Change is Coming for You in 2022

"Changing Our Story, Changing Our Lives" is an online course that Charter for Compassion Women and Girls is incorporating into their sector. In 2021, we focused on "PSSN: A Partnership for a Safe and Sacred Now" and dived into practical skills for cultivating and facilitating safety and sacredness in our bodies, minds, and communities. As we enter into a stage of recovery and healing from previous crises, while facing new stories of domination, we'll add a new power of compassion to PSSN and discuss ways in which we can shift paradigms and personas to allow for crowds of compassionate partnerships.

What does a crowd of compassionate partnerships look like?

Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms wrote an article in Harvard Business Review that provides guidance in "Understanding "New Power". Groups that focus on power through traditional ways are labeled as Castles. Entities that are fluid between old and new power are referred to as Connectors or Cheerleaders. Partnerships that grow their desire, and capacity, to extend beyond passive consumption of ideas are referred to as Crowds.

Charter Women and Girls is intent on moving beyond passive narratives into a new version of a hero's story that alters power found within our bodies, minds, and communities. We begin by acknowledging that humanity consists of Both sheroes And heroes and that each of us have both masculine and feminine characteristics that benefit partnerships connected to a safe and sacred now (PSSN).

Throughout 2022, sheroes and heroes will change our stories and change our lives by examining ways in which we can shift the paradigm of the situation or the persona of an individual. For instance, instead of a human persona of victim, enabler, or persecutor, we'll provide opportunities for psychosocial first aid that supports the Wounded Healer and guides all of us through the pain and joy of caregiving. Resources from local leaders and mentors will offer Crowds of people intent on changing the cultural paradigms of the Castles, while acknowledging the efforts of the Connectors and Cheerleaders.

Charter Women and Girls Sector will offer a safe and sacred container on March 21 at 10:00 am PST. We'll begin our discussion with Charter for Compassion's Global Read of "What Would Maisie Do?" and also include the book Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris. Our theme will be the shero's journey towards authority and power in the face of human trafficking. We'll then talk about recent reports from Afghanistan of unmarried women being forced to become "wives" of Taliban fighters and the ideological persona behind this act of sexual violence. Our course of action (1) discover local mentors and leaders who try to change the beliefs, values, and traditions of the oppressive ideological personas and complex systems and (2) review life and death economies as discussed by John Perkins in the book Our Moment of Choice.

We hope you'll join our crowd. 

- Vicki Cutherell