|  Report
on 2005 International Women’s Day Events
This is our third year of gathering women on International
Women’s Day. Our purpose in joining this decades old
celebration is to invite women to consciously join with women
around the world. We are energetically connected by using
the same common threads, posting the events and details of
each event and by knowing we are standing united with our
sisters around the world.
While we had fewer gatherings than the years past, we also
had larger ones. Three hundred women gathered in Tibet around
the issue of gender equality, mirrored by the 300 who gathered
in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In St. Cloud a wonderful alliance
formed to create their third year of Gather the Women, which
was supported by the Central Minnesota Community Foundation,
the St. Cloud Chapter of the NAACP, Franciscan Sisters of
Little Falls, and others.
In my hometown of Grass Valley, California, we celebrated
with over two hundred women. Our focus was to move beyond
that which separates us to the field of which Rumi speaks
when he says: “Out beyond ideas
of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field…. I’ll
meet you there.”
In northwest Connecticut they had a gathering of thirty women
who came together from many different towns and different
walks of life. They reported an amazing sharing of emotions
and stories. Colorado Springs reports: “We
only had six participants show up but the ages ranged from
30's to 60's. It was powerful for all of us.”
We received the following report from Nigeria: “We
had a celebration of women’s day, we called it our day
of reasoning, a circle of reason. We discussed women and how
we feel as women. A couple of women were single and they are
thinking of starting a Celebration of Single hood Fellowship!
Is that funny? I don’t know. They expressed their feelings
of anger and disgust at their families, churches, society.
Even married friends are bugging them to get married as if
they can just pick a guy who suits them off the shelves. That
was the high point. The debate on why every one expects women
to get married by a particular age or die trying. I talked
about the Circle the way I understood it.” (only
slightly edited version)
Women in Israel have traditionally celebrated International
Women’s Day. Two of the groups, the Interfaith Council
which includes Arab and Jewish women and another group focused
on peace, have included Gather the Women in their acknowledgement
of the day.
Each year we receive wonderful reports of the gatherings,
the energy produced, the exchange of information and inspiration.
Next year we are looking to increase the number of gatherings.
Locally speaking: "Because I
live in Nevada County (Grass Valley and Nevada City California)
this has been a place to experiment with GTW in our community.
Each year we hold a follow up meeting to our March event in
which we seek to create on going circles for women, partnerships
and collaborations between groups and/or projects. We now
have a drumming circle who have met for 3 years, a circle
exploring the divine feminine, and recently added a facilitated
circle called ‘The Practice’, a book discussion
group and a project called The Dialogue Project where we will
invite an otherwise divided community to explore ways in which
we can work together. How we might better understand why we
see things so differently. This model can work anywhere. We
have also created offerings where we can sponsor, give a talk,
or work with other organizations as a gift with no expectations
of return."
GTW is a movement on the move! Beginning with our March events
we move towards the fall where this year our GTW International
Women’s Congress will expand into a series of Regional
Congresses, using the March strategy of working with local
women to create events in their own community with common
threads and support. Plans are underway to create a workbook
around which we can bring the energy of the larger Congresses
to the grassroots level. These regional gatherings build energy
for the continental Congresses to be held in 2006 —
and beyond to the hope for powerful grassroots participation
in a 5th Women’s World Conference in 2010. (See www.5wwc.org
for ways you can support this energy.)
Only when women realize the impact of gatherings uniting
in the same week, around the world, will our numbers increase.
We have brought to IWD a new paradigm of connection, celebrating
more than our history but our longing for a better world.
And above all, we invite women to lift our voices together
from a base of Spirit that unites, not divides.
Remember when women come together
something wonderful happens: an igniting of passion and possibility,
hope rises, determination quickens and our bond as women deepens.
In this experience we weave with the golden thread of the
divine feminine.
Marilyn Nyborg
GTW Outreach Coordinator
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