Last week, a friend who is an entrepreneur and stay-at-home mom, posted on Facebook that she missed the laughter, the magic, the healing that occurs when women gather together. As I read her post, I felt the echo of my own longings. And I wasn’t the only one. Reading through the other replies, I saw the same yearning – a need for female friendships, for the magic that only happens when women come together. Gaia, Mother Earth, Wild Woman, Sacred Feminine, Wild She…whatever name you use, the essence of the goddess lives within all women. She is in our intuition, our nurturing, our passion, our creativity, our healing, and in our deep wisdom and knowing. When women gather as a soul tribe, the power of the sacred feminine strengthens the energy and soul of each woman, creating space for healing, love, and transformation.
Soul tribe. Just saying those words quickens my heart and fires my blood with a wild joy. For me, soul tribe conjures images of a group of women gathered in a circle around a sacred fire, dancing and singing to the beautiful moon. It awakens memories of heartfelt conversations, laughter spilling into the air, a shared connection forged beyond time and the constraints of individual life circumstances. Soul tribe is sisterhood, a remembrance and celebration of woman as creative, vibrant, fierce, and untamed. It’s absolutely necessary for a woman’s physical, spiritual, and creative health…and it’s missing from my life.
As the lone female in a house full of men and as one of a handful of women working at a company run by men (in a male-dominated industry), I’ve been guilty of neglecting my soul’s need for the nourishment of a soul tribe. Like many women, I tend to fill my free time with activities related to caring for a family and home. However, the soul doesn’t allow its needs to be ignored forever. I’ve learned that you can either pay attention to your own needs for self-care, or your body and soul will force you to pay attention. Sometimes, an ignored soul expresses itself through feelings of irritability or resentment. Sometimes, if you continue to ignore your needs for nourishment, you may find yourself suddenly sick in bed for a week. One way or another, the body and soul will get your attention!
Although it had been at least five years since I’d written a poem, this year I suddenly began to write poetry about the sacred feminine. I found myself reading and re-reading Mary Oliver’s collection of poems, A Thousand Mornings, Sue Monk Kidd’s book, Dance of the Dissident Daughter, and Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s books, The Invitation, The Dance, and The Call. I stumbled across When Women Waken, an online and print literary journal that supports and celebrates women writers, and found a home for several of my poems and one of my essays. It took me awhile, but I finally recognized the poems as my soul’s way of calling me back to myself so that I could express and nurture what had been neglected.
So, over the past few weeks, I’ve begun to listen deeply to my body and to my soul. I wake up early so I can practice yoga and meditate, and I pay attention when the urge strikes to paint, write, take a walk, or just color. One Sunday afternoon I sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by magazines, scissors, and a glue stick, and created a vision board for the coming year. Last week, I signed up for a free, online women’s retreat, “Woman Unleashed,” which focuses on awakening women’s power, passion, and purpose. It’s going on until January 31, so there’s still time to sign up! On Saturday, I attended an essential oils workshop at Pebble in a Pond in Winchester, VA, with three other women and made bath salts and sugar scrubs for the holidays.
Small steps, but each one honors the wild woman who is the mother of all women. Each act of soul-care reminds me who I am beyond my roles as wife, mother, employee, and homemaker. Whether online or in person, reconnecting with a soul tribe of women inspires, encourages, and challenges each woman to awaken to her authentic self and to reclaim her place within the universal soul tribe of women. It can be as simple as lunch with a friend or as detailed as a weekend retreat or monthly women’s circle. Finding your way to your own soul tribe begins with listening to your needs and following the guideposts your inner wild woman sets along the path to lead you home to your authentic self.
How do you take care of your soul? How do you connect with your soul tribe? Let me know!
With light and love,
Terri
Gypsy Soul Creative 