I gathered my women’s writing circle last night for the first time and I felt it—that power of women, like magic, is hard to describe. 
We’re taught it doesn’t exist—it isn’t real and can’t be trusted.
It’s hard to describe because these women don’t know each other—and yet, it feels like they do.
It’s hard to describe because it defies logic and our assumptions about how relationships form.
It’s counter-intuitive because we’re not actually “together”–we’re connected over the phone.
It’s counter-cultural because we don’t spend a lot of time with backstory, context, or introductions.
We just opened and trusted and showed ourselves. That’s how the magic comes in—through us.
Can you imagine what the world would be like if more women felt free—and safe—enough to do that? I can—and do—every day. But that’s the gift of doing this work I do—I get to see it happening, which gives me hope and kindles my own fire to burn a bit brighter.
There is often suspicion—and fear—whenever groups of women gather. And rightfully so.
When women gather, power is amplified—and shit happens as a result.
I read two quotes last night to open our gathering that touch the truth of this—and help to explain why we are so obsessed with controlling women and our bodies these days.
The first is from The Feminine Face of God: Awakening the Sacred in Women. “A circle of women can provide a container for emergence in a way that a woman alone or even a one-to-one relationship cannot. Intimate relationships and even friendships can break or at least be greatly strained by life changes. But from the combined wisdom and energy of a small group of women who are committed to ‘hearing each other into speech,’ continuity and trust can develop that can be relied on over the long term. And, witnessing each person’s direct knowing of her truth, we can be empowered to live our own.”
And then this one, from Elizabeth Lesser’s book Cassandra Speaks: When Women are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes “Humanity has come to the end of a long, unbalanced era, one that started thousands of years ago, one that has been both creative and destructive, but one that has run its course and is running away with our future. Women know something that the world needs now. We know it in our bones. We’ve always known it. I believe it is time for women to dig deep, to excavate our voices, to elevate our emotional and relational intelligence, and to transcend the limiting stories of the past. It is time for us to be the scribes and the teachers of a new way—to ‘dream a little before we think,’ as Toni Morrison said—and to stitch the world back together through care and inclusion.”
[Side note: in an interview with Elizabeth Lesser by Oprah on Women & Power years ago, I remember her saying this: “What we need now is for more women to ride their chariots of love into the center of town.” Swoon. That’s a future tattoo for me, mark my words.]
But all week, as I’ve worked 1:1 with clients—senior leaders and business owners—I’ve heard this same thing…the sense of being hungry and also full at the same time. They are making space for something new to enter—and are also poised to deliver something to the world they’ve been growing or carrying inside them.
Women intuitively know the reins to drive change forward rest in our hands.
It’s not that no one else will do it. It’s because they were born to do this. And it’s time.
- One client described it as feeling 10 months pregnant—ripe with new life and moments away from bearing down. Her movements are slow, measured, and deliberate not because she’s avoiding, hesitant or afraid…but because she knows she’ll be in active labor soon.
- Another client talked about leading her organization (and industry) to greener pastures and bluer oceans, charting a course that makes a radical departure from what’s expected, traditional or known—and knowing in her bones she will be followed. To support herself in this endeavor, she is craving open space—green space, outside—to gather her thoughts and prepare to take bold action.
- Another client talked about her desire to inspire people to long for the open ocean—as opposed to teaching them to gather wood to simply build another boat. She is imagining a world outside the box of her own thinking, with broader brushstrokes and bolder colors. Rather than seeing herself as a disruptor, she is owning the fact that she’s a visionary leader.
So if you’re feeling the itch, you’re not alone.
If you’re sensing something is coming, it’s probably not your imagination.
If you’re feeling full, poised, and nearly there, you’re in good company.
Hold the faith, but grab the reins.Women are gathering, power is building, and change is coming.
Work your magic as only you can.
Want to know how to do that?
- Try trusting yourself—and listening to your instincts. What keeps coming to you in a dream? Where do you feel pulled, called or present to something that you didn’t ask for? Get curious there.
- Be brutally honest—first with yourself, then with others—about what you see (and what you don’t). What isn’t being said or acknowledged? What truth feels inconvenient or disruptive?
- Do an integrity check with yourself—and then with others. Where are you saying one thing and doing another? Where are your actions out of alignment with your beliefs and desire?
For women, it often begins with remembering—not learning.
Helping people to remember—that is what lives at the heart of my work.
If you want some company on that journey, I’m right here, and I will most likely begin with this:
All the power, answers, and wisdom you seek are probably right there inside you—it’s just that you live in a world that doesn’t want you to remember because somewhere along the way you (like me) were taught not to trust yourself.
Because a woman who remembers she’s powerful is dangerous. Damn straight she’s dangerous—especially when she uses that power to drive her chariot of love into the center of town to demand we clean up our act, do better, do right by each other, and do right by this earth we share.
So, Dangerous Woman…
I will leave you with this invitation one of my readers sent my way recently: “Let’s go do some brave shit today, shall we?”
Indeed.
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