I am grateful for the Gather The Women website. Thank you so much for the beauty and wisdom which were a catalyst to our event in Kelseyville.

Fifteen women gathered at my house on Kelsey Creek in Kelseyville (a small town on the west side of Clear Lake.) We had all participated in the "Daily Activities" for the week leading up to the day. We came together for connection, sharing and meditation. Our artist friend brought ink and press and helped us to create a communal art piece. Each woman chose a quote (downloaded from the website) and wrote it out on a large sheet of paper making an impression in black ink. This was later printed onto art paper and cut into sections overlaid with a peace symbol. Each woman took home a "piece of peace".

We opened the circle with introductions and personal sharing around a sacred campfire under majestic oaks with spring birds fluttering and singing around us. Another friend led a guided meditation that focused on radiating peace outward, with an emphasis on two words that we each wanted to offer out to the world. We culminated with a spirited spiral dance and a sending forth of our words. Connection, light, love, peace and warmth were strong.

Thank you for the inspiration! Pamela

I held a small, but sweet and sacred event at my home in Sherman Oaks, CA on March 8th. I had 4 women in addition to myself.

We meditated and prayed together. We honored our ancestors (transcended) and elders (living), asked for lessons from them, and visioned the future we wish for ourselves and future generations. We made commitments to our planet and to ourselves. The diversity of women was fabulous - even in this small group - we were of a variety of ages and experiences, with the common thread of believing that we have the power to create a world in harmony - whether we were a group of 5, 50 or 500.

Thank you and Gather the Women for creating this. Looking forward to creating more healing opportunities for us all.

Aloha Carol,
Thank you for your wonderful emails each day connecting us all.

On the island of Kaua'i, 15 women (from the US, Canada, Switzerland and Germany) gathered at my home for brunch, the reading of the vision statement and common threads, and to create collages depicting our gifts to the world and what we are bringing forward at this time. A nonprofit organization called Circles of Light provided direction and art supplies and we had a great time. Photographs were taken and we'll be sending them to Gather the Women as soon as possible.

Thank you and all the organizers of this energizing and vital gathering. We have so much to offer and we can change the world situation with our love.
Have a beautiful day.
Sharon Gonsalves
Mahina's Women's Guest House on Kaua'i

I came to the GTW website late (the last week in February) and although I was inspired by the website and very interested in taking part in some way, I was slow to organize an event. However, I did gather 3 other women at my house on March 8 from 10-12 a.m. We were a small but powerful group.

I acted as both organizer and facilitator. We began by joining hands in a circle as I spoke an invocation asking Spirit to be present in our midst and to move in us. Then, as we shared fresh scones, strawberries and tea (there is something sacred in sharing good food together!), I read the GTW Vision Statement. Following a little conversation, I read the guided meditation which connected us with other women observing International Women's Day.

For the next hour or so we engaged in "Thoughtstorming", a technique for creating ideas and generating insights that was developed by Harry Palmer (See "The Thoughtstorm manual: an evolution in human thinking" by Harry Palmer, published by Star's Edge International). We chose as our alignment question:"What does the world want and need that we could deliver?" The journey to discover our "corecept" was fun and inspiring. When we reached our "AHA!" moment, we felt connected and empowered. The answer to our question (our corecept) was: "We can plant seeds of hope". Now we are investigating all the ways we can do the in our lives and the lives of others.

We ended our time together with the "Now Power" prayer which someone had contributed to the GTW website. It was perfect, just as the whole morning had been perfect.

I came away from this week (this day) with a vision. I can see myself working to help others to connect on a "soul level" in circles and small groups. (I was excited to find links to peerspirit and the millionth circle). I also am committing myself to organize a larger GTW event for next March.
Thank you for coordinating this GTW week. Your work has planted seeds which will grow and bring hope to the world despite the seeming realities of war, poverty and despair. We women are the world's greatest strength right now, and we WILL overcome!
Blessings and Peace,

In an Arctic blast of winter, -25 Fahrenheit, several hundred stood
outside in painful wind chill to celebrate and protest the insanity in
the drumbeat of war.

Omaha, Nebraska

Submitted by: Mary McArdle , Event Coordinator/Organizer

We held our event at the Omaha Healing Arts Center, which provided the perfect room and space for healing the world. Forty beautiful women attended as participants and/or performers. The energy that filled the room was electric and others elsewhere in the building said they could feel it. A deep connection was made among the women, although most did not know each other before that day.

We started with the GTW vision statement, and then followed with a yoga mudra meditation and the GTW global visualization. Several women shared their gifts with us that day. We participated in dances of universal peace and sang peace songs in English, Hebrew and Arabic. We listened to a commentary by Holly Batchelder entitled "Where are the Women?" Angie Khabeb shared 2 Maya Angelou's poems with us and sang an African song about Mothers. Tami Whitney played Irish/Folk music for us, including the song "We are Woman, Hear us Roar." Our final activity together was an intention ceremony where we wrote down our intentions and then passed a bowl around for each to add her intention to the whole and feel the power. We intend to compile the intentions and share them with the group. If something similar was done at other locations, we are interested in sharing our intentions and learning others from around the world. We finished the event with Heidi Joy singing "Over My Head" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Part of the original plan was to have a time for conversation and to discuss some questions from Meg Wheatley's book "Turning to One Another." This will be the focus of our next gathering in about a month.

Pictures will follow!

In Dallas there were many events throughout the week. I attended a conversation cafe at Unity church with an amazing group of healing women. We got into groups of less than 10 and passed a cup around and spoke on real things that were truly important to us. It was extremely healing in that every one was deeply listened to and honored. We all more deeply connected than we would have had we had a less structured conversation. I believe wisdom circles such as these are an invaluable tool in healing people--people just need to feel heard. When they do, they automatically grow in peace with themselves and with others. They also feel much more connected with their fellow humans. We just need to better realize our eternal connection! (www.conversationcafe.org)

Many women here in Dallas also attended a women's drumming/prayer celebration on Saturday in a park here in town. I prayed for more peace and feelings of safety in the hearts of all humanity. I left with a much better realization of how safe I really am. I have always led a charmed life and I realize it's due to a deep internal contract I've made with Life long before I came here. I have too much to be in this world. I don't have time to invite violence, etc. into my life. Thank God!!!

The conversation cafes are going to continue on a monthly basis here in Dallas, so we will be growing more together. It has been a wonderful experience.