It’s inspiring when women join hands to encourage each other in their creative and artistic pursuits. This weekend, I enjoyed participating in a festival sponsored by women who showcased women artists and entrepreneurs.
If ever there was a time for women to support and celebrate women, this is the moment. Multicolored sticky notes posted a rainbow of validation and acceptance on restroom mirrors in the Phoenixville Recreation Center in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania where we gathered for the Phoenixville Women’s Outreach 2024 Power Festival.
“I love who I am.” Another note read, “I am worthy of love and respect.”
Ginger, Flo, and I represented our Women’s Writing Circle, celebrating its 15th anniversary this month. Both women have been with me from the beginning of this journey.
Over the years, our read-around encouraged women to tell their stories, whether a healing journey, a creative expression, or a morning devoted to themselves. Together, we travel the hills and valleys.
As we sat at our table, which displayed photographs of our women reading their work, of our published anthologies of stories and poems, we shared with members of the public our journeys as women. We spoke of losing a beloved husband, of wanting to journal the daily moments of our lives, or pick up a pen and learn the craft of writing.
We even read our work with other performers on stage in the adjoining room. The creative energy of musical performances and author readings permeated the air. Microphone in hand, I read from And the Memory Returns and was reminded of the privilege of sharing with an audience and realizing my dream to write and publish a book.
Artists, jewelry makers, and those offering massages, therapeutic soaps and creams, and homemade baked goods made for a festive occasion on a crisp November afternoon before we would decide as a nation if it is a woman’s time to hold the highest office in the land.
As a young girl, I often felt alone. Writing saved me then and now, a companionship of reflection and creativity, whether alone in my bedroom as a teenager or as a widow wondering how to go on. The Women’s Writing Circle offered a “home” of kindred spirits interested in sharing and writing. This group remains the foundation of my creative life and a living reminder that community inspires and that we are not alone in this crazy, wonderful journey of the feminine.
