Lessons in Gratitude Day 31

Today I spent around seven hours in the company of about 60 or so other African American women. We had gathered for a workshop on healing the sacred feminine. It was about connection, it was about sisterhood, it was about letting go of some of the junk we carry from this lifetime and from those of our ancestors. We sat in meditation together, engaged in deep sharing about personal matters, did exercises designed to help us recognized our connectedness with one another, and honored each other for our respective journeys. There were tears and a lot laughter, hugs and deep bows of gratitude to one another and especially to our workshop leader. We ranged from twenty-somethings up to sisters who were perhaps in their 70s–hard to tell with Black women, of course.

At the end of the day I found myself totally exhausted. If someone were to ask me what I did that was so tiring, they might wonder how what I described could have me ready to collapse into bed. But the truth is, healing work is just that–work. When you’re working at a deep, sometimes cellular level, you might have no conscious idea what’s happening, but you know something is shifting inside. Most of the women in that room carried the weight of life traumas and dramas–even some of the younger in our midst bore emotional scars from life circumstances that no one should have to endure. In listening to each other’s stories we held up for each other mirrors of compassion and loving acceptance that acknowledged that though our paths differed in some ways, we had many things in common.

What today’s gathering confirmed for me was the power of communion and community. Communion is defined as, “the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, esp. when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.” Today was definitely spent communing with one another. Community is “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” We came together with one common thread–we are all women of African descent. I believe many of us came expecting, hoping for a powerful experience and left feeling we’d received one. I have no idea if I’ll ever be in the same room with some of those women again, but for a brief time we were connected in love, peace, and solidarity.

I believe we are a communal species, humans. We are all connected one to another, though we sometimes we forget that. I wish for each of us that we find ways to connect with other human beings, that we become part of a community or create one for ourselves. I have so come to value not just the individuals who are in my life, but the communities of which I am now intentionally becoming a part. There’s definitely a power, a different kind of energy that comes from connecting with a group. Throughout much of my life I’ve been introverted and shy–being in a room with 60 women I didn’t know would not be something that came naturally to me. But I’m coming to understand the importance of such gatherings not only to my own growth and healing, but for the greater good.

I’m on a roll now. I have no idea what all I’ve started, but the momentum is building. But for tonight it’s play my guitar for a few minutes (day 11) and then go to bed. I’m tired alright, but it’s a really good kind of tired.