WERE YOU INVITED TO PARTICIPATE? - NO
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From: Elizabeth D.
Date: Monday, February 2, 2009, 6:08 AM
Subject: Were You Invited to Participate? - No
Reply to: 266958
ID: 266962

Dear Tanya,

This note was forwarded to me asking if I had been communicated with regarding CSW and Sophia participation.

I AM attending the CSW, but I was not contacted or invited to be part of the group.

Blessings to all,

Elizabeth Day

--- On Mon, Feb 2, 2009, in msg266958, Tanya Gordon wrote ---

Dear Sophia Alliance Members,

I am wondering...

Were any of you invited to be part of the CSW group this year?

I'm not certain so I want to double check, but -- based on the recent call report from Sophia 2010, it appears that all sorts of activities and preparations for gathering at the CSW have been happening behind the scenes the past several weeks. And, based on emails I've received since, it appears some members of the Sophia group and mailing list are being communicated with, and invited to take part, and other members of the community are being excluded and circumvented.

Can this be true??

So far, I have heard from five people, in addition to myself, who said they received NO information about signing up as delegates for CSW this year, and no information about events, activities, lodging, etc. Yet somehow, there is apparently a delegation all signed up, with several people in brand new roles, including a few taking over programs some of us had signed up to lead/support originally.

I do not wish to jump to conclusions, and perhaps the six of us were left out by some fluke. Can anyone else please tell me if you were contacted regarding CSW and Sophia 2010 gatherings this year -- or not?

Thanks, Tanya

--- On Wed, Jan 7, 2009, in msg266601, Barbara Simpson wrote ---

Dear All,

Thanks for your notes and responses. I am happy to see all the goodwill and hopefullness bubbling up as we start this new year.

Colleen, your note was "heart-filled" as well, and makes some important points I hope we all will consider and step into. I, too would like to see a shift in Sophia to a bigger place of peace and mutual respect, and the honoring of all voices, including every cofounder who worked so hard to make this possible for the rest of us. This is a time to begin again, different perhaps, but all together. And as you said, just imagine "what this can mean for Sophia?"

Where do we step from here?

Looking forward to a new year of surprises and miracles,

Barbara

--- On Mon, Jan 5, 2009, in msg266540, Colleen Perry wrote ---

Thank you Barbara for your heart-filled message. Your sentiments echo my own hopes for reconcilliation. In this forum and in my personal life last year I felt much upset and am now in a place where I can really begin to look at my part in the process, and how my need to be "right" simply covers my deep seated need to be "seen" to be "heard" and to ultimately be "accepted". I don't think I'm alone in this. In fact, I think every woman has the same needs. I would like to request a forum wherein we (sophia circle members and founders) re-visit the opportunities to heal the schism between the founders of last year. Do we tell ourselves that "there's just too much water under that bridge", believing that other's are not capable of change and of "fairness", or do we reach out an olive branch to those that have been estranged, and ask if it is in their hearts to reconcile...to build trust that has been lost, and repair relationships that have been set aside? I know I need to answer this question in my personal life. Is there anyone else out there on this journey? What can this mean for Sophia? Much Love and Respect, Colleen Perry

--- On Mon, Jan 5, 2009, in msg266522, Barbara Simpson wrote ---

//

Happy New Year Sophia Circle,

It has been weeks since I wrote to this forum and had not heard much from others until a few flurries of emails December 20 and more signs of life around the holidays. My health sometimes keeps me from meetings and calls but does not stop my connection to you or Sophia.

It has been an eventful and difficult year for this circle. I hope we all have taken this time to think and meditate on what is important, and everyone is ready to begin a new year with a new attitude of reconciliation and collaboration for the good of women and girls everywhere.

The way I see it, we can choose to start this year with the same kind of hurt and righteous divisions we saw last year, or we can choose to learn from our mistakes, come back together and find better and wiser ways where everyone wins and everyone is treated with consideration and respect - the Sophia Way.

From the many letters I've read over the past months, most women in this group, and certainly those in this circle, would be thrilled to see healings and positive changes and will work to make this successful if we believe it is in the right track. I pray that the founders and all of us as leaders are ready to make 2009 a wonderful year TOGETHER.

I look forward to hearing updates from you directly and through the Sophia Alliance.

Happy New Year to all.

Barbara Simpson

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