Sisterhood has been ever-present in my life.
From an early age, I intuitively knew that, in order for me to feel trust and connection within myself, I needed to be in the presence of women who I could be my authentic self with. This need was fulfilled in a variety of ways like participating in Girl Scouts, having good girlfriends who I could have sleepovers with, and later in college through participation in a sorority.
Looking back at those years, I can see how I had an unconscious knowing that, when women come together, the mysteries of life and feminine flow can be unlocked.
When you add in a dose of creativity and working with your hands into the experience of sisterhood, magic really happens.
I see it at my Creative Day Retreats I host in my home and in wine country. The women show up not entirely knowing why - they just feel a pull in their heart to gather with other women and create beautiful things with their hands together. The experience is deeply feminine - one they have been yearning so deeply for in this modern day world of rushing and doing and tapping away on technology.
When they first arrive, they are a bit shy and quiet. But give them 5 minutes with some fresh flowers, wire, and floral tape, and the energy of the room completely shifts. The women are giggling, recalling sweet memories from their childhood, sharing tough experiences, and delighting at each other’s flower crown creations.
Sisterhood is magic.
Historically as a species, human survival has been rooted in coming together in community.
The women in our lineage cooked in a communal kitchen together, helped birth and raise each other’s children, healed each other’s wounds, nursed illnesses, and held each other up through life’s struggles and celebrations. They would commune together during their moon time as a sacred act of sisterhood. They sat at the same table to teach each other how to heal, how to thrive and how to celebrate. It was simply how the tribe could survive.
As years have passed, western civilization has developed and we've seen the rise of the technology revolution, leading to us women finding ourselves in the unnatural state of being isolated from one another.
We live in our own individual homes, cooking our own meals and raising our children by ourselves. What was once a safe place to share our full expression of ourselves has morphed into silent suffering and feelings of isolation for so many (who often don’t feel like they can admit it for fear of being judged for not being able to handle it).
We fear not “doing it right” so we find ourselves judging each other. Judging the way we parent, what foods we eat, how we dress, the way our bodies look, and how much money we make. So much of our own fears, anxieties, and bouts with depression come from a feeling of disconnection with our own hearts and the greater collective of women everywhere.
We have lost the art of communing as women - a vital component of living.
This is why I am so passionate about bringing women back together to create beautiful things and find their creativity again. Because I truly believe that we can remember this art of communing as women when we work with our hands.
I believe this is why we love to plan events like baby showers, birthday parties, and wedding celebrations. Because when we get to arrange flowers and decorate onesies for and with each other, we are feeling the whispers of our ancestors who once sat at the table together creating for and healing one another.
Some of us are lucky enough to have grown up with mothers or grandmothers who held on to the traditions of creative sisterhood. They had sewing circles, arranged homemade food deliveries for sick families, had canning parties in late summer, and holiday cookie decorating parties each December.
Are you someone who craves deeper connection with girlfriends?
Channel the wisdom of your great great grandmothers by coming back to the table with other women and work with your hands together. When you come into a space of creative sisterhood, all that judgemental insecurity melts away and you are left with delight, wonder, and connection. It feels so much better than binge drinking a bottle of wine and talking crap at the TV as a form of “girls night.”
Creative sisterhood is nourishing for the mind, body, and soul.
If you want to take action and create a shift around your relationship with other women and creativity, check out this Home Spa & Self Care Party Guide I made you. It includes easy home spa recipes and my personal guide to hosting a night of creativity and true sisterhood - from the way you invite to suggested food and beverage pairings to how to cultivate deeper conversations in the moment.
When women come together to create with their hands, amazing things happen. Fears and doubts melt away into a wise and playful energy that only creative women can create together.
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Thanks for reading! This is the second post in a 4-part blog series on how creativity heals and inspires us busy, ambitious women.
You can read the first post here: What Busy Women Ought to Know About Creativity & Stress
You can read the third post here: The Secret to Feeling More Connected with Loved Ones
You can read the fourth post here: Making Peace with Enough
Photo by Rosa Delgado
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I LOVE this idea! I always look forward to holidays for this very reason. Think I shall start a bi-monthly gathering for my female friends & family!
Yes, Jolee that’s a wonderful idea! What will you create together?
I participate in a weekly hand building ceramic class with a bunch of women. We have gotten to know each other over the years, while we are creating with our hands we are able to talk about anything and everything. I like the Home Spa and Self Care Party Guide, it gave me some great ideas for my almost 12-year-old’s upcoming birthday sleepover party. Thank you!
A weekly class? That sounds positively divine Amanda! I’m jealous 🙂
I teach DIY workshops making home & kids decor. Love your philosophy behind why you create and gather women together! My background is in Recreation Therapy and expressing creativity in a group setting fuels my soul too.
I love that you teach workshops as well, Jacqueline!
I have been looking for a group of sisters to gather with. Love your blog
Perhaps this an opportunity for you to lead a group of your own!
This really resonated with me, Becca. I just completed Reiki training, so your words about coming together to create and heal spoke to me. 🙂 Thank you for shining a light on this beautiful, compelling subject. This is one of those things I will think about for days.
Congrats on completing reiki training! That’s definitely on my list.
Love the idea of women doing things together. I love to crochet and do crafts, but none of my friends do it. I would love to connect to ladies with the same interest.
Perhaps this is an opportunity for you to create a group, Sue! xoxo 🙂
I just finished attending an 8 month series, Herbal Ways for Women. We foraged for wild food and made herbal tincutres, facial cleansers and elixers plus so much more. By the end of the series, there were just four of us. It was so wonderful getting to know these women better. We were there because we all have a common love of plants and herbs in particular. It was such a special exoerience spending one day a month with incredible women!
That sounds so dreamy, Patti! What a beautiful path to walk with those 3 women.
I crave this connection with other ladies, I stay at home with my kids (we have 4 boys: 9, 5, 2.5 yr twins) and I take any free minute I have to work on crochet projects or various art things. I have a stash of unfinished projects in the garage to work on and a creative day retreat would be an amazing way to do that, get a break from home and reconnect with some friends! Now to just find a date that might just work with everyone! Thank you!
Phew, you are one busy and devoted mama! My hat’s off to you for making the time to crochet and do your art. Maybe it’s worth sending out a doodle poll with early 2016 dates to all your best girls so you can make sure a sisterhood creative day retreat happens. I’m sure it would breathe new life into you, brave one. xoxo!
I have held a hope in my heart for the last three years that I could form a group of wild women to create and explore with. As each year has passed without bringing it to life because of too many commitments to activities I don’t love that don’t feed my soul but I feel obglated to I feel raw and ragged. I hope flowing your journey will give me the inspiration and motivation to manifest my desire to come together with my sisters to hold each other up and fill the lonley void in each others lives.
Oh Holly! Thank you for sharing your tender heart here. It is your birthright to come together in creative sisterhood! I stand firmly in that truth. This is why I care so deeply about spreading the word, because we all slip into a space of letting to-dos and logistics get in the way of true nourishment. Thank you for standing as a beacon of light and pressing on despite the pain and frustration. Sisterhood is coming.
I love the idea of coming together with other women to create! I think I’m going to have to host some sort of creative night before the holidays – now I just have to decide what we should create.
Oh Megan, that’s a fantastic idea! I love creative nights 🙂
I love colouring 🙂 haha
One year ago I joined an “Art Group” for those who are experiencing, or have gone through, this terrible ordeal known as Cancer. We are a gathering of ladies, of all ages, who first came together as shy and as sensitively flighty as pigeons. However being immersed in an island of dazzling colors and set beforth fresh crisp paper, we were soon transformed. The gorgeous shades of rainbow colors dancing in front of us immediately lifts our mood and before we know it our creativity brain cells pop into action. Three hours later we have made good friends and have a unique creation in front of us. We leave with a glow of unexplained contentness. We do not feel alone anymore. We see the world with new eyes of wonder and appreciation. We spend more time with our creative and understanding friends. We laugh. We laugh often. We see Art in all things and it shines bright. We reach out to other women. We share the connection. We grow. We laugh. We laugh often.
Annie, thank you for sharing this beautiful poetry with us. I am so moved by what you and your friends have created with this group.