Building Community: Women’s Coffee and Conversation

January 17, 2012 at 5:37 pm · Filed under Activities, Classes, Workshops and tagged: community event, Destiny Allison Fine Art, santa fe community event, Santa Fe Mall, santa fe shopping center, women's issues

You are invited to join us on Sunday, January 29 at 2pm for a coffee and some great conversation.  This event is facilitated by Christine Wagner and Karen Hodges and will take place at Destiny Allison Fine Art.  Read on to understand why this coffee is happening and what it is about:

Dear Destiny,

Congratulations to you in the achievement of the 2011 Businesswoman of the Year award!

We are especially intrigued by your comment about your contribution – “I do what I do because it is the Work I do that feeds my soul.” Far too many women do not have an inkling what that may be for them. Women’s work sometimes can seem very far from the “capital W” Work that refers to a life calling or purpose. Our strengths, our talents, the gifts that light us up seem to remain dormant in the face of the “shoulds” – no, the “musts” – that represent our world. Why?

We are the mothers, the daughters, the housewives, the caretakers. We bring groceries and meals to neighbors who are ill or unable to prepare meals for themselves. This is our work, and perhaps we also do “work” that helps pay the bills…but how much of this work is respected in today’s society?

We are creating the 21^st century roadmap for all women. And there is no roadmap to adulthood for our daughters to follow.

What can we do to trust our unique voice as women and see its importance to the business community and the world at large? What are the gifts and talents that women bring to the table both in business and in our communities? How can we discern our voice as women, individually and collectively?

What message is the media transmitting to our daughters? Feminist thinking is clear that women are much more than one-dimensionally defined sex symbols. Our daughters see images of scantily clad women flaunting their bodies. The message is consistent and repetitive, but untrue. A woman’s sexual self is NOT the only real power women have.

What can we do as women to claim our powers of collaboration; authentic and reflective listening; responsiveness and attunement? The virtues of feminist thinking are widely known and appreciated. At the world peace summit in Vancouver in 2009, the Dalai Lama proclaimed that the world will be saved by the Western woman. How can claiming our own voices and power have world impact? And how can we include our young girls and teenagers to sustain it?

We are energized by the opening your award and response have created — and find the dialogue rich and multi-faceted. We welcome being part of this conversation, hearing the voices and insights of women in our community.

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