Constellations of Hope--I was there!

I attended remarkable three-day conference this past weekend called Constellations of Hope. It brought together 60+ women who lead organizations that support women. I was delighted to help with the administrative end of it and designed this logo for the printed materials. The purpose of the conference was to explore organizational collaboration. From the website www.constellationsofhope.com:

How do we Begin?
There are thousands of organizations large and small working on behalf of women and women's issues around the world today. Each one represents a source of valuable insights, experience and wisdom; each one could benefit from a thoughtful exchange of resources, information and ideas with the others. Millions of women in countries around the globe would benefit from the resulting synergy... and the world would be moved closer to a model of healthy balanced leadership that incorporates feminine principles.

Shared Intentions and Assumptions
The co-creators of this event have come together around the following shared intentions and assumptions:
* We have witnessed a spirit-filled activism that is calling women to a new way of thinking and being.
* We have witnessed a growing desire among organizations to collaborate, recognizing that they are ready to effectively create something together that they cannot do alone.
* We have witnessed that inspiration for tangible new projects and initiatives emerges organically when women come together to dialogue around a shared intention.

At the conference, we sat in circle much of the time—the most diverse, and challenging, circle in which I have ever participated. Women of all colors sat in circle comparing, contrasting, sharing, and protecting individual and cultural belief systems and practices. What we discovered was that we could not move much beyond exploring our differences and attempting to find a common ground. The fire of these interactions was hot--it was no work for sissies! That heat was reflected in a major conversation near the end of the conference called “Into the fire, deepening the conversation.”

We stepped into the fire, burning away assumptions and obstacles to understanding and collaboration. Perhaps that was all that could happen in such a condensed time. Although we were barely able to step into exploring collaboration on an organizational level, some did happen. Healings took place, heart connections happened, disillusionment and anger was experienced, but most certainly, a web of connection was established among all of us. I know that I came away a changed woman.