Our Last Post At Women's Collaborative Circle - Thank You!

Dear Women's Collaborative Circle community,

After 4 years of blogging and connecting with you as the Women's Collaborative Circle (WCC), I am excited to share with you that our community we have moved.  

The WCC has evolved and is now Woman Centered!  While we will no longer be blogging on this site, this blog will remain intact for its rich archives and resources.  Please feel free to continue reading the history of posts and make sure to visit our new site at womancentered.org!

TED Heads and Why I Love TED Talks

Giving birth to (business) twins! EXCITING NEWS! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Dear WCC Community,

So, I have REALLY EXCITING news to share with you! 

The Women's Collaborative Circle is growing by LEAPS and BOUNDS! So much so that the WCC (as a brand, business, and organization) has bursted into two!  Well, not quite bursted, but has gone through a strategically planned rebranding and development to bring you TWO new business to best serve your needs ;) 

 

First, let me say that your dedication and commitment to the development of the WCC has meant the world to me!  Because of your support and generosity, I have been able to connect, work with, and serve women locally and globally. Because of your time and energy, I have been able to further grow the vision of the WCC and introduce you to the next level of women's self-care, empowerment, and social change.  

 

I am thrilled to announce the soon-to-be launch of Woman Centered - a personal development and social action organization.  Woman Centered empowers forward thinking women to actively effect change within themselves and in the world around them.  Woman Centered will be offering 1:1 mentoring services, special events, programs, resources, and SO MUCH MORE! YAY! The site is set to launch in another few weeks, so stay tuned!

 

I am equally excited to announce the development of my specialized psychotherapy practice for women.  Dr. Carly Goldberg - Therapy for Women. My private practice offers a dedicated space for women to receive in person psychotherapy services to meet the needs of women's psychological development and emotional wellness.  For more information, please visit www.drcarlygoldberg.com.  

... Wow!  I feel like I just birthed twins! ;) 

As I finish the final touches on both new websites, I want you to know that I am developing this with all of you in mind.  I can not wait for us to further grow as a community and create long lasting change within ourselves, our families, communities, and world around us! 

Please feel free to reach out, let me know your thoughts, feedback, or just say hello! 

With deepest gratitude,

Carly 

Carly Goldberg, DSW, LCSW

www.drcarlygoldberg.com

www.womancentered.org

My Body, Not Yours!

                                    

It's a body-lovin, curvy-licous, YOGA-fest, and YOU are invited!

Oh yeah!  I have been waiting weeks to share this exciting news with you and now is the time!  Curvefest 2012 is coming to Philly!  What is CurveFest you might be wondering?  Good question!  It is a full day of body-loving yoga, workshops, free giveaways, and more brought to you by the one-and-only Curvy Yoga founder Anna Guest-Jelley! See flyer below for more information.

And, of course, you can always contact me with any questions or just to say hello! carly@womenscollaborativecircle.org.

Want to make sure you don't miss any other exciting events or happening around the WCC community?  Sign up for the WCC newsletter HERE, follow-us on Facebook, and Twitter!  Believe me, big WCC happenings coming your way so stay connected!

Exciting News! Exciting News!

As you can see, I have not attended to this blog in two months! What?!?  I know, I am sorry about that.  It is not because I don't love you or have anything to say, quite the contrary.  I am working hard at growing the WCC to bring our online and on-the- ground experience to greater heights!

With that said, I have EXCITING NEWS!  What is that news you might be wondering, well... you will have to stay tuned!

I know, I know... let's just say that clarity, focus, and GROWTH for the WCC community is on its way and I am SO EXCITED to share it with you.  With that said, stay tuned as I will be making announcements on this blog, on Facebook, and Twitter!  I look forward to connecting with you soon!

Supporting Green Spaces Worldwide - Hariyo Chowk

With only 11 more days to go, please help support in any way you can this Kickstarter project - Hariyo Chowk!  Hariyo Chowk, meaning a "green square" in Nepalese, offers the community members in Katmandu, Nepal a much needed vibrant urban green space to play, create, and learn.  For more information visit their blog and Kickstarter page!

Honoring Our Goddess Time

Last night I had the privilege to be part of a Goddess Gathering in Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles.  The drive through windy roads, the smell of fresh air, and ascent up a Christmas-lit staircase twenty-five feet to the front door was enough to light my magic match & make me want to move in ~

We nourished ourselves with potluck food, we sat on cushions in a circle by candlelight, breathing through our chakras, sharing what we were letting go of & bringing into our lives, sharing the successes, celebrations, & joys, & stating our next intentions. 

We also watched the trailer to a stunningly gorgeous film, Things We Don’t Talk About.  If you haven’t seen this trailer yet, check it out here.  It will make you cry, it will make you want to celebrate & gather together all women dear to you.   If you’ve read Anita Diamant’s book The RedTent, this is essentially what the documentary is about:  women coming together to share, celebrate, & heal.

I arrived at the event with books & business cards in hand.  I was there to network, to promote my books & business, to network around housing in LA, etc. 

What I found was I kept filling my plate at the potluck table.  More kale salad, one more raw chocolate, & blue corn chips with organic cheese.  What was I trying to nourish?  In all the excitement of moving out to California & finding/ creating my way, I have been so in the masculine.  Business owner, driver across the country, & back & forth from San Francisco/ Santa Cruz to L.A.  Figuring out where my next paycheck is coming from, longing for a lover/ love.  Longing for someone to just hold me/ heal me/ to unpack my burden & breathe.   

Yes, I am a feminist.  I believe women are people too, and we all have human rights as citizens of this planet.  This is what feminism, at its heart, is to me.  & Yes, I enjoy being a business owner.  I enjoy the freedom of being a single, unencumbered woman, free to travel, to have love affairs, to do as I choose, to be in charge, to be a leader & a player in creating our world, to be in the conversation about business & marketing, to be and do whatever & however I choose.  However, I am also ready to receive.  I am ready to receive love, I am ready to receive money, I am ready to receive home, and I continue to be ready to receive gracious, powerful, healthy, creative, phenomenal community. 

Last night was a gift, and I am glad I set down my bags, took off my jacket, and sat down, breathing, sharing, being vulnerable, and listening.  We all need this.  No matter who we are. 

Debra Jill Mazer is a magna cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, with a B.A. in Sociology & Women’s Studies.  Using her degree to become a hippie New Age healer & Raw Food Chef, Debra currently offers a 6-month Holistic Health Coaching Program (your first session is free!!).  Author of Open-Eyed Heart-Wide Haggadah, for a transformative Passover, artist, dancer, singer, and more, Debra is based in a beautiful community in Santa Cruz, CA, and is currently housesitting in LA, where she will be working the Tadasana Festival, volunteering at AgapeRevelation Conference, and then heading onwards to the kitchen of Epic Eden HotSprings Retreat (phenomenal!!!! & a few spaces left ~ May 2-6, 2012) in Arizona.  

Genderqueer Support Group - Studio 34

GENDERQUEER

SUPPORT GROUP

Feeling at odds with the gender binary system?

Looking for a safe space to explore your

gender identity?

Want to connect with others who

understand your experience? 

JOIN US!

7-8:30pm Biweekly Wednesdays, Start Date TBA

Studio 34 Yoga/Healing/Arts

4522 Baltimore Avenue

$300 for 10 sessions

Discussion topics include:

pronouns, passing, public bathrooms, family, relationships, sex, sexual identity and much more.

Facilitated by Marcie J. Wood, MA., MFT,

Individual, Relationship and Sex Therapist in Private Practice.

For more information or to register, please contact Marcie at 215-514-5766 or info@marciejwood.com

Kicking Off Women's History Month - Thank You, Rush Limbaugh

Stop Blaming, Start Educating - Catholic Identity and Abortion

As a woman and a Catholic, I'm very frustrated that diocesan churches preach the evils and horrors of abortion rather than teach ways to use love, care, and education to prevent unplanned or unwanted pregnancies or find loving homes for unwanted babies.  My fiance and I have discussed this at length and how being pro-choice both fits into our Catholic identity and does not make us pro-abortion.  I support a woman's right to choose, but I think we, as a society, could be doing more.

After much discussion with my fiancé, we have come up with an idea to reduce the abortion rate, thus creating a culture of life that is centered around Christ's primary teaching - love.  Neither of us have any experience in running a non-profit, though we both have volunteer experience, so this is where, hopefully, a blog can help us recruit others to help us with our mission. We are not sure what we would call our organization, but here is what we are all about.

First we would like to give boys and girls more education about sex before and during the onset of puberty, ideally between 4th and 7^th grade.  Sexuality is not something for children to be embarrassed or ashamed of, rather it is a part of how we identify ourselves and should be valued in all people.  Children need to be taught anatomically correct language and accurate scientific information regarding pregnancy.  Children should also be taught how to correctly use condoms and birth control, and told (*not taught because there isn't anything to teach besides one sentence) that the only way to 100% prevent unwanted or unplanned pregnancy is to practice abstinence.  I believe condoms and birth control should be used but that we need to break the myth that they are 100% effective.  Speaking from experience, I have a friend with three children who became pregnant with two of her children while she was on birth control, not knowing that their effectiveness decreases when taking other prescription drugs.

Second, we would like to empower young men and women to communicate their sexual wishes, or as I like to call it, teaching girls how to say "No means no."  This also means making females aware of situations that increase vulnerability that can lead to unwanted sexual contact or rape such as alcohol and or drug consumption, peer pressure, or being alone or isolated from peers.  This area also includes teaching young men what constitutes consensual sex versus what they are seeing in the media.  It also means viewing females as equals in terms of wants and desires, relating to the previous blog post about the misrepresentation of women.

The third and final area is dealing with unwanted or unplanned pregnancies in a way that fosters the female's mental health and physical health.  Domestic adoptions can be made more accessible (though I know little on this topic) and clinics that offer prenatal care can also offer free counseling services and access to networks. Young pregnant women can be partnered up with a mentor who can offer them advice on child-rearing and realistically discuss finances and family involvement.  Regardless of what young women decide, they need to know that we are a country that takes care of each other and that
their child's life is one of value.

In conclusion, this is not just a women's issue.  It is political, social, community based and media influenced.  A recent article in the New York Times (Feb. 17, 2012) by Jason Deparle and Sabrina Tavernise stated that 52% of babies born today in this country to women under 30 are to single women.  The study also cites major racial and educational imbalances related to this number.  As a nation, we need to stop passing the blame and start educating and taking action to help one another.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Deanna is a an early childhood educator with a degree in Communication from Temple University and a Masters in Education from Arcadia University.  She lives in Ardmore, PA.  For more information, please feel free to contact us at hello@womenscollaborativecircle.org and we will pass along your interests, thoughts and ideas to Deanna and her fiance Brian! 

V-Day: Spread the Love, Stop the Violence

What is V-Day? from V-Day Until the Violence Stops on Vimeo.

Loose Garments: Fighting for the Genuine Voice of Women

With our blog Loose Garments we aspire to promote genuine women’s voices worldwide. We want to celebrate the fact that all women are unique, and allow this diversity to be more public. Some women love boxing or fashion, while others adore cooking or math. There is nothing wrong with this variety and, in fact, it is awesome! We want to celebrate the many complex layers that make up femininity, and rejoice the vast diversity of women.

We also want to empower women worldwide to help others in need. We feel that bringing awareness to women’s rights issues creates a sense of community, and ultimately contributes to progress: women can feel supported by a global network.

           

We are tired of the promotion of unrealistic and stereotyped portrayals of women, as it promotes mistreatment and violence against us. Gender is a complex and continuous variable, which has been forced into two simplistic dichotomies. Think about how ridiculous that actually is! Not only does the polarization of gender restrict women, it restricts men and members of the LGBT community as well. There are around 3.4 billion women on this earth, and it is unrealistic to expect that across the many personality traits we can all be perfectly divided into 2 basic groups: Man or woman, aggressive or submissive, and gentle or powerful. The reality is that we all vary in our personality traits and preferences. Estrogen isn’t strong enough to change every aspect of our personality.

           

Social psychology and neuroscience findings actually indicate that most gendered behaviors are learned through positive and negative reinforcement (“what a big, strong boy” and “what a sweet, pretty girl!”) and the Smithsonian recently called biological gender differences one of the biggest myths of the brain. Yet, the majority of women are not being fairly represented in government, in the media, in film or in magazines. We hope that the world can become more honest about the fact that women are complex and equal in worth, and we hope to amplify their many diverse voices.

Thank you to the fabulous feminist bloggers at Loose Garments for sharing your amazing blog with the WCC community! Go check 'em out!

Miss Representation - What Are We Going to Do About It?!

Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2012

January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  Are you aware of this?

What is human trafficking anyway?

Well, in short human trafficking is slavery.  Yes, modern day slavery.  More specifically human trafficking is the buying and selling of human beings across national and international borders for the use of labor and sexual servitude.  You may be thinking, "how can this be?"  Well, it is estimated that there are over 30 million slaves in this world - more than in any other point in human history.

There are numerous organizations, campaigns, films and advocates such as The Polaris Project, Soroptimist, Not for Sale II, NightLight, GEMS, and The Project to End Human Trafficking.  As well as resources such as 10 human trafficking videos in 2008 and 2009 and 10 essential human trafficking reads and action to take right now!


 

Volunteers Needed - Drop-In Program for Women in North Philly!

A year ago, the Community Center at Visitation (CCV) established a Drop-In Program for women actively engaged in prostitution in the Kensington Neighborhood of Philadelphia. The Drop-In Program provides an opportunity to reach out to, connect, and build relationships with women in this vulnerable situation of prostitution, poverty, and, usually, homelessness in order to invite each woman to look toward a next positive. The program is a front-line service, enabling women to address immediate needs while offering them connections to other services. The Drop-In is open Thursday and Friday evenings from 9:30pm-12:00am. As its second year begins, the center is committed to strengthening and expanding the program, particularly in adding Street Outreach on Thursday and Friday evenings around 6:00pm.

The Drop-In Program is foremost a venue where women, who are typically socially isolated, are welcomed into a judgment free community. From the Program, women have been placed in hospitals, shelters, and with families or friends. Women are able to receive a healthy meal and a warm greeting two nights per week. Women currently prostituting are on the periphery of society and work in a neighborhood that is, itself, an outcast from the rest of Philadelphia. In the sharing of food and stories in the center’s kitchen women know they belong and are heard, this societal belonging will bear an impact on women who are everyday isolated and used. The impact of the Drop-In is also on those who choose to serve. It is an opportunity, as one volunteer shared, to “be present with another in her humanity.”

The Drop-In Program is staffed primarily by committed volunteers and Social Work Interns and its basic supplies (a meal, hygiene products, and coats) are donated by other volunteers and center partners. We would like to invite you and your organization to take part in this developing and essential ministry. We provide training and policies meant to increase the safety of the women and the Program’s Volunteers. Please consider committing yourself to one night per month for either the Drop-In or Street Outreach and know that I am happy to meet with you to answer any questions. We look forward to working with you in this important endeavor.

Please contact me with any questions: kowens@visitationbvm.com or 215-426-9422 ext. 34203.

Blessings,

Sr. Karen Owens SSJ

Director

Community Center at Visitation