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I Have A Dream for my Daughter
There was a time when women once had dreams of freedom. We dreamed that we would have the right to vote, and our voices would be heard. We dreamed of becoming leaders in our communities, so that we could make a difference. We dreamed of having a choice about our bodies, and when we bring a child into the world. We dreamed of getting an education. We dreamed of working outside of our homes, and have the right to all the same jobs men. To many it would seem that we have gained these freedoms, especially here in the West, and that our process of liberation is complete.
So here are my questions to you…
Why does a woman still feel that she is never enough?
Why does a women spend thousands of dollars on cosmetics to make herself look beautiful?
Why does the average woman earn 32 cents less than the average man?
Why does our country go to war, when in the hearts of so many women, they scream No?
Why do so many women feel silenced, afraid to speak their truth?
Women, we can never truly be liberated until we free ourselves from the shackles of our own minds. Our thoughts create our reality, and if we hold on to conditioning that kept us safe, yet small, we will never be free to be ourselves, to own what it truly means to be a woman in this feminine form.
Women, we can never be satisfied until we remember that we are sacred.
We can never be satisfied until we remember our intrinsic value as women. Let us remember that our power lies in the strength of our hearts, and not in the rejection of our own wanting. Let us remember that we give birth to the future of tomorrow. Let us remember that if we stand together, we can end the violence in this world by educating every man, woman and child. No, we can never be satisfied while we limit ourselves by believing that we are somehow not enough. Women of America, we are enough!
Yes, we have experienced a taste of freedom. But we are never truly free until we break the bonds of disempowerment we have known for thousands of years.
It has been programmed into us. Women, we have been raped, tortured, burned at the stake, put down, shut out, imprisoned, silenced, but now is the time to set ourselves free and live the truth of who we are. Now is the time to stop playing small. Now is the time to let our voices be heard.
I have a dream that my daughter will know her intrinsic worth as a woman.
I have a dream that she will know how her body moves with the tides and the moon, and that she knows how to create life and how to let things die, letting go with ease and grace. I have a dream that she will continue to come together with other women in circles as we have done since the beginning of time, and remember the strength in our unity. I have a dream that she will remember the importance of our presence, that it’s not what she does but who she is that matters most. I have a dream that she will feel empowered to meet her own needs and truly own her wanting. I have a dream that my daughter’s voice and all the other women’s voices will be heard around the world.
When we take responsibility for our own freedom, we will remember that the key has been inside us all along.
For every woman who finds her freedom, another follows in her footsteps. Let us rise up together and write the story of what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. Now is the time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
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Storykeeper: Lois Shannon
Lois is the Founding Mother of The Woman’s Network. She has been on an intensive path of self discovery in an attempt to understand and embody what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. After feeling a deep disconnection with herself and the world around her, Lois reconnected by remembering and reclaiming her worth through an active Mindfulness practice and by sharing in a community of women. She then began running her own women’s groups to facilitate honest, open communication and saw amazing results. The Woman’s Network (TWN) was born from these gatherings and a desire to collectively heal the imbalance that is experienced internally within the hearts of many woman.
Lois is trained in facilitating Trauma Constellations and teaching Mindfulness, with experience in Somatic Bodywork and Five Rhythm Dance. Lois has worn many hats over her lifetime giving her unique insight into the many roles we play as women. She had a successful business career, including being highlighted in the Wall Street Journal in 1999 as one of the top 30 Business Women in Europe. She held senior management positions at Bain & Company, Apple Computer Europe and Russell Reynolds Associates in London before becoming a full time mother living in the South of France. After almost 20 years in Europe, she now lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and three teenage children.
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