|  Gather
the Women Congress Overview
by Joan Whitacre
Gather The Women Congress, October 17 - 19, 2003 was held
in San Francisco and hosted by WOVA , Women Of Vision and
Action. Members of the Millionth Circle were asked to participate
in three specific ways. Jean Shinoda Bolen was one of the
key inspirational speakers: We're Bringing about an International
Women's Conference in Brazil! Penny McManigal offered her
interatcitve sculpture, Weaving the Dream! The Millionth Circle
hosted one of four ninety-minute breakout sessions. The following
gives different perspectives on the Congress.
I am going to do my best to describe my experience of the
Congress, whose theme was Weaving a World that Works. A complete
description is beyond the limited perspective of any one person,
but this applies to all of life. Here is my intent--to rise
to panoramic vision, seeing the Congress from the sky's point
of view and feeling the Congress from the Earth's whole surface.
The sky's point of view: It is interesting to me that none
of us who attended came forth with a prompt, gushing with
enthusiasm and inspirational report. Indeed, I still find
the Congress not easy to grasp, because it aspired to be vast
and profound, with many points of reference, covering mandates
that relate to the whole globe and those that impact finite
locations. Three hundred women from at least twenty countries
came - with the intention to hold in our hearts the dreams,
the suffering, the births and deaths, the potential for well
being - freedom, healthiness, and love - of all women globally.
We came with offerings of our passion and our intelligence,
expressed in cloth, in flowers, in song, in rhythm, in paintings,
in writing, in powerful speech, in clearly articulated missions,
in yearnings just beginning to find their voice. We came to
expose our fears and strengthen our fearlessness, to acknowledge
our doubts and ignite our faith, to admit our loneliness and
find community.
WOVA (Women of Vision and Action) created an atmosphere of
inclusion, of attention to fine detail, of sharp focus, of
BIG vision, and we went into high gear almost immediately.
The Congress was intensively scheduled with presentations,
keynotes, panels, individual and group exercise seven during
meals, group art, poetry, song and drumming, and a film showing.
The energy flowed, it proclaimed out and it gathered in, it
nourished and it cut, it soothed and it upset. All that arose
seemed to be accommodated, worked with, allowed to be, responded
to. However, there was no scheduled time for reflection, for
being in the space without activity, or for being in communion
with each other spaciously.
The combination of the grandness of the Congress's mission
and this lack of space accounts for my reticence, heretofore,
to report on it. And, even now, I feel something is missing
in this sky's view, or it is too general to be meaningful?
The Earth's surface: Weaving a World that Works described
the overall intent - to come together as individuals and organizations
(22 collaborated to convene the event) leading the way towards
a compassionate and balanced world. This theme was infused
with the energy of the hundredth monkey/the millionth circle/the
butterfly effect. And it manifested in two primary purposes,
knowledge and skill building, and community building. At times,
these two purposes were well integrated and at times they
seemed to pull against each other.
The hotel Miyako provided a serene and uplifted environment,
with a palpable appreciation of space in its public areas,
including Japanese gardens. And the Congress occupied most
of the bottom two floors of publicspace/rooms. This enhanced
a sense of community, that it was an environment infused with
sacred purpose and feminine energy. While it was spacious,
it also held us together and supported intimacy. There were
chairs and sofas that formed intimate talking spaces scattered
around the hotel foyer. There were also public and meeting
rooms, a meditation room and a bookstore. The meditation room
contained four gorgeous shrines to the four directions, with
sacred objects contributed by many of the Congress participants.
Penny McManigal's co-creative, interactive art piece Weaving
the Dream! was a focal point in the main hall. I did a large
Ikebana arrangement for the dining/presentation hall. The
usual areas for networking materials and organizations displays
were transformed by artwork by various participants.
Generally, mornings were devoted to presentations, afternoons
to working sessions and exercises, evenings to performances,
with the weaving of song, drumming, story, poetry, and introductions
of each participant throughout. Kathe Schaaf, Coordinator,
lit the fire for each day and two other WOVA (Women of Vision
and Action) women designed and led the afternoon work sessions.
Inspiring presentations by Carol Lee Flinders, Lynn Twist,
Elisabet Sahtouris dealt with Holding Water, Holding Fire,
The Soul of Money, Crisis, Connection, and Opportunity. Jean
Shinoda Bolen offered a stirring delivery: We're Bringing
about an International Women's Conference in Brazil! Patricia
Smith Melton, founder of Peace x Peace, gave a wonderful and
unexpected presentation to replace Congresswoman Johnson who
had to cancel.
We each were assigned to luncheon tables, to connect with
women we did not know, and here we participated in the afternoon
work sessions, designed as circles around certain themes.
All participated in the co- creative art project designed
by Penny McManigal Weaving the Dream! (see following articles).
We wove Penny's Dream the first afternoon, and participated
in small Learn and Grow sessions the second afternoon, including
the Millionth Circle's powerful circle experience, attended
by over 80 women. Peace x Peace's film, Women on the Frontlines,
was premiered the second evening to a rousing response.
The Congress' call, for all of us to attend the whole event,
did generate a holding power, so that most remained present
for most of the schedule. In contrast to many conferences,
the energy did not wane midway, but continued to intensify,
bound by the strength and spirit of a growing community. It
was the foresight of the conveners that all participants attend
the entire event in order to generate a powerful holding of
energy. Most all participants were able to do this. While
the Congress was infused with sacred spirit, there was little
space to simply feel it and allow wisdom and compassion to
arise from that being in it. Even so, I was energized by the
Congress and humbled at the same time. I came away with a
fair amount of only partially digested information and experience
and will have to let the integration happen in its own way.
Altogether, it was an occasion of letting go for me, of more
completely acknowledging where I am on my journey, and relaxing
in the love that is not dependent on outcomes. It deepened
my bonds to our Millionth Circle community, to the other Millionth
Circles who attended, and to the depth and delight that circling
can offer the world. And for that I am deeply grateful.
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