National Healthcare Decisions Day April 16: An Opportunity to Practice Loving Kindness By Loretta Downs

Some of us develop the practice of planning ahead easily and early in life: those who set out clothes at night for the next day, students who finish assignments in advance of due dates, organizers with check-lists, athletes who practice for months before a competition, young senators who aim to be President. Others view planning as a practice in procrastination, even avoidance. Those who are perfectionists can become so crippled by the desire to get it done right, that they seldom get it done on time--or at all. Some of us are simply too lazy, too tired or too afraid of failure to make plans. For others, a deadline can be a friend.

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Thank You Letters

Dear Fellow Sisters of Women Within from Mary Gould

I wanted to extend my sincerest thank you for your positive thoughts, prayers, letters, care packages and spiritual support while I was deployed in Iraq. I am forever humbled and thankful to have found such an incredible . . .

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SWFA Leadership Project Appeal: Thank You from Yvonne Taylor

A very warm and heartfelt thank you to all of you who so generously contributed to the Women for Afrika Leadership Appeal. You will be . . .

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A Staffing Vision by Joanne Mahler

Let me begin by telling you something about myself: I am a visionary. Petty grandiose, eh?

Several years ago I began to feel an internal shift. The archetypal crone energy that had been residing within me, leading and guiding me on my journey, began to make way for something different. Of course I resisted. I was comfortable in my witchy cronedom; in many ways I felt like I'd been born into it. Besides, how could I presume to call myself a visionary?

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Heterosexual Questionnaire by M. Rochlin (submitted by Louise Lovdahl)

Heterosexism is a form of bias in which heterosexual norms are used in studies of homosexual relationships. Gay men and lesbians are seen as deviating from a heterosexual norm, and this often leads to marginalization and pathologizing their behavior.

Read the questionnaire below with this definition in mind.

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Sexism Workshop: The Latest Multicultural Event By Leslie Recht

On Saturday, December 8, 2007, a sexism workshop was held by the Multicultural Committee of Chicago (Chicago MCC). This workshop addressed questions such as: What is sexism? How does sexism affect your life? What are the unconscious sexist behaviors that are used? How do we encourage sexism in our lives?

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Singles: Love Live? What Love Life? by John Thomas

Hi my name is John Thomas and I’m a New Warrior. I have an idea for a completely new kind of singles matching event, one that would be exclusive in that it would match up single Woman Within to single New Warriors. I’m putting this event together for many reasons; partly because I want to create community and raise funds for us, partly because I want to see a creation of mine come to life and find high quality matches for other singles, and mostly because I want to participate in this event and hopefully find my beloved.

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Find Your E-Circle

If you’re looking for an Empowerment-Circle in the Chicago or Wisconsin areas, contact Emily Halliday, E-Circle Coordinator for Women in Circle, at 773-764-2980 (home) or 847-899-0315 (cell) or ecircle@womenincircle.org.

In Next Month's Issue . . .to be announced

Karen (Delavan 1996) and Tom Pedersen welcomed their 4th baby, a little girl named Jenna Elizabeth, on January 18, 2008. She weighed 8.1 lbs and is 20 and 3/4 inches long. She is welcomed by her siblings Jack, Mark and Ellie.