A Wisdom club gathering.....

BROKEN OPEN

Monday, September 21, 2009

The long awaited gathering finally came this past Friday night...and what a night it was! Lovely setting, lovely women, lovely food and a book that took us on the journey of a tightly closed bud to a blooming rose...

The Wisdom Club is made up of 12 beautiful,

diverse, interesting woman from many different

walks of life. We started this group 2 years ago

with 8 of us, looking to come together to discuss

literature that was relative and reflective to our

lives.

This book was chosen by the lovely Sandra, seen

here reading, and she as well was our hostess for

the evening. I have to tell you that the book does

not stray from it’s title. It is a book that offers insight

into the struggles life often offers us and how through

these struggles and hardships we can grow and

evolve into the person the we were created to be.

Sometimes to break free of the chains that bind us,

we have to be broken open, brought to our knees, or

pushed to the edge so we finally let go of all the fears and insecurities that hold us back from living a life of emotional freedom...and by that I do not mean a life free of emotion but a life in which you are free to HAVE emotion!!

Let me introduce you to these lovely ladies:

This is the lovely Erin and Manjit.

Both are thirtysomething....

Erin is a wife, mother and career woman;

she is a seeker of knowledge and is

passionate about her children.

Manjit is a daughter, as sister, a friend.

She is a soulful seeker and is filled with

wisdom from an old world that she

gently infuses into our group.

This is the dynamic Claire. She is the only woman in

a house of men and she knows her mind....she has to!

She balances home, work and play; and is always on

the quest to sharpen her skills as a mother and a woman.

Claire is forty-something and fabulous baby!!!!

Below we start with Sandra, hostess of the evening.

Sandra is a symbol of strength and grace. Widowed

early in her marriage, she raised her son on her own.

This life journey has molded her into a

kind, nurturing woman who loves

to love. She is fifty-something and

seeks to live a life of JOY.

Sylvie is a fourty-something spiritual

seeker. Her great desire is to help hearts

heal. Sylvie was absent from us for a

year as her husband and her toured

our great earth. This was her first meeting

since her return. Welcome back friend!

Diane and Jennifer are our two newest

members. Both are mothers and wives.

Diane works in the Mental Health arena.

She is forty-something with a story to tell,

and brings a open and learning mind.

Jennifer, thirty-something, is carer of children, as she has five.

She brings softness and humor to our group and a desire to live a life that is true.

Nicole, fourty-something. is the last woman for me to tell you about. You will see a picture of her later and I have to explain her rather “swollen” tummy. She is expecting her second child in a matter of weeks. Nicole brings a honesty, kindness and humor to our group. She is factual and looks for truth.

SIDE NOTE:Okay, I just have to say, reading over what I just wrote it sounds like I am filling out a dating questionnaire for theses ladies! LOL

Each and everyone of these women brings a different flavor, color, and energy to our group...thus we enjoy a smorgasbord of delights when we come together, that ALWAYS leave us feeling filled up when we leave.

The three missing were Debbie- prayer warrior (40ish), Shirley-peace seeker (50ish) and Ulla- spirit of adventure (50ish).

Sandra had a very special evening planned

for us. After a short time of visiting she

invited us up to her bedroom where she had

a surprise waiting for us...(for the men who read

this...no it was not a pillow fight!!!)

She had decorated her room with Bozo the

clown pics and highlighted one of the key

phrases from the book:

“We are all Bozos on the bus!”

Behind every bozo pic there was a key

phrase from the book and everyone picked

randomly knowing the one they received

would have special meaning to them.

We also watched an episode of Oprah in

which the author of the book, Elizabeth Lesser,

was the featured guest. The interview left us all

in the deep world of thought....

Now of course I will be keeping much of the

personal conversation tucked away in my heart

as I do not feel divulging all our happenings fair

to my friends. I will just say this when we come

together our goal is to create a place of female

community that is safe and loving.

My bozo? What did my bozo say? Well, one of

my favorite quotes of course:

“We’re all bozos on the bus, so we might as well

sit back and enjoy the ride.”

-Wavy Gravy

Sometimes we get so caught up in what we THINK

we SHOULD be doing that we miss out on what is

happening. If we realized, if we woke up to the

fact that we are all the same, truly, all bozos on the

bus a lot of the pressure would be off,

don’t you think?

Look at all those lovely bozos...they are my friends!!!!

Now of course a woman’s gathering is not complete without good food...so after the show it was back done to eat, drink and discuss.

”And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful the than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin

We all know what it is to be human, but we seem to forget that the person beside us is that very human who knows this. All of us admitted to hiding behind things as some point in our lives, so as not to deal with the very thing that wanted to break us open. Running from the Truth is futile, for the Truth flies and thus, will always over take us.

Some of us are being broken open for the first time right now. Some of us have been broken open, again and again and again. Some of us are at the door of being broken and we are afraid of what lys beyond.....

“But had I never stumbled down the mountain of my ideals, had my ego not been humbled by loss, and my heart not broken open by pain, i would not have discovered the secret treasure that lies waiting for each of us at the bottom of our most difficult times.” -Elizabeth Lesser

Things that I learnt from this book:

-nothing stays the same for long

-share what it really means to be human

-each story is really your own

-those with power never willingly concede

-real fearlessness is the product of tenderness

-you can become soft hearted with out being soft headed

-we must name what needs to burn within

-my feminine heart was sleeping

-you are a troubled quest on the dark earth

-normal is someone you don’t know very well (love that)

-let normal die