In late October, 2017, I attended a retreat called THRIVE at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. I remember the sensation of my heart racing as I sat in the opening circle, counting down the heads between me and the person speaking, anticipation wrapping its shaking hands around my heart. When it was finally my turn, I opened my mouth and sobs emerged at first. So many kind eyes were focused solely on… me. The attention was deafening and for a moment I didn’t remember what I was going to say. And then I began to speak. I suddenly understood that this moment was mine. I felt that all of the world had conspired to lead me into this room, surrounded by not all, but mostly women, in a place I had only lived for a month; a place that did not know me yet. But this was my time to unfurl. This was my time to be seen and witness this new life that was emerging before my eyes.

I was 14 years old, and it was the first retreat I attended without my mom. At the end of the workshop, I found out that the facilitators had all thought I was 16. Retreats like this can be incredibly intense, they said; had we known your age, we may have asked that you not participate in THRIVE. But we are so glad that you attended, regardless of your age!

It was intense. The experiences I collected from that retreat had cracked me open in ways I would be integrating years later. I understood that five days of introspection, deep sharing, group rituals, and Shamanic Breathwork at the end was not for most 14-year-olds. But I remember grinning and thinking, this was for me, and these are my people! These are the spaces that I belong in.

Attending that retreat was the earliest of many consciousness altering decisions I made in my teens, and was what I consider a pivotal steppingstone along my journey into self-actualization and empowerment.

That was when Danielle Williams was apprenticing with Laura Wolf—leader, teacher, and coach in the feminine embodiment movement—and learning the fine art of shamanic breathwork facilitation and workshop co-creation, before Danielle began offering her own retreats, specifically geared toward women’s empowerment.

Over the last five-and-a-half years, I have participated in workshops, and attended retreats offered by Danielle as she has stepped into the role of leader in her own life and the lives of others. There are few people I trust more with my time, attention, energy, and money than Danielle.

I’d like to share a poem that I wrote initially as a gift to Danielle and have since crafted into an anthem to embrace the times of change, to keep my eyes and heart open, and call in and celebrate the women and fems in this world.

To Fly

Make space. Feel the sun kiss your face as it bourgeons.
Roll your shoulders back—forward fold… pause before you mold
yourself into a shape that you may not wish to become. Hold
yourself as you make a steep dive into the deep-end of your life.
And may you rest into the knowing of your knowing—into the depths
of your great holding—into the wings that are swiftly unfolding—
into the heart that is growing and growing—the breath that is pausing and flowing—
your eyes that are continually opening to the next big sight! You are flying! Let yourself fly.
May you be free while you are shining. May you aspire to be, and be,
and see and see everything unfurling into being.
Remember that when we cling, we may not swing
so fluidly—that if we are too swift to catch our tongues, our lungs
will push and strain against the holding cell that our ribcage has suddenly become.
When we fling fire against ice, we may just arrive in the beautiful creation that was our vice.
We are wise when we continue to try, to rise
and collapse, to wade into the wilderness, to emerge like our mothers,
all those who did not pretend to live a life that was sewn with quiet certainty.
We are birthing creativity when we set ourselves free from the notion of painless emotion,
of absolute tranquility. We are a species that is hungry,
and we are ready to climb the trees that we must recon with,
the pillars of fear, the spirals of darkness, the wells of despair.
We are circling an epic, world-wide, universal repair of severed human connection
that is masquerading as politics, demanding our attention.
We are the revolution, those extricating themselves from the fabrication of certainty.
The “I” is becoming “we,” and I hope you will be with me as we continue deepening.
We are learning to recon with the tension and the between, the flame and the spear,
the deep, deep, deep fear that is pervading our sanctuary.
We are building our home in the wilderness, fanning our flames
even as the cold catches in our throats. We are the wise seamstresses,
weaving rope from the threads that we have kept from wasting.
We are singing our songs even as a frigid dawn streaks across the skyscape.
We are makers, witches, catchers, holders, friends.
May we continue to catch the bends in the trails of our lives,
savor the fruit that dangle low for us to reach. May we keep teaching
our medicine, breathing life into the womb of creation,
the web of connection, the latticework of colorful patterns that live in our minds,
the kaleidoscope of intention.
Keep growing, flowing, and breaking open.
And don’t forget to touch the sky as your wings deliver you into the heavens.
Remember this wild, unwavering life. Every moment is an opportunity to fly.

I hope you or a woman in your life joins us this May 26-29 for our Women’s Retreat. I could write a book on the invaluable skills, tools, practices, and experiences that have enriched my life, and I gathered most of them from retreats like this one. When women gather to grow, learn, and support each other, there is an undeniable power that arises that simply cannot be replicated on one's own. We need each other.

I look forward to this retreat and the transformation that awaits the women who attend, and the world.