2010 2 wpmar apr

Volume 25, Number 2 • March & April 2010 • A publication of the Women’s Community Center of San Luis Obispo County • Cover: “Acquiescence” by Patti Robbins

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Women’s Press

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Courtney’s Quill It’s hard to believe that Spring is here and 2010 is already a fourth of the way over. In my immediate family, this season is what we affectionately call the birthday sweep. From March-June we have 9 birthdays, ranging from celebrating those turning two to those in their fifties. I myself have a birthday in March, and while I love to celebrate with cake, this year I have decided to make a resolution (I find resolutions are better made on birthdays, not the 1st of the year) and call this year “My Year of Thanks,” in which I will attempt to be fully thankful and appreciative for all I have now and to all those who have helped me get here. I’ve committed to journaling every day (every day!) about what I am thankful for and how I went about showing my thankfulness.

One of the things I am most thankful is my time at Women’s Press. I’m not going

Cover Artist Patti Robbins to lie, though, it can be difficult to manage a voluntary newspaper while taking care of two children and working full time. There are times I have just thrown my arms in the air convinced I’ll never finish editing by deadline. But then—always—everything gets finished, the paper comes out, and I hear from women who have been touched by an article. I feel rewarded and refreshed. But I still need help.

If you have any free time and are wondering about the perks of volunteering, come my way! We desperately need some folks to distribute our paper in North County as well as someone to coordinate and run our monthly workshops. Neither of these jobs require more than 1 hour a week of help.

Please email me at womenspress.slo@gmail.com for more information.

And enjoy this issue of Women’s Press. We had another amazing outpouring of articles from women in the community: Jen Kaplan writes a great article on Attached Parenting Sleep Principles (pg. 10); Jeanne “Bean” Murdock writes about how she went about publishing a book (pg. 15); Kate Updike O’Connor writes about the relationship with her mother and her piano (pg. 14); Ashley Howard writes about how her life has changed from 2009 to 2010 (pg. 13); and finally, our “Voices Around the Table” question received quite a response (pg. 16)!

All in all, another successful Women’s Press for you to read, enjoy, and learn from.

Best wishes this spring season, and I do hope to hear from you.

Courtney Brogno

A native New Yorker, Patti has a BA from American University and an MA from Johns Hopkins University. She pursued her artistic studies at the Atlanta College of Art. Patti’s work has been shown in prestigious exhibits around the country including: Noho Gallery LA, The Salmagundi Art Club, NYC, Monterey Museum of Art, The Haggin Museum, The Alexandria Museum of Art, Belskie Museum of Art, The Karpeles Library Museum, and Red Dot Fine Art Gallery, Santa Fe. She exhibits locally at Seaside Gallery in Pismo Beach, Gallery Los Olivos in Los Olivos and exclusive artist at Equilibrium Fitness for Women in San Luis Obispo. Her artwork appears on all the of their product bottles of her family’s business, “Robbins Family Farm.”

She has been juried into the National Association of Women Artists and Women Painters West. She is a signature member of the International Society of Acrylic Painters.

She is listed in Who’s Who in American Art, 26th-30th editions. See more of her work at passionforcolor.com

Women’s Press

• Voices, views and visions of the women of San Luis Obispo County, California • 6000 free copies distributed in SLO County • Subscriptions are available

Staff

• Managing Editor / Courtney Brogno / womenspress.slo@gmail.com • Layout & Design / Benjamin Lawless & Ashley Kircher / ben@penciledin.com • Advertising Team / Rene Sante & Benjamin Lawless / renesophia@yahoo.com

Contributors

• Sonia Paz Baron-Vine • MaryAine Curtis • Inglis Carre-Dellard • Ruth Cherry • Jeanie Greensfelder • Laura Grace • Judythe Guarnera • Hilda Heifetz • Lisa Pimental Johnson • Lisa Jouet • Angie King • Heather Mendel • Jen Mowad • Berta Parrish • Robin Rinzler • Adele Sommers • Jill Turnbow • Andrea Zeller

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• Berta Parrish • Jane Hill • Judith Bernstein • June Beck • Kathleen Deragon • MaryAine Curtis • Monica Rosecrans • Shairee Collins • Shantel Beckers • Suzanne Delinger • Renee Sante

Submissions Welcome

Articles, essays, opinion pieces, letters, artwork, poetry wanted & appreciated. The Women’s Press reserves the right to edit all submissions for content, clarity & length. Contact womenspress.slo@gmail.com or call 805-544-9313. Submissions will also be posted online at www.womenspress-slo.org. The opinions expressed in the Women’s Press are those of the authors & do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Women’s Community Center. The Women’s Community Center does not necessarily endorse products or services advertised in the Women’s Press.

WCC

The Women’s Community Center of San Luis Obispo County, founded in 1974, under the name Women’s Resource Center, exists • to educate, enlighten, and empower women and their families in San Luis Obispo County by helping them seek new ways to express and develop themselves • to be a center for the repository and exchange of information of interest and concern to women through workshops, seminars, classes and other outlets; • to facilitate communication with other women’s resources both locally and nationally. WCC produces the Women’s Press in furtherance of these goals.

Women’s Community Center of San Luis Obispo County • A 501(c)3 not-for-profit public corporation • PO Box 15639, San Luis Obispo CA 93406 • Office located at 4251 S. Higuera St., #800, San Luis Obispo CA 93401 • (805) 544-9313 • wccslo@gmail.com • www.wccslo.org • wccslo.blogspot.com

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Body & Soul 3

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Our Invisible Screen

By Ruth Cherry, PhD

We all have an invisible screen through which we see the world. These screens grow from our unconscious beliefs which evolved from our experience. For instance, if your childhood experience consisted of being treated insensitively or abusively by neglectful parents, you have two choices—feel your hurt and disappointment, find strength to forgive, and proceed whole with your life.

Alternatively, you could avoid feeling your feelings, try to stay “in control,” and look strong even though you harbor resentment and maintain a distrust of the world.

Feeling our feelings is a purely emotional exercise. If we choose to avoid our emotional side, we will rationalize—thinking poorly instead of feeling honestly. When we form beliefs based on a need to avoid feeling, we create a distorted screen through which we

(inevitably) misperceive life. We hold onto our powerless Child well past the time we could have grown into our powerful Adult.

Although no one would argue that she prefers to identify with her powerless Child, we, in fact, make that choice when we refuse to allow our feelings of hurt and rage to pass because we won’t feel them. (Saying we release them is not the same as actually experiencing them and allowing them to pass.)

Then we erect a screen which supports our notion of the world as big and scary. Our screen tells us the world is unfair, uncaring, untrustworthy, and dangerous. We move through life afraid, ungrounded, and defensive. We don’t see or accept responsibility for how we create our experience today by refusing to heal our experience of yesterday. We are perpetual victims: we whine, we blame, we pity ourselves, and we hate others. We remain needy while we refuse to receive

Photo by Harrison Keely

Continued in SCREEN, page 22

What happened to my daughter?

By Tom Stein

A young girl of 10 gallops into the kitchen to greet her mother: “It was awesome! I scored three goals today. It felt great! What’s for dinner? I can’t wait to tell you about my day.

Can Ashley and Sienna come over for dinner? I want them to see my new hamster.

Maybe you can help us with our homework later...”

Four years later the front door slams as the same girl runs up the stairs to avoid her mother. Her mother yells up: “Kathi, what’s going on? You said we would spend some time together this afternoon. At least come down and say hello.” No response. Mom wonders what happened to the energetic, curious, considerate daughter she used to have.

Does this scenario sound familiar? What happens to girls as they enter adolescence that they somehow transform from giggling, happy, talkative, cooperative, and joyful young people into sullen, secretive, image, and peer obsessed teens?

Today’s culture presents a different world to our children than that of 20 years ago. Our world has become smaller as the internet and phones universalize the teen experience. Teens turn to their peers for information: after all, someone else’s opinion is there at the touch of a few keys. My

Space, IM’ing, texting, and tweeting all have allowed instant public opinion and the accompanying (unsolicited) advice to replace what used to be given by family and close friends. This produces a culture of conflicting expectations. And what are those expectations? A teenage girl should be a fashion-conscious model: beautiful, skinny, made up, with piercings, tattoos, and the appropriately chic grungy clothing. She should be the same as others, but not too much the same; after all she needs to be an independent individual who keeps up with what’s cool. She gets her information from peers about sex, substance use, and what is important and what is not, yet she should be her own person and make her own decisions.

Her reality is not what is in front of her, but what she hears on her MP3 player, or sees on the screen of her phone. Her sense of self and power no longer seems to come from inside, but from the constant bombardment of rapidly changing and chaotic outside influence.

Add all this to our culture’s expectation that women be super people, nurturers, homemakers, mothers, breadwinners, and it is not surprising how confused and lost they become.

Mary Pipher states in her book Reviving Ophelia, Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, “Adolescent girls experience a conflict between their autonomous selves and

their need to be feminine, between their status as human beings and their vocation as females.” She continues “They struggle with adolescent questions still unresolved: How important are looks and popularity? How do I care for myself and not be selfish? How can I be honest and still be loved? How can I achieve and not threaten others? How can I be sexual and not a sex object? How can I be responsive but not responsible for everyone.” Alice Miller, author of the Drama of the Gifted Child, believes that adolescent girls give up their authentic, natural self, and develop a false self whose validation comes from outside.

Many of the women I see as a therapist continue to struggle with these questions as they deal with the existential questions of authenticity and meaning. Who am I within the context of individual, couple, family, and community? How do I meet my needs for connection and validation while retaining my sense of self?

How do women resolve this struggle?

Margaret Meade defines strength as valuing all those parts of the self whether they are valued by the culture or not. This is a daunting task as evidenced by the number of women I see every day whose experience vacillates between their pre-adolescent competent and connected self, and their adolescent self-conscious, self-critical, and other-pleas-

ing self. The technological innovations of the past 20 years seem to universalize behaviors and engender a stronger false sense of self than what is authentic. The key is to rediscover and encourage that 10 year old girl whose curiosity, personality, and relationship to the world come from inside.

What can be done to facilitate a healthy transition into womanhood?

1. Be aware of the internal struggle and the cultural influences that are in play.

2. Don’t forget there is still a little girl inside who needs and craves care and nurturing despite the tough exterior.

3. Watch for signs of extreme or destructive behavior but refrain from criticizing or judging when things aren’t going well.

4. Be supportive, allow age-appropriate independence and assertiveness, and 5. encourage open communication and trust.

Tom Stein is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern who lives in Los Osos. He works at the North County Women’s Resource Center and in private practice in SLO and Los Osos.

He specializes working with women who have experienced trauma using EMDR, and with teens. He is also a certified Life Coach focusing on second careers.

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Body & Soul

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Toward Healing Our Global Family

By Heather Mendel

As women walking the path to the conscious evolution of a sacred humanity, we are aware of the qualities of the Sacred Feminine in ourselves and in the world—a respect for wisdom of the natural world, of which we are a part; for the deep connection we enjoy with one another; with the ability we have to love unconditionally, as a mother loves her newborn baby without having seen or knowing anything about that child; the ability to learn from one another through the use of story – stories told, heard, and felt. The Sacred Feminine pays heed to the invisible realms that give birth to the inexplicable coincidences, synchronicities, and serendipities that give meaning to our lives— all of which can be summed up in the term connective intimacy And what of the Sacred Masculine? We are all too aware of the secular masculine qualities on which our society is based— hierarchy, competition, domination and destruction, judgment, power and control over others, violence, linear thinking that is wedded to science, and a greedy consumerism as the only way to function. The ManKind Project, acknowledging the abilities and talents of the Sacred Masculine, teaches authenticity, responsibility, accountability, commitment, and service as the path to follow. Such characteristics are desirable in us all and will lay the foundations of a harmonious society.

The Sacred Masculine, diverting the energies previously focused on our physical survival, can now hone in on honor, duty and respectful service— to the natural world, the global family, and to the Divine, without the conviction of predetermined concepts. A penchant for scientific enquiry used in conjunction with an intuitive curiosity may lead the way to an enlightened vision of a peaceful future for all.

L’shalom In peace http://www.dancinginthefootstepsofeve.com http://www.wordartist.com http://sacredfemininematters.blogspot.com/ http://twitter/celebratingeve

Bliss Is Not Perfection Photo by Marek Bernat

By Barbara Atkinson

Birth and death are opposites, not life and death.

Life is infinite Being.

Many of us in the West are living our lives with an underlying desire for perfection— the perfect body, perfect job, perfect look, perfect spouse, perfect kids, perfect house, and so on. Even when we outwardly protest this idea, it is often just below the surface and feeds the insecurity that what we are and what we have is “less than” whatever our idea of perfection is.

Intellectually we grasp that no one is perfect, yet everything in our consumer driven world and its daily advertising bombards us with the idea that perfection is attainable if we’d only do more, buy more. We live life as consumers where we accumulate things to feel better about our lives because we haven’t realized that what we really need to consume is our divinity within. Psychology supports the idea that no one is perfect and seeks to assist us in building a sense of self that is able to hold its own in the face of this ever-present bombardment of perfection. This can be a helpful step, but we may still be left struggling – spirit held at bay in a world of duality – since spirituality and leading a symbolic life can go unaddressed in many therapies.

And so, when we read about states of bliss in spiritual literature, the idea of perfection may come to mind. The word may even be used by the author, as in “reaching a perfected state,” liking it to an ending. This is because bliss sounds like what we associate

with perfection. We may think perfection comes from chasing after good and running away from bad. That’s because perfection is part of the dualism we assume is Life: perfect/imperfect; good/bad; male/female; right/wrong; heaven/earth; and so on. It is also subjective. Just as with good and bad, what you describe as perfect may be different from what I describe, and certainly different cultures would describe it differently.

The truth is, there is no such thing as perfect; it is just a subjective judgment. Duality, and the limitations of vocabulary, force us into subjective judgment and a lack of compassion, thereby keeping us separate from the other. It’s not perfection we’re seeking, but wholeness, and it comes only by embracing our imperfections as a part of the whole, not running from, hiding, or banishing them.

Embracing imperfection leads us to embrace it in all people and things and to find true compassion. Rather than the dualities of life, which include perfection, bliss is about coming into harmony with the true fullness of Life (Being)—all that exists.

What do I mean by Life? Life is wholeness, the totality of Being in the moment.

The two opposite poles of the psyche transformed by integration and open to an infinite, vibrant, steady stream of learning and growth—not just the growth of our physical body and intellect, but the expanding of our consciousness.* We see bodies and minds grow from childhood to old age and all the stages in between, yet many of us do not fully realize the degree to which our consciousness can grow, as it has for millennium, and that this growth needs the same

level of care and attention as our physical body.

We need to awaken to this awareness. It is this process of awakening to our spiritual connectedness, to bliss, that does have an end—an end to the process of integration, not to the “steady stream of learning” which is on-going Life.

When you come into harmony with All That Is, you experience a continuous reverence for Life. Through compassionate love, appreciation, and acceptance, you no longer resist.

(Doubting and repressing your Self, the vibrant clarity within, is at the root of all resistance.)

You live in the moment, flow with Life, and trust Its wisdom. This is Bliss. Consciousness continues to expand and learn which brings new information, but there is no struggle: when you no longer experience yourself as separate or identify with duality, there is no resistance, nothing to bump up against—like good struggling as it bumps up against bad.

When we consciously make an agreement with ourselves to awaken and say “Yes!” to Life, grace comes to meet us. We embark on a process of self-discovery, self-acceptance and loving kindness which culminates, with grace, in an end to our identity with duality and the struggle between those two poles. The ultimate choice of free will is whether to grow in duality trying to find perfection, or whether to stop resisting and grow into the fullness of Being which is Bliss. * This is what we call evolution and applies to everything on and in the earth. When bacteria, for instance, become resistant to antibiotics, they have expanded their consciousness and made physical changes to correspond with that expansion.

Body & Soul 5

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Do “Sweat the Small Stuff” Photo by Maira Kouvara

By Judy Guarnera

“Don’t sweat the small stuff” started running through my head one unusually warm December day when I had been perspiring freely. The sweat trickling down my face had triggered the memory of a book with that title that had started a movement years ago.

The idea behind the movement was that we should not worry about the little daily irritations over which we have no control.

Another thought ricocheted through my mind, and I blurted out, “Maybe when it’s positive, we should sweat the small stuff.”

One day, waiting in a crosswalk on a busy street, a motorcyclist screeched to a halt and let me cross. He looked annoyed, possibly because he had had to slow down. I waved and smiled.

His look of annoyance disappeared, and he gave me a big smile in return. We both felt good. Hmm. It was a “small” event, but two people ended up feeling good.

Life in the United States after 9/11 took on tones of fear that people had not felt for a long time. Terrorism alerts and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have kept everyone in a state of near panic. Many people have echoed my concern about how all this could have happened and what we can do to prevent it from happening again.

I remember reading a request by a friend of one of the pilots on the 9/11 plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. He described the pilot as someone who had volunteered in his community. For those who felt helpless and wanted to do something, he suggested they volunteer in their own communities in the

pilot’s honor. Even small volunteer efforts add meaning to our lives through the connections. More seemingly small stuff, but with a far reaching effect.

Let’s decide: instead of trying to fight terrorism choose to build peace by focusing on small kindnesses, individual connections, linking us to each other as Americans, as human beings and citizens of the world.

Small connections of kindness may seem unimportant at the time but have the potential of a powerful and long ranging effect.

When I’m waiting in line and commiserate with a mother trying to quiet a crying baby, and we share smiles to pass the time and ease the tension, I experience an incredible warmth. When children design cards to send to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, when people volunteer to spend the night at their local churches which are providing overflow from the shelters for the homeless, they acknowledge the importance of making small connections that bind us together.

My friend collects books to send to her grandson who is trying to educate children in the Philippine Islands; both of them are sweating the small stuff. Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, raises money and travels to the heights of the Afghanistan mountains to provide schools for children who had little hope for a future. He provides everyone with an opportunity to sweat the small stuff by making donations to his foundation. Not only do these add up to enough dollars to build a school, but schools are a far better choice than bringing in guns and soldiers.

Normally when Christmas decorations

go up before Thanksgiving and Christmas music is playing everywhere I go, I mutter and groan, “Pretty soon they’ll be doing this by the Fourth of July.” This past season, after a year of sweating the small stuff, I found myself enjoying the music, the decorations, and the holiday greetings as soon as they started. Focusing on small acts of kindness and friendliness was making me more joyful.

What I like the most is how this feeling expands until I can’t resist the urge to be cheerful with everyone. Even the time I spend waiting in long lines, my feet aching, offers one of those small opportunities.

I smile at the harassed clerk who guiltily closes his register just as I get there. I understand when I see people fuss under such circumstances, and I still do at times, but I also notice that no one seems any happier after, including me.

The holiday season reminds us to be cheerful and kind to everyone and most of us try to do that. But, you might wonder as you read this long after the holidays are behind us, why we should continue to sweat the small stuff all year long.

When I compare the joy I feel from a positive connection, with the negativity I feel when I complain or get angry, the choice is obvious. Then there are all the statistics about how focusing on the positive instead of the negative lowers the blood pressure, improves physical and mental productivity, promotes better eating and sleeping patterns, and can even prolong life.

I have decided, though I could afford

to lose some weight and get more exercise, my New Year’s resolution is going to be to “Sweat the Small Stuff at least once each day.” Each time I encounter someone, though the contact might seem small or insignificant to me, I will focus on making that contact a positive experience for everyone.

And if I forget that focus, I will remind myself that a resolution for positive actions can be implemented at any time, not just at the beginning of a new year, when resolutions are in vogue. Any time I re-focus on the small, seemingly un-important opportunities for connection, it can signal a new beginning.

Join me in looking for chances to do small positive things for the people around us. Open doors for fellow shoppers. Help someone pick up dropped packages. Smile at people you pass on the street. Read the salesperson’s name tag and with sincere intention ask how she is doing or empathize with her on the interaction she had just had with a cranky customer. And above all, allow yourself to feel the warmth of connection that binds us all together.

When we realize that small stuff, positive or negative, makes up the big stuff, we can begin to focus on ways to make our country and our world better places to live. Yes, we should try not to sweat the small stuff if it is negative small stuff. But let’s do sweat the small stuff that provides the opportunity for positive connections.

Then perhaps, gradually, over time, we will be so busy smiling, opening doors and building schools that we won’t have time to fight wars anymore.

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Body & Soul

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Choosing the High Road

Photo by Fernando Audibert

By Inglis Carre’-Dellard, M.F.A.

We are currently on a journey down a serpentine road of twists and turns that we have been traveling since birth. Our first steps on the journey are thrilling! What a wonderful, exciting place the world is! We explore and learn with great intensity and go in any direction that seems to offer the most fun and stimulation. At times our adventures hurt or scare us, and we retreat to the shelter of our parents’ arms. We recover and toddle off to explore again.

As we proceed further along the road of life, our thirst for adventure is tempered by the knowledge we have gained from past choices, good and bad. To the extent that we have learned to avoid dangerous situations that could harm us, this is an important survival skill, and hopefully, we also are fortified by enough positive experiences that we are able to take a detour now and then with the confidence that our little trip will be a good one.

Becoming older and more worldly slowly modifies our readiness to take detours, to do

the unexpected. Year by year we become a little less flexible and a little more cautious.

We become entirely too…sensible. We may find ourselves standing before the luscious banquet of life but have imposed on ourselves a strict diet that rules out most of the really delicious stuff!

What do we do when we realize that we have made more and more choices based on fear that have led to more choices – choices that have taken us to an unknown and desolate gray land, where we wander, lost. Worse yet, we suspect that we are no longer our genuine self but an artificial self made up of bits and pieces of looks, mannerisms, ideas – all kinds of “stuff” that has been pasted onto us by others. We have gladly worn this second hand “stuff” to get their approval, and to avoid the hard work of finding and nurturing the real core part of us that we fear they won’t like as much.

This dismal picture can be changed. We can begin walking out of the gray wasteland by taking the first step. The first step is different for each of us, but for everyone it involves making for ourselves a time and place free from distractions. In this quiet

time and place, we can think back to a time when we chose the high road that beckoned with interest and excitement, instead of the drab little alley that would have become our path by default had we given in to fear.

We can try to remember and re-experience the way we felt about ourselves and about the world at that magic moment in time. What is on the horizon of our present life that excites us? Perhaps we have been thinking of this exciting possibility for years, but it recedes in front of us like a mirage.

We can’t seem to get close, no matter how much we yearn for it.

The universe is receiving our message and is patiently waiting for us to step up and become a partner in manifesting the desired outcome. We must take action. Taking action is difficult when we feel overwhelmed and intimidated by the apparent distance of our goal, but if we divide that distance into shorter segments that are identified by some kind of marker, the trek becomes more manageable. If we make it to the little tree a short distance away, we can look back and reassure ourselves that we have made some progress in our trip to the beautiful moun-

tain in the distance. Rather than fixating on the mountain, we can focus on that pretty rock over there.

If we just perform one small action each day toward our first marker, we will begin to move out of the gray wasteland of fear based choices and into a more colorful world where things are blooming and full of life. We will reach the first marker and feel emboldened to take further actions that will bring us to the second. The path of our progress will be littered with bits and pieces of the “stuff” of our false selves. Fear will still be present, but will be tamed and walking at heel, not leading or chasing us. Our radiant true self will be joyfully striding forward on the high road to a better life.

Inglis Carre’-Dellard, M.F.A. is a Los Osos artist and teacher whose teaching style emphasizes individuality and self expression in a nurturing environment. For more information on individual creativity counseling or her “Awaken Your Creativity” class at the San Luis Obispo Art Center in April, contact her at ingartist@yahoo.com or 805.534.9693.

Body & Soul 7

Women’s Press March & April 2010

If You Only Had a Year To Live!

The Law of Good

By MaryAine Curtis

Photo by Ivan Vicencio

By Laura Grace

We are amidst the splendor of spring and moving closer to the fullness that unfolds with summer. Everywhere we look, we can see color, light, and beauty.

Despite how heavy our burden may feel at times, in truth, we have so much to be grateful for, so many blessings appearing in myriad forms. As we recognize that there is a Law of Good that governs our affairs, we begin to release those insidious thoughts of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. Accepting the Law of Good that governs all things takes courage and faith and entails accepting all of the good that is in our life, right here, right now.

In the prosperity-building program, “Keys to the Kingdom,” creator and author, David Owen Ritz, states: “That which you focus and dwell upon—with a feeling of love and gratitude—you will tend to multiply and attract.” Changing from an attitude of insufficiency to a feeling of fullness and generosity is something called “Pro-active Gratitude” and it entails the following practices: 1. Becoming conscious of the good in your life—all of it!

2. Praising the good in your life and pay tribute to the good in the lives of others as well.

3. Sharing the good in your life with others.

4. Looking for the good even in the negative (i.e., the hidden blessings and gifts that emerge from our greatest challenges as the poet, Oliver, once penned: “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this one, too, was a gift.”)

Let us not be deceived by appearances, nor be tempted to succumb to the false belief that we live in a world that is driven by lack, limitation, and scarcity. We live in an abundant Universe that supplies an inexhaustible supply of love, ideas, and energy.

In her book Dare to Prosper, Catherine Ponder shares, “A reader of mine once wrote: ‘I don’t believe in recessions! I watched my mother become rich during the depression of the 1930’s when she dwelled upon ‘the rich substance of the universe’ instead of dwelling upon appearances of financial limitation. So instead of fretting about recession, depression, inflation or the high cost of living, dwell on ‘divine substance.’”

When you dare to declare that divine good is the one and only reality in your life, you are well on the way to solving your own ills as well as helping to solve the ills of mankind.

May you experience the richness of your own spirit and extend it to everyone you encounter.

Laura V. Grace is the Spiritual Leader for the Circle of Spiritual Enlightenment in San Luis Obispo (www.spiritualcircle.org), an interfaith spiritual community. Laura is also a teacher and spiritual director, and a member of Spiritual Directors International. A syndicated columnist for more than twenty publications, Laura has penned 200 articles on spiritual growth and is the author of the books Gifts of the Soul and The Intimate Soul.

Is it possible that I’ve become comfortable in the pattern or the story that I’ve told myself for years? Even if I feel ok with the path I follow, is it really what I want to do with my life? Do you ever wonder about what it would be like if you followed a different dream? Do you want more in your life?

I believe that my spirit is like a barometer that shows me when to stick with something because it feels right and when to give something up because my spirit is heavy and it feels wrong. I was taught to play it safe, be a good girl, and follow directions. I was very curious and that got me into trouble. I tried to do things based on what I was taught, but by the time I was 35 years old, I was very depressed from being in the box that I put myself in. I was trying to be someone else.

It wasn’t who I wanted to be. My spirit was dying. I had to make a choice about my life, and that meant making big scary changes.

It was scarier to stay where I was though.

That meant that it was time to grow up and make some mature decisions about what to do next. Sometimes I still change my mind because I don’t like where I end up. I’ve learned it’s okay to change my mind. I also feel that I was given a second chance at life.

I had to get myself out of that box in order to be able to live life differently. As I think about the possibility that this could be my last Valentine’s Day or Easter, I want to be in the moment and choose more from my heart than my head. When I don’t make the effort, take the risk, jump in, and stretch myself—then I’m wondering what to do with myself. It feels the best when I’m staying in the moment.

I have this vision of looking back on my life and savoring all the good memories, including what may have seemed like mistakes. I really don’t want to have regrets because I held on to family burdens that kept me stuck in fear and doing what was expected of me. I took a chance to find out what I love to do and that’s what I do today.

What’s important to you? Just imagine what you’ve thought of doing someday.

If you want to hike Half Dome, join the Peace Corps, live in South America, teach in Japan, or stay home with your children—do it!!! The only thing you have to lose is procrastination and any fear that you may have of not making a difference in your life and others. You can do it your way. I’m here if you need help.

If this was your last birthday, how would you choose to spend it? Life is for living fully whether in contemplation or living full tilt.

You have the power and imagination to do anything today. Explore, experience, grow, and sparkle as you create your own story, your way.

MaryAine Curtis is an Emissary of JOY! As well as a Spiritual Counselor, teacher and Inner Transformation Coach. Her website is www.return2joy.com (Come to my Women’s Press workshop and we’ ll explore what it is that would bring you joy. You may have struggled with doing things someone else expects you to do and need to discover what brings you joy. Identify what gets you excited and you’re on your way to having an interesting and rewarding life).

Workshop: Jill in the box.

Jill out of the box.

In this workshop we will discuss our story based on what others wanted us to do.

We will explore and discover more of what you wished you could do. Experience how it feels to stay in the box, and then how to get out of the box. I’ll lead a guided meditation to help you discover your story. We’ll play with the impressions from the meditation and then put it on paper, what it feels like to write your new story as if this was the last year that you have to live. What will you let go of and what will you do more of?

8

4251 S. Higuera Street, Suite 800, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 | 805 544-9313

Women’s Community Center

Time

WCC Open House

By Sonia Paz Baron-Vine

Time passes by so fast we turn around and ten years have come and gone..

I have a photo of my children taken ten years ago all six of them sitting on the sofa smiling at me...

Now ten years later I smile at them when I look at that sweet photo, they were so small then...

Now some are engaged, Some are married, some have children some are in school some work, some live far away some still live at home..

And as I type this poem my grandson plays with his toys next to me, as time goes by...

The Women’s Community Center is having an Open House on April 16th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm with lots of yummy food and drinks to celebrate our new location at 4251 S. Higuera Street (where Los Osos Valley Road dead ends onto Higuera Street). We welcome everyone to attend and find out more about the WCC: what we do and how we help women and their families in the San Luis Obispo County. We will also welcome anyone that might be interested in volunteering their time and/or becoming a board member! Come and get some grub, and find out more about who we are and what we do! If you have any questions, Photo by Mohammed Odeh please call Robin Rinzler at: 801-3235 or call the WCC at: 544-9313.

Time for a Nomination!

By Sonia Paz Baron-Vine WCC board member

Time for a Nomination!

I wanted to write an article to share with all of you and also to keep this information for posterity.

We are nominating our sister, board member, and colleague, Robin Rinzler, to be the Cuesta College 2010 Woman of Distinction for Community and Public Service, Volunteer. We believe Robin is the perfect woman to win this most prestigious award.

It would take me several pages, to tell you all the services Robin provides for our community, but I will give you a small glimpse into her volunteer life.

Robin has been on the Women’s Community Center Board

of Directors since 2004, where she has personally been an inspiration to me. I have observed her dedication to tasks, her uplifting attitude, her compassion and her work ethic; all of which is very contagious!

She is the coordinator of the Family Law Action programs of the WCC, and, as such, oversees the monthly seminar meetings on divorce issues, runs the monthly legal clinic, which provides legal advice to women and their families, who need help, but cannot afford an attorney. Robin is the force behind all these programs. She makes the calls, sets up the appointments, and attends the seminars and clinics, always arriving early to set up and staying late to clean up after.

As a professional mediator and owner of her own divorce mediation business,

she sometimes donates time either to the Court for mediation of small claims cases or as a guest speaker to talk about conflict resolution.

Robin has also developed a new program with the Women’s Community Center called B.E.T.T.E.R. Supervised Vistitation.

(Building Enduring Ties That Enrich Relationships) This program allows anyone in our county to obtain affordable supervised visitation as ordered by the Court. She has trained several volunteers to become monitors, has developed all the paperwork necessary, and has the ball rolling to begin this project in the next few weeks.

Every year the WCC celebrates our major fundraiser: “Day with Creative Women” in Mission Plaza. It is Robin who organizes the vendors, the volun-

teers, the city permits, the decorations, traffic and a million other details, making each year a huge success and loads of fun. Robin also picks up the Women’s Press newspaper, the WCC publication, bimonthly, from the printer in Santa Maria, loading 6.000 copies into her van and unloading them at the WCC in SLO, often without help.

She also volunteers every Christmas Day with her husband Paul at the OddFellows Hall in San Luis helping to feed the homeless. She arrives two hours before dinner is served and stays to help clean up after.

Robin is a brilliant, fun and wonderful woman, and as our WCC president Angie King said, “ Robin Rinzler uses her considerable intellect and education to rationally determine a course of action and then follows through.” We are hoping with much love and fingers crossed that Robin wins this most deserving award!!

Women’s Community Center

805 544-9313 | PO Box 15639, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

9

We’re at it again!

It’s the 36th Annual Day with Creative Women

By Angie King

The WCC Board is getting organized a little earlier this year (we hope) and plans for this August’s Day with Creative Women are already well underway. This year, for the first time, WCC is collaborating with the county Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as co-sponsors of the daylong arts and crafts festival in Mission Plaza. Scheduled for the second Saturday in August, it will take place this year on August 14, 2010.

With the addition of the CSW, we have great hopes for an expanded, even more exciting Day in the plaza, filled with more vendors, selling a greater variety of their creative work; more non profit organizations available to inform the public about their services for women in the County; more business women articulating just what creative spark got them excited about their business and how others can get involved; music from local groups; children’s activities; and as always, the wonderful ambience of a day under the sycamores filled with good energy. With the new energy of the Commissioners, we hope to expand the event to include some pre-festival opportunities, like a festival of women’s films and even a staged performance of Lysistrata from Code Pink.

WCC asked the Cal Poly Illustration class for ideas for a poster, and we were stunned by the grace and beauty of the poster selected. You can see a preview of it here; wait until we get all the bands and sponsors lined up and printed on it and start spreading it around town; it’s a collector’s item.

The artist is 4th year art student named Yelena Kozlova. We asked her for some biographical information about herself, and this is what she said:

I’m from Sunnyvale, CA in the Bay Area. I came to Cal Poly because I was interested in their graphic design program and was drawn to the beauty of San

Luis Obispo. I was first interested in traditional drawing and painting, creating beautiful work that was pleasing to the eye, but later became attracted to using art as a form of communication and sending a message to the viewer. In my work, I try to combine elements of traditional fine art and the clarity

of design, to make the work aesthetically pleasing while being able to convey a clear message. I am very interested in doing promotional work for non-profits and small businesses and help them spread the word about the many good causes they support. I have worked with Central Coast Grown, part of the Central Coast Agricultural Network, to improve their promotional materials and to encourage restaurants to buy food from local growers. I helped with the redesign of the look of the Art after Dark advertising for ARTS Obispo, the San Luis Obispo Arts Council, to encourage people to attend shows of local artists. Finally, I was happy to work with the Women’s Community Center and the San Luis Obispo Commission on the Status of Women on their Day with Creative Women Poster. I wished to highlight the great contributions many talented women provide to the art field, and I thought the event was wonderful way to showcase those contributions. Although I have no certain plans for the future, I do wish to continue to use my artistic and design skills to work with organizations and business to promote good causes and to encourage people to participate and support those causes.

Illustration by Yelena V. Kozlova

10 Motherhood

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Attached Parenting Here are some of the facts regarding sleep according to Attachment Parenting experts: Babies have needs at night just as they do during the day: from hunger, loneliness, and fear, to feeling too cold or too hot. They need the reassurance of a loving parent to feel secure during the night.

Many babies do go through a phase where they sleep for longer periods of time only to begin waking at night during different developmental stages. They may wake occasionally during nightmares, teething, illness, growth spurts, or during times of transition in their lives. Babies are very sensitive to their parents’ stress, which can affect their sleep patterns. The part of the brain that helps with self-soothing isn’t well developed until the child is two and a half to three years of age. Until that time, a child depends on his parents to help him calm down and learn to regulate his intense feelings.

And some info from Dr. Sears, the Photo by Emily Cahal predominant pediatrician in the field of attachment parenting: babies who go to sleep easily, self-soothe, and stay asleep through their sleep cycles, Nighttime Parenting Lesson #1: do so, because of their own programming.

The parent aids in their sleepiness by pro- Babies need to be parented to sleep, not just viding them a safe, cozy place to sleep and put to sleep. Some babies can be put down baby happily goes along. This is a dream while drowsy yet still awake and drift othbaby. ers need parental help by being rocked or However most babies are not self sooth- nursed to sleep. ers, do not like to sleep alone, and wake often. These are the babies that parents Nighttime Parenting Lesson #2: have to train by allowing the child to cry it out. There is much written about this Some babies need help getting back to type of nighttime parenting (or, non-par- sleep. Some “re-settlers” or “self-soothenting). Baby cries. Parent ignores. Baby ers” can go through this vulnerable period accepts abandonment. Baby stops crying without completely awakening, and if they and sleeps. Success? I’m not so sure. Baby do wake up, they can ease themselves back has learned helplessness. Parent doesn’t into a deep sleep. Other babies need a helpinteract with child for 12 hours. And from ing hand, voice, or breast to resettle back everything I hear about from my friends into deep sleep. who choose to adopt this method, whenever there is a cold, a tooth, an upset When I think of sleep and babies I tummy, a cool breeze, the need to travel, think of how we as adults like to drift off well….this whole nighttime routine is into our nightly slumber: peacefully, cozy, thrown into a tizzy. Sound machines and warm, calm and in the arms of a loved sleep positioners are purchased. Motrin one. I believe that that is what our children and gas drops become part of the nighttime deserve and that they will grow up and will routine. Video monitors are purchased to find sleep to be incredibly fulfilling and watch baby from afar. Perhaps solid feeding will not cause any anxiety. What a great is introduced to beg a few more hours of a long term gift we can give to our children. full tummy.

Principle 5: Ensuring Safe Sleep, both emotionally and physically

By Jennifer Kaplan

What is the number one question new parents are always asked? “How is your baby sleeping?” It is for some reason what everyone wants to know. Do they ask out of curiosity? To sympathize over sleepless nights as they have done? Is it competition (“oh my baby slept through the night by 6 weeks”)? Is it to offer advice, “We always give a formula bottle before bed, keeps them full longer!”). Often I think it is all of the above. From the well intentioned best friend to the annoyances of your mother in law, everyone has something to say about sleep! As if it the golden marker of your parenting skills. It goes without saying that people think: good sleeper, good baby, good mama.

When I had my first child I was, from the get go, very nurturing, attached, and sensitive to my infant’s needs. I nursed on demand, held and cuddled my baby, and had no problem letting the baby fall asleep in my arms or hold the baby on my chest for a long nap (for both of us!). As my baby grew out of infancy, I started to feel the pressure from others to get my baby to self soothe and to sleep on his own. The onslaught of baby book rec-

ommendations came my way. I read many, disagreed with most, and became a rattle of nerves! I tried this technique or that one, to no success (mainly because I was not willing to listen to my baby’s crying!). I threw away the books and went back to what I have always done. Nurse my baby to sleep, nestle him against me at night, and when he awoke, he would suckle his way back into a slumber.

Peace. Easy. And we were all sleeping. (My husband loved this arrangement). There was no in and out of bed to nurse, burp, change diapers, rock back to sleep. We were all sleeping, all night. If my son had a fever, I felt it right away with his hot head pressed against mine. If he had a nighttime, I was right there to soothe him. When we traveled it was a breeze. We decided the family bed was for us and loved every minute, until my son was 3 and decided he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed. Another smooth transition. And he is still welcome in our bed whenever he wishes, though it’s a little bit of a tighter squeeze with his baby sister in our bed now too.

We have many friends, I would even say, most parents we know, who choose to sleep train their children. There are gentle ways and not so gently ways to train your babies.

Through my research it appears that many

Motherhood 11

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Rise in Maternal Death Rate Linked to Cesarean Sections: Why Aren’t They Telling Us?

By Jennifer Stover

On Tuesday February 3rd the San Francisco Chronicle published an article with the disturbing headline, “Pregnancy Related Death Rate on the Rise.” It turns out a task force headed up by a scientist in the California Department of Public Health started a study back in 2006. There were gasps from the audience and basic disbelief when they reported their findings at an American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ conference in 2007. The attending doctors seemed to think it was implausible that in this day and age with all our current technology, we could possibly be getting worse outcomes for mothers. (A side note is that we are also getting worse outcomes for our babies. The rate of “premature” babies that end up in our neonatal intensive care units is growing too!). They don’t seem to see or perhaps they don’t want to see that there is actually a link between the increase in technological birth and the bad outcomes. In 2008 a second study confirmed the initial study’s findings.

And here it is 2010 and the California Department of Public Health has still not released this study to the public. In other words the very people who most need to know about this study, the women every day who are getting cut open to give birth in our country, are being kept in the dark. We continue to be sold the myth that a cesarean birth is completely safe, even in some ways preferable to a vaginal birth. Our culture continues to promote the idea of choosing dates and scheduling inductions or cesareans without even any labor at all. Women continue to think this is a safe way to escape the pain of labor. Do you think this would be happening if women were advised by their doctors that their chance of dying while giving birth would more than double if they are induced or schedule a cesarean?

Although the study’s findings have still not been released, a California Task Force has begun pilot projects to bring down the death rate. What are they doing? Encouraging the reduction of the induction rate! Why? Because studies show that an induction doubles your chances of “needing” to have your baby come by major abdominal surgery.

In 2002, the medical director at one Orange County hospital instituted new guidelines for elective inductions: no inductions before 41 weeks of pregnancy. That means no scheduling an induction because that’s when Grandma will be in town or because the next week your O.B. is going on vacation. It also means women don’t get to their 39 week prenatal visit and have the doctor cheerily inform them that they will put them on the schedule to be induced if they haven’t had their baby by week 40.

From my own experience as a doula, I can tell you how critical that last week is for moms’ bodies to prepare for labor. Their body chemistry is slowly building toward a perfect hormonal balance to begin and support a labor that will progress until their baby is born.

And what has happened at the Orange County hospital? They have fewer babies who need to spend their first days in a neonatal intensive care unit separated from their parents instead of bonding and breastfeeding at home. They have fewer maternal hemorrhages, which is the leading cause of death for mothers during the birth process. And they have fewer emergency hysterectomies, which is what they have to do to save her life if a woman is bleeding to death. The hospital has also seen its profits go down. Full O.R.s, neonatal units, and longer hospital stays for recovering moms equal big bucks. Remember having a baby by cesarean surgery is, at a minimum, twice as expensive.

Here it is by the numbers, ladies: • California Maternal Death Rate 1996: 5.6 mothers die per 100,000 live births.

• 2006: 16.9 mothers die per 100,000 live births.

California’s rate is even worse than the national rate which is 13.3. My guess as to why we are higher is a deadly combination of cultural factors, fear of liability by doctors, and Hollywood stars fueling a “too posh to push” mentality.

Here is a question I would like answered.

Where does the fact that we have gone back to the “once a cesarean always a cesar-

Children’s Bookshelf

Photo by Clarita

By Lisa Pimentel Johnson

Recently, poems have been swirling around in my mind like confetti. It was no surprise then that my eyes latched onto a children’s book of poems by Jeff Foxworthy. Yes, that Jeff Foxworthy who is also one of the most successful and respected recorded comedians in the country. He has written more than twenty-two books, hosts a popular TV show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, and runs a syndicated weekly radio show, The Foxworthy Countdown. I don’t know how he found the time to write poems for children, but thankfully he did, and they capture the very essence of being a child. Here’s one example of the poems in his book, Dirt on My Shirt.

Dirt on My Shirt There’s dirt on my shirt And leaves in my hair There’s mud on my boots But I don’t really care.

Playing outside is so much fun To breathe the clean air And feel the warm sun.

Aunt Foo Foo, Cousin Lizzy, Uncle Moe, snakes, and even flying to the imaginary planet Woosocket. Maybe it will inspire you to write your own poetry with your child and color it with balloons, bugs, or mud!

How can I ever eat bacon again after falling in love with the slightly high maintenance pig called Olivia? The author and illustrator, Ian Falconer, enchants the reader with an unforgettable fashionista doll faced pig who has theatrical attitude and talent. In the book, Olivia, the graphic use of black, red, white, and all values in between, herald back to the author’s art design credentials for the New York City Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, and the Royal Opera House in Convent Garden, among many others.

This gifted artist also slides into his book a few recognizable famous works of art: on page 26, a detail from Ballet Rehearsal on the Set by Edgar Degas and on page 29, a detail from Autumn Rhythm #30 by Jackson Pollock. Weaving art appreciation with a cute little story about a porcine heroine is pure genius! Olivia will impress you with her self esteem, her wardrobe, and her spirit for life. It may also make you pause before eating bacon again!

To stomp in a puddle Or climb a big tree Makes me quite happy Just look and you’ll see.

Jeff’s sly humorous words work well with the charming illustrations of Steve Bjorkman. To add a bit of playfulness to the book, look carefully at the picture for the poem, What Do You See?, and find all the objects mentioned. By turning the pages of this book, you enter the neighborhood, friends, Continued in CESAREAN, page 22 and family of the author. You will meet

It sounds kind of sappy, But it makes me happy, To have a good look, Through any children’s book!

12 Local Perspectives

Death Valley, The Dragon Lady and El Nino

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Dani Nicholson:

Rescuing and Rehabilitating Wildlife

By Jacque Halsey

The Dragon Lady was primed and ready to run. She was wearing her new front fork seals, brand new mirror, packed to the max and filled with Av gas... good for her fine tuned engine.

She is woman... watch her romp, through the twisties, singing to the emerald hills... she and el nino on a run.

She daring, he assaulting. Their harmony of whipping wind, crashing thunder, bouncing hail stones equal to the siren songs ...enticing all who cared to join.

Once committed there was no refusing.

The joy of friends, snow and flowers, ballet and flash floods, tea time and shivers...who wolda thunk. Such rapture in a minuscule ball of time.

The men say, Hey, what about the technical aspects..they forget the pure joy.

The magic on the offering plate...a camel ride, Valentines dance at the Cantina, being led to the all ducky grain ball machine by those tricky quackers and the wonder of laughter.

Chasing El Nino on two wheels, twisting his tail, wringing out sunshine, rain and whistling wind. Visions of fantasia across the desert land.

Sings of warning, BEWARE, be cautious, flood zone, road closed ahead. The Dragon Lady rushed on....and the brave followed.

The pot of gold....pure glorious sunshine at the end of the ride, there was no stopping. The difference between Mars and Venus....on a motorcycle.

Submitted by Sue McMeans on behalf of writer, Jacque Halsey. Jacque used to be Chief of Operations at the SLO Airport.

She is now Chief of Operations at several airports in the Eureka/Arcada area of California.

Unsung Heroine

By Berta Parrish

One of the most pleasurable aspects of living on California’s Central Coast is the abundance and diversity of its wildlife. Watching pelicans and gulls soar over the ocean and listening to songbirds, doves, and owls in our yards adds a wondrous dimension to life, lifting our spirits and bringing us closer to the natural world. However, most people appreciate this world from a distance while a special few dedicate their time and talent to the health of the animals who share this beautiful coast with us. One of these selfless naturalists is Dani Nicholson, wildlife rehabilitator and Board of Directors Center Operations Chair of Pacific Wildlife Care (PWC).

“I’ve always been an animal person. I’m in tune with animals and nature, even spiders fascinates me with their webmaking,” Dani admits. “Birds and animals make me feel alive.” This relationship with nature urged her to save a litter of orphaned opossums found on her property in Cayucos.

Consequently, she sought help from PWC, and she hasn’t left the organization since.

Starting as a volunteer in 2001, she

obtained the necessary training and permits to rehabilitate seabirds at her home. Later, desiring a deeper commitment, she served as treasurer and then as president of the Board of Directors. In 2007, she and her husband sold their Sunshine Health food store, and Dani became the chair of the newly built Pacific Wildlife Care Center in Morro Bay. In this position, she overseas the center’s operations by training and scheduling volunteers, by coordinating special and fund raising projects, and by supervising general maintenance and the care of the animals.

PWC’s mission is two-fold: 1) to rehabilitate and return orphaned or injured terrestrial mammals, birds, and seabirds to their natural habitat; and 2) to educate the community to value and respect wildlife and its environment. This mission is especially important now as the brown pelican population is suffering from a mysterious aliment that has left more than 500 birds weakened or dead along the California coast since the beginning of this year.

Following her own advice, Dani is resigning as PWC Center Chair in March.

“I ask people to slow down. Literally, drive slower – let the animals pass. So many ani-

mals could be saved that way. And, I mean it figuratively, too. I want to see everything around me, instead of racing past nature on the way to a destination.” By working less, she’ll have more time for her two grandchildren and for serving on the SLO operations of the Marine Mammal Center Council. Of course, she’s not leaving PWC. She’ll continue as a wildlife rehabilitator at the Center and at her home.

Dani wants to return to the same state of balance that we wish for the rescued animals, for ourselves, and for our planet.

Observing and relating to animals are her form of meditation. “When I focus on the animals,” she explains, “I experience a feeling of peace. When I’m with the birds, I relax.”

The animals around us, the human and more-than-human, have so much to share and to teach us about living, thriving, and dying, if only more people, like Dani, would slow down, open their hearts and eyes to watch, and listen.

Visit www.pacificwildlifecare.org to learn more about Pacific Wildlife Care

Local Perspectives 13

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Woven Thoughts

By Anna Trent Moore

Out of our heart, our thoughts emerge. Our thoughts then become our actions, and our actions define who we are. All this is interconnected and woven like a finely created piece of fabric.

It is a simple stitch really. The pulling of string through a loop. I was amazed to discover how quickly I found a sense of comfort in this timeless rhythm of repetition. How quickly I found a sense of genuine gratitude in the repetition of performing the same stitch over and over again. But perhaps what is most amazing of it all is that while doing this dance with your hands, this making of music with needle and string, your mind is processing a rhythm of thoughts as well.

It’s as if while there is rhythm with your hands, there is song in your mind. A song

of thoughts. Thoughts of the day, thoughts of the hours, thoughts of your life…from your mind…to your hands… to the yarn… to the woven objects you create. In fact, your very being becomes a part of this woven fabric. Your very person becomes woven into this fabric that only you create with your very own hands. You, your thoughts, this thing…it is all intertwined.

So you see, when you give this garment, blanket, scarf, or whatever it becomes, to another person, it is a rare gift. You are offering a gift that represents a piece of yourself.

What more can one person give to another human being than a gift of themselves?

You are gifting a piece of yourself… your thoughts…woven into this thing that you have created. Woven thoughts.

Photo taken by Emanuel Lobeck

2010

By Ashley Howard

Well I must say that so far 2010 is hands down kicking 2009’s sweet little ass! The first half of 2009 was basically identical to the previous years of my life: work, work, work, and live if and when there’s time; but first – work! Booo-ring, redundant, and just flat out lame!!! I have spent my entire life somewhat mindlessly setting and achieving goal after goal, and have rarely taken the time to actually explore what it is in this life that brings me joy. Finally during the summer of 2009, I decided to quit with the b.s. so called ‘American Dream’ lifestyle that I was partaking in, and instead made a conscious decision to start living!

Last summer I made a commitment with myself to stop going through the motions.

To stop living in fear. To stop making assumptions. To stop wondering and to start wandering! To go wherever the wind blows me. So far, it has been the most incredibly liberating experience of my life! I often feel like I’ve literally been born again.

I can’t help but think about how many other people there may be in this world that are also just going through the motions

and not actually taking the time to realize exactly what it is that they do want out of this life. How do we let this happen? After all, this is our life...and each of us has a unique purpose right? It’s interesting to think that we can get so wrapped up in the demands of the day to day that we become smothered and depleted so much so that we don’t even have the strength to assess the situation. Interesting for sure, but all in all, truly heart breaking.

From time to time I sit down and evaluate my life and take a moment to look at the aspects that are in the forefront of my mind from every angle. Yes, this is the overly analytical Ashley showing its weary head. I justify this madness by telling myself that it’s similar to doing inventory...like I may do from time to time with say---my shoes!?

Some areas that I tend to evaluate are: My work life, or as I like to call it—my purpose. My relationships--friendship, family, and romantic. My health--body, mind, and spirit. My interests, passions, and/or aspects of life that I feel compelled to explore. I like to evaluate where I currently stand in each department and cross-reference it with my vision. It’s a great awareness to have because it allows me to gain clarity on whether or not

I’m on my path. It’s important though to not focus on what you don’t want, but instead to simply acknowledge what isn’t serving you, and then to quickly shift your focus on to exactly what it is that you do want.

Prior to being born again this past summer, more times than not I found myself focusing, discussing, and/or dwelling/ fearing what I didn’t want. Interestingly enough, those things that I feared are what I kept experiencing in life: financial stressors, less than ideal relationships, nagging health challenges, and overall discontentment on more than one level. Hindsight is always more clear, and looking back I feel that I am greatly responsible for the challenges that I experienced because I believe that whatever we set our intentions on, our emotions toward, and are passionate about is exactly what will be delivered to us. I believe this because this is what I have witnessed in my life and those around me that I’m close to. What we resist, often persists.

I feel that the past 6 months have been some form of a vacation for me. I chose to vacate from the life that I became so comfortable with in order to explore and pursue a life with more purpose in hopes of experiencing a heightened level of passion. So far,

so good. I love the new location that I chose to reside in. I love working in a less demanding and emotionally taxing environment.

The single life is serving its purpose thus far.

And overall, I’m enjoying having the time and mental/emotional freedom that is necessary for me to further understand and create my true hearts desires.

The tail end of 2009 proved to be pretty damn incredible, and I know that 2010 will continue to be a year of further transformation. It’s not only a new year, but a new decade: starting with a year that I foresee further change, excitement, and renewal on many levels. For me, in 2010 I will continue to explore this world. I will continue to appreciate and live in the here and now freely and not fearfully. I will continue to be open to loving another wholeheartedly. I will continue to live simply. And I will continue to be at peace with the fact that all that I’ll ever need is within me.

A New Year’s Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes that is generally interpreted as advantageous. I encourage you to spend some time with yourself and to take a peek into the different aspects of your life.

Determine what is serving you and what is not. Then ask yourself if you are truly ‘living,’ or if you too need to be born again in 2010!

14 Local Perspectives

Women’s Press March & April 2010

The Return to College

By Kalila Volkov

When she was here home, safe, just across the hall my body felt like a flute; the wind sailed through me and I made music.

My Mother’s Piano

With her being gone the notes are stuck inside and I have no melody to play.

Photo by Prof Alex

By Kate Updike O’Connor

My grandfather gave my mother a Steinway baby grand piano when she was a young woman about to be married. He had supported her passion for years with piano lessons and plentiful sheet music, and she’d grown used to encouragement from the main man in her life. Unfortunately for my mother, her first husband, my father, was a different sort of man. The story goes that he denigrated her talent, or at least didn’t appreciate her deep love for the piano. The story further goes that he came home from work and wondered why she wasn’t scrubbing the kitchen floor instead of playing her piano. And this failure to understand a passion so fundamental to my mother’s being caused the marriage to sour early on.

It ended after only six years with my mother hospitalized for severe depression.

In the early years of her marriage, I suppose she tried to play out her unhappiness on the piano. She had two babies in quick succession and a husband who lacked a cultured soul. I imagine her lost for hours at the keyboard, a baby’s playpen pulled up alongside. My older brother’s baby teeth marks still etch the wood at one end of it. By the time I was born, the third child in five years, my mother broke down and entered a Philadelphia mental hospital for an extended stay. I’ve been told she agreed to come home once the depression lifted, only if my father moved out. She blamed him for her unhappiness. The marriage ended.

I was six when my mother married again.

We all moved into a new house together in

central Pennsylvania. The house was modest, the suburban cookie-cutter type. To accommodate her piano in the small living room, my mother created some faux wall space. She designed chocolate brown ceiling-to-floor draperies to go across one entire wall, serving as a curtain for the large picture window, but also to cover over the front door, making it inoperable. The wall space created by covering the door provided the perfect spot for Mom’s piano. From inside the house, there was no way to know that a door hid behind those drapes. We managed fine using the smaller side door that opened from the living room to the outside. How clever she was to think of this decorating trick, motivated as it was to house her piano.

Recovered from depression, at least for the time being, my mother played with what must have been renewed vigor. There was no escaping the music in such a small house. I grew to hate it, especially on a Sunday afternoon, if it was raining and dreary, when Mom might be practicing a melancholic Chopin. She didn’t know I watched her as I skulked around the house. With a child’s understanding, I knew that my mother’s piano granted her a sanctuary of sorts. This meant that when she played, she became unavailable to those around her. She appeared possessed by her piano, half bent over the keys, her fingers wed to them, eyes half closed, her foot working the pedal as if detached from her body. She’d play passages repeatedly when she was studying a new piece, a practice that made me want to

scream. How I resented that piano. And it ruined Chopin for me.

When I was ten, we moved from the tiny house in Pennsylvania to a sprawling Victorian in New Jersey, a baby brother in tow.

Piano music overtook even so large a house, especially with the extensive wood floors and few carpets to absorb the sound. A central staircase rose up out of the stately front hall, wrapped around itself, and delivered music to all corners of the second floor and the third, too, for that matter, although we didn’t use that top floor.

But there in New Jersey I stepped into my mother’s piano world in a new and different way: I began taking lessons from her.

I mostly dreaded my lessons, which she

conducted just as she did with other pupils unrelated to her, complete with bird stickers for a piece well played and assignments for the next week. But I found I loved to play, and the special thrill of receiving my mother’s compliments when I played well went a long way toward relieving my resentment.

I played the flute, too, during those school years, and the duets we played together gave me a chance to be close to my mother at her happiest.

Mom is eighty-five today and still teaches in the old Victorian. Pupils step into the front hall and seat themselves at her Steinway as Mom pulls up her chair beside them.

She has never advertised for pupils. They come by word-of mouth.

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Local Perspectives 15

Women’s Press March & April 2010

One Good Novel

By Jeanne Murdock

As the saying goes, everyone has one good novel in her. You may have a great idea for a book or you just want to tell your story.

What sets most writers apart from successful writers is the courage not only to write (and finish!) the story, but also to publish it.

As far as writing the book, a master plan and grandiose goal are not required.

Writing is a therapeutic outlet that helps you to learn about yourself, communicate, entertain others, and dump emotional bag-

gage. Writing is also an educational outlet that requires you to research and become an expert.

If you want to publish a book you must answer the question: Why? You must know what your ultimate goal is, how many people you want to reach, and what you want them to gain from reading your story.

When you are ready to publish, you will seek a literary agent, find a publisher on your own, or self-publish; each is a full-time job.

Even if a publisher accepts your work, you will have to do most of the marketing yourself.

In 1995, after hearing so many excuses my personal fitness training clients were making for not doing their workouts, I started writing The Every Excuse in the Book Book: How to Benefit from Exercising, by Overcoming Your Excuses. First the 120 excuses developed and later the means to overcome those. Fourteen months later, the book was finished and edited. Then, the hard part: finding someone who believed in my work as much as I did.

I spent two years with an enthusiastic literary agent who helped with some of the legwork in finding a publisher. Unfortunately, it took that long for me to realize that he was a quack. By this time I had written two more books, which he reviewed. The good news is that in 1998 two of my books came to life. The bad news is that they had a different author’s name. My agent gave my work to someone else who published the information with a similar title. Fortunately, I sent my books to the copyright office right after mine were written.

After firing my agent, I knew that I had to wage a war against these bad people, my way. I self-published. Little by little, I gathered clues to the mystery of how to bring my book to life in such a way that would appeal to readers and that would comply with bookstores’ requirements. Sep-

tember 2005 Excuses came to life with my name on it. Since its release, I have been fighting back by offering people my mark of gold, and by selling more copies than the “knock off.”

Now, 15 years after starting my first book, I have written seven books and published two—the newest being Successful Dating at Last! A Workbook for Understanding Each Other, which offers women the means to learn about themselves and the people they date. Rather than cookie-cutter advice on how to meet and keep a guy, Successful Dating encourages women to figure out what works best for themselves.

What I value most about my writing and publishing experiences is that I have inspired others to write and publish. I love seeing the expression of pride and accomplishment on others’ faces.

Jeanne Murdock is the owner of BEANFIT, a health and fitness consulting firm in Paso Robles, CA. She is the author of The Every Excuse in the Book Book: How to Benefit from Exercising, by Overcoming Your Excuses and Successful Dating at Last! A Workbook for Understanding Each Other and host of BEANFIT for Life on Charter Cable’s Ch. 2.

She can be reached through www.beanfit.com or 805.226.9893.

It’s Time to Come Full Circle and promising direction. If last year seemed create a vision of what we would like to see lackluster and lacking, this next year can be in our lives, businesses, or communities.

Once we understand what we would like Early in the year is the perfect time to reflect fruitful and fabulous — all through the use the future to represent, we’re better able to on everything that we have achieved in pre- of our creative powers! take the actions needed to implement it. vious months, as well as what we aim to do in the days ahead.

Techniques for Envisioning the Future Preferably, that future will resonate with our passions, gifts, and what we (or our organiThis time of year also offers us the ideal occasion to ask ourselves, “Have I learned Whether you want to predict the future zations) can really excel at doing. from my creative experiences in the prior or actually prescribe an outcome of your year? Are there any discoveries I should choosing — it’s your choice! Either way, Try Doing What Hedgehogs Do review to better predict my results for 2010? you’ll have plenty of company.

What would help me identify a more powerThroughout history, we humans have Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, ful plan of action?” tried many ways of predicting the future, coined the term “Hedgehog Concept” to We can make an inspired effort to from reading palms to stargazing. Today, we describe a type of single-minded determinaaddress these issues, even if it uses time and refer to these as descriptive methods when tion. Similar to what the hedgehog animal energy that we’d rather spend on something we attempt to describe objectively what the does, this phrase refers to someone focusing else. We will therefore position ourselves to future will be or could be. on doing only one thing really well, such as launch future projects with greater clarity Prescriptive methods, on the other hand, curling up and rolling. The implication is and far fewer concerns or doubts. focus on determining what the future that until we develop a Hedgehog Concept Fortunately, we have potent techniques should be. These techniques can help us for ourselves, we won’t truly understand our at our disposal to help us envision a new clarify our preferences and values so we can own vision, mission, or purpose.

By Adele Sommers, PhD

Keep in mind that this concept is not a goal, strategy, or plan, but an understanding of what you can and can’t be the best at doing — which is a great focal point for envisioning the future!

Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is a business performance consultant who helps entrepreneurs align their life passions with their business purpose.

She also guides organizations through “tactical tune-ups” and “strategic makeovers” in individual or group sessions. Contact her today for a free initial consultation at Adele@LearnShareProsper.com, or 805.462.2199.

16 Local Perspectives

Women’s Press March & April 2010

presents

A Monthly Series of Spiritual Workshops

Save the World SLO Business Center • 4250 S. Higuera Street, Suite 600, San Luis Obispo Third Thursday of Each Month • 7-9 pm • $20 suggested donation Contact womenspress.slo@gmail.com or (805) 541-6874 for more information.

What book has changed your life?

Photo by Sanja Gjenero

death, enlightenment—it’s racy and spiriLaurel White A small town girl (me) meets Memoirs of a tual. Shoot, I think I’ll start reading it again tonight; it’s been too long.

Geisha... what defines beauty?

Berta Parrish Many books have influenced my life and my outlook on life. In my thirties, coping with the balancing act of career and family, I read Gift from the Sea. At that time, this little book, written by the author, activist, and mother Anne Morrow Lindbergh, gave me permission to take care of myself, so I could take care of others. I followed Anne’s example in seeking solitude, simplifying my outward life, finding a central purpose, discovering my inner strength, staying close to nature, accepting change, and nourishing valued relationships.

Leslie St. John The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean Dominique Bauby.

Jen Kaplan The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan: really got me to change the way I purchase food and how I feed my family. The Baby Book

by Dr. Sears: The only book I read where I could relate to the way I was parenting - nurturing, responsive, attached. This book made me realize it was OK to be a natural mother and follow my instincts. Ina May’s Guide To Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin: a book filled with birth stories from “The Farm” in Tennessee. Made me realize how natural, normal, and healthy birth is supposed to be. Not at all what our mainstream media and society portrays.

This book was inspiring and filled me with confidence in my body.

Angie King I don’t know if it changed my life, but it certainly has had an impact, and that’s Mary Daly’s Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation. published in 1973.

The 70’s were a heady time in general, and she was a leader, acting on her principles and Linda Stein getting fired from Boston College in the pro- Life and Death in Shanghai, by Nien Cheng, cess. She is/was (she just died this January) not published 1987. afraid to say what we all felt. Check her out.

Ali Rush Carscaden, 15 degrees Celsius owner I have to say although I wish it was some Kathey Railsback inspirational women’s business story or The Joy of Sex. something... really the Omnivore’s Dilemma

by Michael Pollan or Anthony Bourdaine’s Melanie Senn Maybe the book that most changed my life Kitchen Confidential. Restaurant biz, ya is Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge. know.

I’ve read it cover to cover several times and it always blows me away. It was published Next month our Voices around the Table in 1944, but it’s contemporary, if you know question is: With new predictions showing that what I mean. The first 20 pages or so are by mid-year, women will have surpassed men boring, but the rest—the rest! Marriage, in the workforce, what are your reactions?

March Workshop

the connections between people that have been lost due to strife and anxiety. She will Peace Talks also share some useful tools and insights for “When there is peace in the household... there regaining peace in our relationships with others and self. Come prepared for an honcan be peace in the world.” Chinese proverb est, intimate conversation with yourself and Following the success of last year’s Peace neighbors. All are welcome.

Talk led by Dr. Tobey Crockett at the Joslyn Center fund raiser for the Creativity Club of Cambria, we recognized that there is a thirst for practical hands on ways to talk about peace in our county. Joining Dr. Crockett One life to live. are experienced peace builders Karin (AKA In this workshop we will discuss our story Grandmother Bridgeweaver) Leonard and based on what others wanted us to do as if Jennifer Star. we were in a box. We will explore and disDr. Crockett will lead and moderate the cover more of what you wish you could do event which will consist of a seminar style by getting out of the box. Experience how it discussion that addresses both general and feels: to stay in the box, and then how to get specific difficulties we encounter in our out of the box. I’ll lead a guided meditation daily lives, including brass tacks methods to help you discover your story. We’ll play by which we may all contribute to the weav- with the impressions from the meditation ing of a better social fabric. Jennifer Star, and then put it on paper, what it feels like founder and director of the Peace Pie Man- to write your new story as if this was the last dala Project (www.peacemandala.com ), will year that you have to live. What will you let speak of her experience of knowing peace in go of and what will you do more of? her heart through a relationship with creativity and the arts, and offer tools for exploring MaryAine Curtis is an Emissary of JOY! this heart-centered peace both in and outside As well as a Spiritual Counselor, teacher and of the art studio. Karin Leonard, commu- Inner Transformation Coach. Her website is nity mediator and student exchange coun- www.return2joy.com selor, is always looking at how to rebuild

April Workshop

Local Perspectives 17

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Outside the Port

Photo by Bryn Jones

By Tricia Wolanin

Far away from the cruise ship ports of Montego Bay, Negril, and Ocho Rios, lies a land that tourists generally do not venture to.

Ironically, this city happens to be the capital of the country. When I began reading up on Kingston, the guidebooks attempt to instill a sense of fear. If beaches are subpar, high crime rates exist, and minimal tourist spots are available, why would anyone go to Kingston? I asked myself this question when my friend Amanda encouraged me to book a holiday there with her.

Driving outside of New Kingston and surrounding suburbs, pockets of dilapidated shacks line the streets. Some are painted with traditional greens and yellows, others are solely remnants of aluminum. Sepia

video footage of Bob Marley’s Trenchtown days observed at the legend’s museum earlier in the trip, somehow still portray these current shantytowns. The heart and birth of reggae is apparent here.

We spend Ash Wednesday in Jamaica, which is a national holiday. Although a majority of the citizens are religious, not everyone practices. Therefore, the day consists of pure play and relaxation. We are lucky enough to go to Fort Clarence beach with some locals. Our hosts, Kathy and Garth, are both multiracial individuals of Jamaican and Chinese descent. Kathy is proud of her heritage, and quickly notes the growing population of Chinese Jamaicans “finally made Wikipedia.”

Rastafarian music quietly plays in the background on a family’s stereo. The light

blue water glistens under the 80-degree sun.

We take our towels, bottled waters, and plantain chips and find a perfect shady spot under a tree. The trees branches hang low, which seem to fit many families comfortably at different angles.

We order our lunches early, due to the amount of time it takes to prepare the meal and the growing crowd. Garth takes Amanda and I to the restaurant shack, which has no name, sign, or menu. Garth informs us to make our selections, but we entrust him to choose the fresh seafood caught earlier that day. Garth is not pleased with the initial variety of fish that lay before him. He specifically wants beautiful blue parrot fish, which were unavailable. Garth sifts through additional stock lying in makeshift water coolers behind the shack, order-

ing only parrot fish and lobster.

After at least two hours of playing in the Caribbean waters and sprawling in the sand, our feast is ready. Two lobsters, five fried parrot fish, and steamed curry fish lay before us on paper plates. The accompanying sides consist of standard festival (fried dough, similar to Italian zeppos minus the powdered sugar) and cassava (yucca). This meal was the edible highlight of the trip.

The day at Fort Clarence beach certainly exceeded any preconceived notions of Kingston that existed within me. My cousin will soon be taking her honeymoon to Montego Bay this summer. I will definitely nudge her to go outside the boundaries of their allinclusive resort and prepaid adventure trips to see what Jamaica really has to offer.

and decided to join the greasepaint-andfunny-clothes gang.

I donated calligraphy earnings to Hospice, who helped make life bearable and easier in many ways.

We considered giving an oil stock, used to anoint the sick, to Angie’s parish of St. Mark’s, in her memory.

And I donated a braid of my hair to Locks of Love.

These gifts helped abate my grief. We’d survived the markers of Angie’s August birthday, the sixth-month anniversary of her death, and the holidays—which she loved.

The first Sunday after Christmas, I sat in the soprano section’s front row, facing the congregation. I felt fine until the Prayers of the People, when we prayed for

the departed. I lost it. I remembered that last January, Angie’s oncologist told us our daughter needed help. My tears flowed at the communion rail. Jeremy held my hand and put his arm around me.

I looked for a knitting project to help me relax; I’d outfitted the world scarf-wise. I’d tried to use scrap yarns several times—with no success. Knitting a cap before Christmas, I ran out of bouclé yarn and finished with leftover eyelash. I remembered the hat. So, I had fun creating funky caps in various colors and textures. Then I had an epiphany. Could my warm, soft, wild-colored, hats help cancer patients who’d lost their hair feel better?

Angie loved clothes and color. I remember bringing her a bag of hats and caps the first time she had chemo. At January 6th’s

Epiphany Service, I showed them to a cancer survivor. She liked them, and picked one with raspberry ‘bling” for her mother-in-law, due to start treatment.

Our rector blessed them. Next, I took them to a doctor’s office. His receptionist had just finished chemo. She picked a yellow one with multi-colored ball fringe. I never thought of knitting a way out of grief, but small gifts of love often give more to the giver than the recipient. I sailed through next Sunday’s service.

People call me wonderful to make the caps, but it eases the pain of loss and helps me heal. To quote Mother Teresa: “The fruit of service is peace.” And I agree.

The Fruit of Service

By Kathy Bond

“The fruit of service is peace.”

—Mother Teresa On New Year’s Day, I listed ways we’d observed Angie’s memory since her death last April. She taught for years, so we gave money for education to the Diocese of Western Tanganyika in November. When the American Association of University Women called in December, we gave to them.

At the December Habitat Houses Dedication, Tutti the clown asked if I wanted to join her ranks. Taking a few weeks to think about it, I remembered Angie had “clowned”

18 Local Perspectives

Women’s Press March & April 2010

Nurturing Your Muse Photo by Muris Kuloglija Kula

Clare Lowery L.Ac. Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine Licensed for 20 Years Shirodhara oil treatment 805-541-6772 ClareLowery.com

By Jeanne Greensfelder

It’s spring! Time to nurture energy and imagination for new projects. To add fun, get acquainted with your Muse. When I first learned of Muses, the nine Greek sister goddesses who inspire creativity, I wanted one, but thought they only visited brilliant people.

Of course, we can all cultivate and access our Muse. For instance, Isabelle Allende has rituals that she follows. Annually, she starts a new book on the day she began a letter to her dying grandfather because that letter turned into her first novel, House of Spirits.

Each January 8th she provides flowers and lights candles for her Muses and meditates. At a computer she writes her first line in a kind of trance as if someone else were writing it through her. Using that line as an opening to explore new worlds, she lets a story unfold and delights in the surprises that arrive. She waits until her first draft is complete before switching to left brain editing.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Love and Pray discusses the history of muses and genies in one of the recent TED talks (www.ted.com). In order to access her muse, Gilbert shows up and, like a mule, works.

By doing her part the creative spirit is more likely to arrive.

Gilbert described the poet Ruth Stone who would be working in the field when a poem barreled in from above. Stone’s job was to run into the house and write it down before the poem gave up on her and went to find another poet.

The Moors chanted Allah and praised God when they observed a transcendent performance.

In Spain, the name Allah morphed to Olé, a shout for an outstanding moment during a flamenco dance, a bullfight, or other achievement.

Now Gilbert shouts Olé after she and her Muse have a successful collaboration. She also believes we deserve Olé for just showing up and working.

To nurture your muse, you might ask her name and get to know what she likes: flowers, candles, silence, music, or a bustling café atmosphere. Try a meditative conversation with her, describing what you need. Once she’s activated on a venture, new ideas could pop into your brain day or night. Carry pencil and paper. Inviting and writing dreams can be very productive.

Muses enjoy being invoked and appreciated. They also like to a-muse, so have fun!

NOW News 19

Women’s Press March & April 2010 This Page Presented by the

National Organization for Women

The purpose of NOW is to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society NOW !

Coordinator’s Corner

Calendar

By Angie King

For those of you who missed our annual Roe v Wade event, you should’a been there!

I know the weather was predicted foul (although it was merely cold, not rainy). I hope it was not complacency with how wellprotected you feel our rights are that let you stay home. I have to tell you, our rights are in just as much danger now as under Bush.

Hilda Zacarias led a lively discussion of the current (as of then) health care reform bill, especially as those reforms affect women’s access to reproductive health care. Since it appears the bill has stalled, there may now be time to undo those pernicious amendments preventing women from access to abortions – even using their own money.

The more people who tell their Congress member how private insurance company greed and negligence has impacted their own family’s life and health, perhaps the better they will heed our call to curb insurers. The evening closed with a tribute to those women who died from not having access to appropriate medical care and the workers who have been killed in the line of service to women in health clinics. It was a well-attended, moving evening. Thank you to Health Care for All and Hilda Zacarias for contributing to its success.

Events coming up include a display at the SLO public library this month to commemorate Women’s History Month, participation with SARP in their “Walk a Mile in their Shoes” event in April to raise awareness about sexual assaults, and a special event in June about Title IX. You may have heard that the Cuesta College women’s tennis team was eliminated this year due to budget cuts. That action ran afoul of the requirement of federal law that opportunities for participation in sports must be proportionate to the enrollment at the school. Eliminating one women’s team wholesale cuts that proportion below what is allowed. As a result, a Title IX federal complaint has been filed against Cuesta.

The local chapter of NOW thinks this is an important issue that merits more coverage than just one article in the paper and a comment by the acting Cuesta College president that they will not be having a public meeting about it. Well, if they won’t, NOW will!

We plan to hold a public discussion on this topic, probably in June. Stay tuned.

March is Women’s History Month Another year another war: Yes, it’s March again and the beginning of year 8 of the Afghan/Iraq wars. Women soldiers are in a double bind: not only are they under fire from insurgent forces, they are under attack from their own “buddies.” Women report sexual assaults inside the front line bases, sexual harassment by superior officers, blatant discrimination in work assignments, and higher levels of PTSD on their return, with fewer medical options than the men.

When will it stop? When we all get out in the streets and demand it? Do you not remember Vietnam?

Early political riff: Bill O’Reilly had a column at end of last year commenting on the access to the Obama White House compared to the Bush years, and of course, he was disparaging about the types and frequencies of visitors to Obama. It’s almost a badge of honor, at least according to Keith Olberman, to be dissed by Bill O’Reilly, so I take it as a matter of pride that the president of NOW, Kim Gandy, was one of the most frequent visitors mentioned.

And on another note, Mother Jones had a piece on how the GOP is trying to court younger voters, using social networking. Despite their use of new communication channels, it doesn’t change the GOP positions on social issues. The article mentioned “social justice, tolerance and peace in society,” but specifically ruled out abortion access or gay marriage. The number that grabbed me, though, was that in 2020 there will be 90 million new just-turned-18 years old first time voters for a presidential election, and they will comprise 39% of the potential electorate. That’s a formidable voting bloc – if young people can be said to be of one mind, which I don’t think they are.

However, I do think younger voters are more likely to be more tolerant and support social justice. Aren’t those universal values? The question is for whom and to whom and that’s where I think new voters will part ways with the GOP. But they are an important demographic that we need to make sure understand our “herstory” and the consequences of forgetting the past.

You can tell it’s spring; the “action” sap is beginning to rise in my blood. Won’t you join me in taking action?

March 3: Harriet Tubman (operated Underground Railroad) died, 1913 March 4: Jeannette Rankin becomes 1st US Congresswoman, 1917 March 8: International Women’s Day March 12: Juliette Low founds Girl Scouts, 1912 March 15: birthday of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, 1933 March 16: NOW regular meeting, 6 PM April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month April 7: birthday of Billie Holiday, 1915 April 9: March for Women’s Lives to support abortion rights, 1992 April 10: birthday of Dolores Huerta, 1930 April 18: Women’s World Fair, Chicago, 1925

April 20: NOW regular meeting, 6 PM April 22: Take Your Daughter to Work Day April 25: Colorado, 1st state to liberalize abortion laws, 1967 April 25: Earth Day April 25: March for Gay/Lesbian Rights, 1993 April 28: Equal Pay Day

NOW Goals • Support reproductive choice • Work to eliminate all violence against women • Fight against sexual harassment • Encourage tolerance and diversity • Promote feminist issues • Commemorate Roe v Wade (Jan 22) • Celebrate Women’s Equality Day (Aug 26) • Participate in Farmer’s Market • Support feminist politics

NOW Chapter # CA 565 PO Box 1306, SLO, CA 93406 SLONOW @ kcbx.net http://groups.myspace.com/~slonow

General Meetings 1060 Palm St., SLO

3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:00 pm

Get Involved — Join NOW! San Luis Obispo Chapter National Organization for Women Every woman doesn’t have to join NOW, just the 142 million who are discriminated against!

Name: _ ______________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________ City/St/ZIP: ___________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________________________ Regular Dues ….$40, Sliding Scale…..$15-39

Send your check and this form to

PO Box 1306 SLO, CA 93406 Chapter # CA 565 slonow@kcbx.net

Amount enclosed: _______ _ _____

20 NOW News

Women’s Press March & April 2010

NOW History Lesson

By Angie King

National NOW encourages each chapter to review the history and workings of the organization with their membership every year.

We have usually used the March issue of the Women’s Press to outline how NOW works because that’s Women’s History Month.

Briefly, there is a national membership organization that takes action in the political arena to bring women into the mainstream of American society, as our mission statement declares. These local grass root chapters decide national policy at an annual convention, and the executive board carries out those policy directives. NOW also has a political arm, the NOWPAC, which endorses candidates at the national level, and a Foundation, that engages in educational tax-exempt activities, such as Take Your Daughter to Work Day (see article this issue) and Love Your Body Day (in October), among others.

In California, local chapters are also members of a state wide organization with a parallel structure: there is a membership association, which takes action at the state level based on policy directives agreed upon at a state convention; a PAC which endorses candidates at the state level; and a Foundation, which carries out tax-exempt activities.

Membership is open to women and men who agree with the mission: to bring women into the mainstream of American society NOW, with equal privileges and responsibilities as men.

NOW is a relatively new organization.

The first meetings were in Washington DC in 1966 as a result of President John Kennedy’s call for a Commission on the status of women. That Commission (still in existence despite the best efforts of Republicans to kill it) remains an advisory body to the President on issues important to women. However, it does not take any action, which led some of the initial Commission members to break away and form NOW as a more overtly political action organization.

Women’s issues have been around, however, far longer than the 1960’s. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony convened a women’s rights convention to

demand some of the most basic equality tenets we now possess: the right of women to work, and to keep our earnings, and the right to be educated. While there were some calls for the vote, it was considered too radical at the time.

By the turn of the 20th century, however, that time had come, and Suffragists took political action to secure the vote for women, including hunger strikes, chaining themselves to the White House fence, and marching with placards denouncing the President for failing to take action on their demands.

When the 19th Amendment finally passed in 1920, women took to public life in great numbers. They ran for and won political office, they voted in legislators who vowed to curb child labor and reform oppressive factory working conditions, among other social justice reforms.

And they became a political force with the creation of the League of Women Voters. As we were reminded just last month, February marked the 90th birthday of the founding of the LWV (established in 1920).

Cribbing liberally from Julie Lynem’s Tribune article on the League, we learn that the League was the driving force behind the passage of the social justice reforms mentioned above. The League studies issues and comes to a consensus on a position, which they then advocate before legislative bodies.

That makes them “equally opportunity disliked,” quoting a local SLO League member, because they do not always say what a politician wants to hear. The LWV does not endorse candidates for office, but it does grill them on their positions on League issues.

In the article, members of the local League chapter, formed in the 1960’s, were asked for advice for the younger generation.

Uniformly, they urged people to vote and be informed about their vote, to make that vote count. She says become a better citizen by listening to both sides of an argument and think about your own response. “It’s easy to turn on the TV or computer and make a decision based on a 30-second sound bite or blog posting.”

Sage advice. I would add only, once you have developed a position, join NOW and do something about it!

Another Black Woman Rises to the Top An historic event occurred during Black History Month—a black woman was appointed to lead the California National Guard. Brig. Gen. Mary Kight is the first black woman to head the National Guard in any state, and is the first woman to lead the 21,000 members of California’s Army and Air National Guard.

Kight was sworn in by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a former Air Force base outside Sacramento. Speaking during a change-of-command ceremony at the California National Guard Mather Flight Facility, the Republican governor called Kight a pioneer for breaking gender and racial barriers during her long career. She is the state’s 45th adjutant general, assuming command from Gen. William Wade, who is leaving to help command a North Atlantic Treaty Organization force in Italy. She is a brigadier general and was the second in command, before being promoted. The position is subject to confirmation by the state Senate and pays $180,201 a year. Kight is a Republican.

“I’m extremely proud,” she said after the ceremony. “I also feel responsible, however, to those that look to me because I happen to be of female gender or African-American.”

Kight, 59, said she is part Filipino and Spanish on her mother’s side. “There’s a little bit of everything in me. And whatever I represent to people, if it makes them proud, I’m proud,” she said.

Kight was born in Monterey in 1950, the daughter of a cook and a hotel housekeeper.

She earned a degree at Monterey Peninsula College in 1970, then continued her education at Chico State University. Kight married her college sweetheart, Brad Kight, then joined the Air Force and then the National Guard, where she has spent nearly 25 years.

State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, who was the first black woman to head a state legislative body, praised Kight for providing inspiration to those who will follow. “Today is a very exciting day in history,” said Bass, a Democrat from Los Angeles.

Here’s an Easy Action! - Take Your Daughters to Work Day April 22, 2010 Traditionally, the fourth Thursday in April (coincidentally, around the same date as Equal Pay Day) has been marked as a special opportunity for parents (aimed initially at women when the event premiered in the 1970’s and now expanded to include fathers) to take their daughters to work with them for the day (now expanded to include sons).

Whatever your job might be, let your child shadow you for the day to see what you do and help them see how many career options are available to them. If your job does not permit “visitors,” arrange with someone to show your child the “ropes” at their work.

This is not just touchy feely stuff about putting a human face on how our society’s wheels turn each day. The importance in exposing girls, and boys, to different sorts of people and tasks at an early age sparks creativity and enthusiasm and gives them the confidence to know they can try new things, maybe even a career they may not have otherwise been aware of. More girls interested in how things work means more future engineers, for example, which means more people working out ways to live together. As a nation, we cannot afford to waste the talents of over half the population.

And, more importantly, it shows fathers what their girls are capable of and may even make them think twice about their beliefs about women and girls.

A Yale University study analyzed legislators’ votes on key issues, tallied against the number of girls each had, and found a positive correlation between the number of girls and the legislator’s position on issues affecting women. This correlation held true on both sides of the political aisle. The so-called “daughter gap” was strongest when the male legislators voted on issues specifically related to abortion and contraception.

It’s interesting that the campaign to nurture and develop the talents of girls is set in late April, as that is also the day which, usually, the earnings of women for the prior year catch up to those of men, called Equal Pay Day, because it takes us an extra four months or so to earn as much as men do in twelve. Hopefully, “Take your Daughter to Work Day” will eventually eliminate the need for an “Equal Pay Day,” as the inequities of income discrimination based on gender diminish, because more and more young women moved into highly paid career areas as a result of watching their mothers and fathers at work as a child.

Bulletins 21

Women’s Press March & April 2010 Local Art Grows in Garden

Being Woven: Pine Needle Basketry Class

Show runs March 19th- April 16th Opening Reception Friday, March 19th 4:00-7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 13 9:30AM – 2:30PM Pre-registration required by March 10 (space limited) $60.00 class fee (due at registration) The San Luis Obispo Botanical proudly $15.00 materials fee (due at class) presents Connections with Nature: EcoArt in the Garden co-sponsored by Frame Community member and talented artWorks. Curator Sara Egerer has selected ist Elizabeth Bear will teach the basic techartwork made of various reclaimed mate- niques of beginning and building a pine rials, featuring work by Jack Biesek, Carol needle basket. The class will include imporPaulsen, Stephen Plowman, Larry Le Brane, tant tips on how to collect local pine needles, the different varieties of needles, their and other local artists.

Explore sculpture in the beautiful natural proper preparation and storage. During this setting of the Preview Garden and Oak Glen creative and fun class, you will begin and Pavilion during the Opening Reception on shape a basket of your own design as well as Friday, March 19th from 4:00-7:30 p.m. learn how to preserve your work of art for Meet the artists and enjoy nature, art, wine, many years to come. light refreshments, docent tours, a scavenger Please bring a pair of scissors, a bag lunch hunt, and children’s activities. and your creative energy to this exciting To make reservations please call SLOBG workshop.

(805) 541-1400 ext. 305. $10 General Donation, $8 SLOBG Members, entry is free for children and those who purchase a SLOBG Make Your Own Mala Prayer Bracelet Membership. Guests may also pay at the Thursday, March 23 6:30PM – 8:30PM door. Show runs through April 16th.

Pre-registration required $25.00

Donate Your Used Cell Phones, Ink Cartriges and More Save on Taxes. Help the Women’s Community Center Protect the Environment.

The Women‘s Community Center is conducting a recycling fundraiser. There’s nothing to buy. We are simply asking you to protect the environment by donating your used consumer electronics and unwanted, broken or mismatched jewelry. Your used item(s) may be tax deductible and will be recycled in accordance with EPA regulations. 100% of the proceeds will help fund The Women’s Community Center.

We are currently collecting the following items: working or not / damaged or not: Cell phones - laptop computers - ink cartridges - MP3 players - digital cameras - digital video cameras - handheld game systems - GPS devices - radar detectors - electronic book readers - gold, silver & platinum.

Please drop off any items you would like to recycle at: The Women’s Community Center 4251 S Higuera Street Building 800 Suite 15, San Luis Obispo, or call Robin at 805-801-3235.

We greatly appreciate your support!

Come enjoy a creative evening in community with others on the spiritual path.The evening begins with a short meditation, a teaching and ritual to help prepare the artist within to choose beads and string them heartfully together. The class presents a wonderful opportunity to invite a friend to share in the experience of community. All necessary materials are supplied.

Energy balancing sessions free of charge in San Luis Obispo

Free Energy Balancing Sessions The Global Alliance for Balance and Healing is offering free energy balancing sessions on Saturday, March 20 from 11:00am to 4:00pm.

The free clinic will be held at Sierra Vista Hospital in the Auditorium, 1010 Murray Avenue, San Luis Obispo. Parking is best in the outpatient parking lot (on the west side and then go through the second entrance sliding glass doors). Once you enter the doors, turn right and then left into the auditorium. Sessions are 25 minutes in duration and no appointment is necessary. All are welcome.

Visit www.globalalliance.ws or call 805-438-4347 to learn about energy balancing or other offerings from the Global Alliance for Balance and Healing.

Where to find Women’s Press

All Libraries and the following exceptionally fine establishments!

• NORTH COUNTY: Atascadero – The Coffee House and Deli, Starbuck’s at Von’s Plaza, Green Goods, Player’s Pizza, Harvest Health Food Store, North County Connection, Senior Center, Women’s Resource Center/Shelter Office, Curves. Paso Robles – Cuesta College North Campus, Café Vio, Curves, DK Donuts, Panolivo French Cafe, NCI Village Thrift Shop, Paso Robles Health Foods; Templeton – Twin Cities Hospital, Templeton Market & Deli, Affinity Chiropractic, Kinship Center, Jobella’s Coffee; Santa Margarita– Santa Margarita Mercantile.

• NORTHERN COAST: Baywood – Coffee & Things; Cambria – Cambria Connection, Cambria Pines Lodge, Chamber of Commerce, Gym One, Azevedo Chiropractic, Lilly’s, Alloco’s, Cambria Drug and Gift, Bob & Jan’s Bottle Shop, Linn’s, Donna’s Nail Salon, Cookie Crock, Rainbow Bean and Coffee Shop; Cayucos – Cayucos Super Market, Kelley’s EsPresso & Dessert, Ocean Front Pizza, Chevron Station, Mobile Balloons; Los Osos – Starbuck’s, Baywood Laundry, Cad’s, Carlock’s Bakery, Chamber of Commerce, Copa de Oro, Garden Café, Los Osos Deli Liquor, Volumes of Pleasure; Morro Bay – Backstage Salon, Coalesce Bookstore, Coffee Pot Restaurant, The Rock, Southern Port Traders, Sunshine Health Foods, Two Dogs Coffee, La Parisienne Bakery.

• SAN LUIS OBISPO: Broad St. Laundry, Cool Cats Café, La Crepes, Edna Market, Booboo Records, Creekside Center, GALA, Marigold Nails, Palm Theatre, Susan Polk Insurance, Utopia Bakery, Unity Church, Zoe Wells, Naturopath, Cal Poly Library and Women’s Center, Center for Alternatives to Violence, Chamber of Commerce, Cuesta College Library, EOC Health Services Clinic, HealthWorks, Healing Alternatives, Laguna Laundry, Linnaea’s, Monterey Express, Natural Foods Coop, New Frontiers, Nautical Bean, Outspoken Beverage Bistro, Phoenix Books, Planned Parenthood, West End Espresso & Tea, San Luis Obispo Housing Authority Office, SARP, The Secret Garden, SLO Perk Coffee, Spirit Winds Therapy, The Studio Fitness for Women, Uptown Cafe, Yoga Centre, Ahshe Hair Salon, Apropos Clothing, Soho Hair Salon, Hempshak, YMCA, KCBX, Salon on Monterey, Jaffa Café, Med Stop (Madonna Plaza), World Rhythm and Motion, Steynberg Gallery, Correa Chiropractic, High St. Deli, Sunset N. Car Wash, Jamaica You, United Blood Services.

• SOUTH COUNTY: Arroyo Grande – Mongo’s, Act II Boutique, Central Coast Yoga, CJ’s Restaurant, Curves-AG, Cutting Edge, EOC Health Services Clinic, Girls Restaurant, Grande Whole Foods, Chameleon; Avila Beach– Avila Grocery, Custom House, Sycamore Hot Springs, Inn at Avila, Joe Mamma’s; Grover Beach – Back Door Deli, Cindi’s Wash House, Nan’s Pre-owned Books, Therapeutic Body Center, 30-minute Fitness; Halcyon – Halcyon Store; Nipomo – Anna’s Creekside Coffee House, Healing Touch Spa, Curves, La Placita Market, Healthy Inspirations, World Gym, Trendy Sister Salon, Senior Centers; Pismo Beach – Honeymoon Café, Pismo Athletic Club, RETurn to JOY!; Shell Beach – De Palo & Sons Deli, Seaside Cafe, Steaming Bean.

• SANTA MARIA: Café Monet, Hunter’s Landing, Library, Curves on Main and on Broadway, Lassen’s.

• ORCUTT: Loading Dock, Oasis Spa.

22 Resources

SCREEN Continued from page 3

since we have closed off our emotional side.

Intellectually, we justify living half a life.

If we had allowed our childhood feelings of hurt to pass after we felt them and cried and raged, life would naturally carry us to a new level of clarity. We would live flexibly, allowing feelings to come and to pass. We would trust our experience and go with it, saying, “Yes” to whatever comes. We would focus on the present moment and the next present moment and the next. We would release the past and attend expectantly and courageously to the now.

Then our screen would be one of abundance. We would know that feelings heal, so we wouldn’t fear feeling anything. We would know that there is no part of ourselves we need to cut off. We would move

Women’s Press March & April 2010 ABUSE

Adults Molested as Children Support through life whole. With our integrity and Group (AMAC) Rape Survivors Support Group, SLO our lack of fear, we would experience free- Support Group for Sexual Assault dom which only comes to our Adult.

Survivors Wholeness and freedom await each of us. 545.8888 No one is denied a fullness of Spirit due to Center for Alternatives to Domestic early wounds. The choice is entirely ours. Violence All that’s required is saying “Yes” to this sec- 781.6406 ond and “Yes” and “Yes.” Regardless of what North County Women’s Shelter & happened to us in the past, no one curtails Resource Center, our life today except us. And that’s a choice (inc. domestic violence support groups)

461.1338 we make minute by minute.

SARP (Sexual Assault Recovery & Prevention) Ruth Cherry, PhD, is a clinical psychologist 545.8888 or 800.656.HOPE (4673) in private practice in San Luis Obispo, CA. Women’s Shelter Program of SLO Her specialty is midlife when psychological and 781.6401 www.womensshelterslo.org spiritual dynamics merge. Her five books and ADDICTIONS guided meditation CD are available at her AA Meeting web sites, midlifepsychology.com and God-Life- 541.3211 You.com and meditationintro.com.

Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA)

Continued from page 11

544.4355 and 466.3444

MOMS Club of South SLO county

473.2548; www.southslomomsclub.org Partnership for Children

541.8666; ask for Beth

Real F.A.C.T.S. (Forum on Abused Children)

460.9016

Social Services

781.1600

Support for Kids Coping with Domestic Violence

473.6507

EMERGENCY/CRISIS Hotline

www.slohotline.org 800.549.8989

Sexual & Rape Prevention (SARP)

545.8888 or 800.656.HOPE (4673)

Cambria Connection (12 step support)

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

927.1654

ean” policy fit into this picture? How can a woman be an informed consumer when choosing between the risks of having a repeat cesarean versus the risks of trying for a vaginal birth after a cesarean if doctors are keeping the facts about the risks from us?

So if someone is recommending to you to schedule an induction simply because you are at week 40, basically picking a day for your baby’s birth by signing up for a trip to the Operating Room, don’t make your decision lightly because your life may depend on the decision you make. Consider first: Do you have any other indications that your health or your baby’s health needs you to take this risky step? Is your blood pres- Jennifer Stover sure too high? Is your baby no longer grow- 473-3746 ing or showing other clear signs of being in www.slolaboroflovedoula.blogspot.com

Migrant Childcare Program

Al-Anon

534.9204 distress? Women will often be frightened by stories of healthy placentas magically turning into degrading placentas the moment they are at 40 weeks plus 1 day. Yes, all placentas will begin to break down at some point. For some women it will start at week 38 and for others at week 43. The only way to know about your placenta is to monitor the health of your baby through nonstress tests and ultrasound. Remember there are times when the very best choice for you and your baby is an induction or cesarean surgery, but only if there are clear indications of current risk.

489.9128

Temporary Restraining Order & Victim Witness Program 781.5821

498.2176

CESAREAN

La Clinica De Tolosa 238.5334 La Leche League

Casa Solana

Women’s Recovery Home 481.8555

A.D.A.P.T. (Aid in Divorce Adjustment Problems Today)

543.0388

Chemical Dependency intensive outpatient program

Alzheimer/Dementia Resource Center

Compulsive Eaters Anonymous, H.O.W. Concept

547.3830

Drug & Alcohol Services

543.3764

Narcotics Anonymous

549.7730 and 800.549.7730

542.0577 (SLO), 927.1654 (Cambria), 466.8600 (North County)

541.3164

543.7969

541-9113

546.1178 www.ceahow.org 781.4275

800.443.1236

Alzheimer’s Association CALL–Concerned Agoraphobics Learning to Live Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA)

Overeaters Anonymous

Community Counseling Center

SCA, SLAA & SAA (Sex, Love & Romance Addictions)

Creative Mediation

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly)

544.9313

461.6084

929.1789 www.tops.org Women for Sobriety

549.0442

Dealing With Divorce Depresson and Bipolar Support Alliance Group

215.536.8026 www.womenforsobriety.org 927.3703

CHILDREN & FAMILIES

Birth and Baby Resource Center

546.3755 www.bbrn.org

Divorce Discussion Group

489.2990, saintbarnabas@sbcglobal.net Eating Disorders Support Group

546-3774; free, meets weekly in SLO

Childcare Resource Connection

Grief Drop-In Support Groups

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

Project Lifesaver

541.2272 or 800.727.2272

544.2266, multiple meetings avail.

548.0909 www.projectlifesaverofslo.org “A child’s voice in Court in SLO County” Safe and Sober Support Group 473.6507 541.6542 Children’s Services Network

781.1847

St. Barnabas (Depression/Divorce/ Grief)

First 5: Children & Families Commission

489.2990 www.stbarnabas.ag.org

Homeschooling in SLO County (HSC)

Transformations Counseling Center

781.4058; ask for Susan Hughs 462.0726; ask for Barbara

Talk/Listen - Emotional support

489.5481

Free monthly workshops 541.7908

Resources 23

Women’s Press March & April 2010 FINANCE/BUSINESS

Consumer Credit Counseling Services

MEDICAL SUPPORT/SERVICES

POLITICAL

Hungry Hearts Spiritual Community Meditation Group

227.4785 or 674.4162

www.codepinkslo.org; ososousaville@ charter.net

547.3830, 534.9234 (SLO/Los Osos) 888.488.6555

788.3406; www.slowomen.org

Every Sunday, Coalesce Bookstore, MB

541.4252

Sunday Services 995-1599

543.2220

Homeless Shelter

800.540.2227

ALS Support Group (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)

GAY & LESBIAN

Alzheimer’s Support

Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast

541.4252

PFLAG.Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays

438.3889

SOL (Single Older Lesbians)

Mostly socializing! Call 474.9405

HOSPICE

Hospice of SLO County, AIDS Bereavement Group

American Cancer Society

San Luis Obispo 543.1481, 238.9657 Templeton 434.3051

Anorexia Nervosa & Bulimia Support Group

541.9113

Arthritis Foundation

892.5556

Code Pink

RC liturgy with womanpriest 546.8672 Mondays, 7:30–8:30 PM; 772.0306

Commission on Status of Women

New Beginnings Church

Democratic Women United

Self-Realization Fellowship

League of Women Voters

WOMEN’S CENTERS/SHELTERS

NOW (National Organization for Women)

www.kcbx.net/~slonow/ slonow@kcbx.net

Cancer/ Breast Cancer Support Groups READERS/WRITERS

781-3993

Housing Authority

543.4478

North County Women’s Resource Center, Shelter

544.2266 and 434.1164

543.1481 ext. 3 for information

Adult Literacy

461.1338

782.8608

543.7969

Creative Writing Group

786.0617 www.pradodaycenter.org

JOBS/CAREERS

226.9893

Nightwriters

544.9313

Sisters in Crime

549.8989 (crises), 781.6401 (business) www.womensshelterslo.org

SENIORS

OTHER WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS

541-4219

Prado Day Center (for the homeless)

Celiac Disease Support Group

748-2676; contact Gloria

Women’s Community Center, SLO

Endometriosis Association

549.9656; contact Shirley Powell

Women’s Shelter Program of SLO

Enhancement, Inc. (for breast cancer survivors)

http://SinC-CCC.blogspot.com

EOC Health Services Clinics

Adult Day Care

Hospice Partners of the Central Coast Caregivers of Aging Parents

AARP

788.2643

www.endometriosisassn.org

Jobline 756.7107 www. calpolyfoundation.org

771.8640 www.enhancementinc.com

Cal Poly Foundation Cal Poly University

http://calpolyjobs.org 756.1533 Cuesta College

http://www.cuesta.edu Jobline 546.3127 The Creekside Career Center

788.2600 or 237.3014 www.slocareers. org Department of Rehabilitation

549.3361

Mission Community Services Corporation Women’s Business Partners

595.1357 www.mcscorp.org

Private Industry Council (PIC)

www.jobhunt.org 788.2601

LEGAL

California Rural Legal Assistance

no or low cost reproductive health services 544.2478 (SLO); 489.4026 (Arroyo Grande)

489.8894 (Arroyo Grande); 434.2081 (Templeton); 927.4290 (Cambria) Adult Protective Services

American Association of University Women

No or low cost reproductive health services 542.0900

Caring Callers

Camping Women

542.6234

Department of Social Services:

Healthworks of the Central Coast

Hearst Cancer Resource Center IC Interstiti al Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome

3rd Thursday, SLO, 7 -9 pm 464-0564

Long-term Care Ombudsman Services of SLO County

785.0132

544.7994

Lymphedema Education & Support Group

544.6334 medeee8@aol.com

Parkinson’s Support Groups

Core Mediation Services

2nd Monday, 4-5 pm, 782-9300

781.5821

466.7226 (Atascadero/Templeton) 481.7424 (Arroyo Grande) 541.8633 (SLO)

788.3418

District Attorney’s Office – Victim Witness Center Family Law Facilitator Lawyer Referral and Information Service

541.5502

Pro Per Divorce Workshop

544.9313

Senior Legal Services

543.5140

781.1790

547.7025 x 17

Computerooters:

Computer help: 489.6230

In-Home Support 781.1790 Nursing help for the terminally ill 781.5540

Elder and Dependent Adult Advocacy and Outreach – Victim Witness Assistance Center

781-5821

Foster Grandparents.Senior Companions

471.8102 (SLO)

SPIRITUAL

Circle of Spiritual Enlightenment

Women’s Support/Therapy v (general)

534.1101

Women’s Healthcare Specialists

544.4883

Hadassah.SLO

543.9452

OTHER GROUPS & GATHERINGS

Central Coast Peace and Environmental Council

544.3399 or 783.2383

Compassion & Choices (or Final Exit)

800.247.7421 or 489-5481

Senior Peer Counseling

Stroke Support Group

238.4411

440.2723 www.campingwomen.org

489.5481 dg17@juno.com

SLO 549.9446

The Wellness Community - Cancer Support

781-0922 Karen www.aauw.org

Senior Ballroom Dance club

Free, trained in.home counseling for 60+ 547.7025 ext. 15

544.2266 (SLO)

481.1039; Cici Wynn, President

782.9200

Planned Parenthood

Caregivers of Stroke Survivors

Altrusa International, Inc.

541.1963; www.spiritualcircle.org Awakening Interfaith Spiritual Community

Meditation Monday evenings 7-8 pm Open to all. 772-0306 awakeninginterfaith.org

Please send additions, corrections or deletions to: womenspress.slo@gmail. com or leave a message at the WCC: 805.544.9313. Last update 3/1/10.

Women’s Community Center PO Box 15639 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 805 544-9313