in the anticipation of being in your presence inside The BisbeeRed Tent and/or of visiting your Tent wherever you are. Join the movement. Erect a Red Tent in your community.

(The Red Tent of Bisbee, AZ will be starting Dec 15th. Connect with Coach Margie for more information)

The Power of Hugging

Who knew the power of hugging? Well, quite honestly, I’ve always been a huge hugger. I hug people when I first see them, when I say goodbye,even if I just saw them yesterday and will see them in a couple hours. In my mind, I imagine there is the slight possibility that I may not see them again and I don’t want to regret that I didn’t hug them with all my love, affection, admiration and respect that one last time. I’ve learned to open my arms with an invitation of a hug, rather than assume everyone wants to hug just because I do. After awhile, you just know who the fellow huge huggers are, and who tends to shy away from hugging. Respecting everyone where they are, you jump into the arms of those who love to hug and you hug the others in your mind and heart. This is all the practice of engaging bliss into your life-loving others as they are, and being all of who you are without quieting that which deeply moves you.

In my community there is one burly, gregarious, happy hugger of a man, who every time I see him my body goes into a little happy dance, because it knows we’re going to get not only a fabulous hug, but a very sweet little spinal adjustment as well. It’s marvelous, and limits my need to visit the chiropractor, thereby keeping precious dollars in my pocket (always a plus these days!) So, when I saw him last week my receptivity to his hug invitation was no different. Unfortunately, his hug was! Somehow, someway, something went very wrong, and in the process of our hugging one of my ribs got cracked!! As I said, who knew the power of hugging. Ouch!

One thing I have definitely been continuously reminded of this Summer, is that pain brings awareness. Suddenly, in the days that followed, I was so focused on my core-how I moved it, the ways I stretch it, where it’s weak, and how much I depend on it. This was the power of the hug-bringing me back to my core, to my center, and into the awareness of her necessary healing, and I don’t just mean on a physical level. Wow!

In no way will this experience stop me from hugging! For me hugging is a simple, easy, harmless (well, most of the time!) way of counteracting the touch deprivation so prevalent in our culture these days. Touch is healing. Touch connects us. Hugging let’s us know we are loved.

How do you hug? Are you a tent hugger, keeping the lower half of your body extended away from the other person? A one sided hugger, where your hips are touching rather than a full frontal connection? A one arm hugger, never fully committing to the hug? A back slapping hugger? Do you relax into the hug, or stiffen and feel tense? Do you hug with clean, clear intent, or attempt to cop a feel? Is there a hidden agenda, or just the desire to embrace this being before you with love and yummy-ness?

Check out this great video, if you haven’t seen it yet, about how one man took to the streets with a “free hug” campaign. It’s a great example of how hugging can change the world. (Watch for all different types of hugs!)

I invite you to explore the power of hugging. To begin opening up to the receiving of magnificent hugs from others, and engaging in the practice of inviting others to be hugged. See where your edges are. Observe how you hug. Explore yourself and your thoughts about hugging. Most of all, don’t forget to hug yourself-lovingly, gently, and often! Drop into the bliss of it all.

Then go out and start your own Free Hugs campaign and see how your world changes.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I just returned from a 10 day excursion down memory lane. What a trip that has been, on many levels! It’s amazing how returning to the scene of our past can set into motion a whole score of things.

Engaging in such activity could be trauma inducing, or it could provide us with some new insights, understandings, and appreciations. Being able to see the experiences of the past as gifts that support our growth and personal evolution, rather than a list of regrets, is key.

A high school reunion is probably the epitome of reminisce-ville. Especially when it’s anywhere past the 25yr mark! This was my 30th, and we returned to the school campus of our co-ed, college prep, boarding school, Wasatch Academy. A particularly great school, Wasatch prides itself on student body diversity and making a difference in students lives. It is where I first got exposed to a wide variety of cultures and the people who lived in them. It also became my first experience in community living, something that would have a positive impact and influence on my future life. My favorite part was getting to see all the natural wonders in Utah which was nothing like I had ever seen as a Nor-Easter!

I drove in my car from Arizona to Mt Pleasant, Utah for the reunion. I traveled along the Vermillion Cliffs In AZ before crossing the border into Utah, a spectacularly beautiful drive that loosened the baggage of my mind and allowed for the memories to begin. Along the way I stopped at Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon and many other beautiful spots. I recalled how my mom and sister drove me out to school from CT and who I was in that time. A naive, messed up kid for sure!!

Arriving at the reunion, I was struck by how instantly at home I felt, despite the many changes and advancements over the years. Connecting with friends, I saw myself mirrored in their eyes, all of us asking the question-how did I get here? I facilitated a sharing circle that allowed for participants to share their hearts truth regarding anything that needed clearing from long ago, any part of their life over the last 30yrs, or what is alive for them right now. The shared theme I heard in this circle was the awareness that life rarely turns out as we plan, that who we thought we were going to be is nowhere to be found, and that the influence of life at Wasatch Academy was a positive force for all.

How lucky we all were to have attended this institution that molded and shaped us, educated and informed us, supported and encouraged us, and set each of us on a path of discovery that 30 yrs later brings us all back together again. While not the same people by any stretch of the imagination, I could see the essence of everyone as I knew them in their smiling eyes, shining spirits and searching hearts.

My journey home allowed for lots of reflection as I took myself to quiet and beautiful nature spots for soul rejuvenation and personal retreat. While making certain to visit key locations,  I thought about the circles of time, who I was and who I have become, and how at each stop along the way there was a flood of memories that connected me to my past and looped around to connect to my life experience of today. My favorite place was Zion, an astoundingly beautiful spot on this Earth, that reminded me of my own greatness and how far I have come since I last visited there.

Ultimately, the journey to our past often informs our future, and this trip has been all that and more for me. While at Zion I received some information that indicated some very big changes in my life were on the horizon. It was exactly the same way in 1979 as I traveled home after my graduation from Wasatch.

Circles in time. The bliss of memory lane is that we know how to do it different this time.

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