9 minute read
From the Regional Director
FROM THE Regi Director
Greetings Marvelous Mid-Atlantic Sorors,
Once again, the festive season is upon us and we fi nd ourselves wrapping up another year. As we prepare to welcome 2023, I would like to share some thoughts with you and to extend heartfelt good wishes to you and yours. Our legacy and service to all mankind never stops, and 2022 has been a particularly memorable and momentous year. Not only did we launch the “Soaring to Greater Heights of Service and Sisterhood,” we issued a call to Connect our North Carolina and Virginia sorors. Our regional membership has exponentially grown, allowing us to mobilize for greater impact throughout the communities we serve. Thank you to the sorors who have faithfully and steadfastly served in chapter leadership positions. As servant leaders you have touched the lives of our sorors and the lives of thousands of community members. I know you will continue your service in new and exciting ways. This edition of The Connector features the innovative and impactful work of our chapters in supporting breast cancer awareness, voter engagement campaigns, and food insecurity initiatives. We also celebrate the connections we made during our Clusters. Thank you to our cluster coordinators, committee chairmen, and volunteers who’ve truly made service the foundation of the Mid-Atlantic Region.
As we look forward to 2023 and to celebrating 70 years of the Mid-Atlantic Region, I want to encourage our outgoing leaders to spend some time mentoring incoming leaders. Congratulations to everyone elected or appointed to serve as Chapter leaders. Talented and dedicated leaders are the hallmark of the Mid-Atlantic Region. We have so much to learn from each other. In 2023, we will continue to address food insecurity, social justice, economic empowerment, and a myriad of other issues, including strengthening the bonds of our sisterhood. The new year brings new opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence in all we do. The Connector has some self-care and wellness tips.
As we embark on 2023, I wish you and yours the very best for good health and an abundance of joyfulness. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you, and, importantly, to working with you to make our world a better place for all mankind.
Here’s to great things in 2023!
Soror Nadine Vargas Stewart Mid-Atlantic Regional Director
MARMom t:: Meditate and Rise
By Dr. Stephanie Helms Pickett, Silver Soror, Mu Omicron Omega Chapter, MAR Meditate and Rise Committee Member
Each year in early December as the local radio station played theme-oriented holiday music, one song, in particular, made my best friend and I, two snarky teenagers, laugh and giggle until tears formed in our eye ducts. It was a somber song that began with the lyrics, “Tis the season to be jolly, but how can I be when I have nobody?” The song was, “What do the lonely do at Christmas,” by the Emotions. After all, we were teenagers and had a different love of a lifetime about every quarter. Finding connections and making friendships was easy. How could anyone ever be in a space whereby they could not experience joy or be in a relationship with someone?
As we are blessed to survive the ignorance and bliss of our youth, we settle into the reality that loneliness, feelings of abandonment, anxiety, and the decreased desire to be around others, or show them who we really are, is nothing to laugh about and perhaps the tis the season of it all, floods your
being in such a way that you have very little to “jingle” about at all. My sister, I hear you. I see you. I am you. You are not alone. We are our sister’s keeper.
In this season, may we extrapolate tenets from various faith practices to adopt in our daily deportment so that we may be present and affi rming, fi rst to ourselves, and in beautiful and tangible ways, to others who experience a deep sense of loss and disconnect during a time when our society has normalized celebration, gift giving, and posting familial gatherings in matching pajamas. Whether you cook a feast for a household of one or 99, I wish you rest. Rest for a year of return to normal, despite abnormality. Rest for your soul that bears witness to violence and pain. Rest for your mind that holds brilliance, curiosity, and fear. Rest for your body that signals you to replenish, all while you pour from emptiness into others who are quenching for thirst. Rest for all the parts of you that serve all mankind with a smile, even if joy is lacking in your being. My sister, I hear you, I see you, and I am you.
In the Christian faith, Saint Nicholas Day represents the practice of gift-giving. Find a way to give yourself the gift of you. When was the last time you had a date with yourself? You are worth it! Get the mani/pedi. Netfl ix and chill in your pj’s or your evening gown! You are oh so pretty and deserve it. In the words of Audre Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence; it is preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
The Buddhist faith celebrates Rohatsu (Bodhi Day), which is celebrated through meditation. Meditation allows us to build our agency to manage stress, focus on the present, and reduce negative emotions. This is a practice we may adopt throughout the year, particularly during this overspending, overextending and overwhelming season.
In mid-late December, some honor the Winter Solstice and use it as a time to recognize the symbolism of rebirthing and our powerful connection with nature. Find time to be present in our beautiful surroundings. Take a walk. Sit in a park and soak in the laughter of children. Connect with a soror and consider engaging in this practice together. Share with one another something you wish to create or resuscitate. In the tradition of this celebration, sometimes our most incredible next steps manifest after our longest night.
Look for ways to incorporate the beloved principles of Kwanzaa, not only during this season, but throughout the year. Our sisterhood is founded upon the unity of our family and community (Umoja), selfdetermination (Kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (Ujima), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), purpose (Nia), creativity (Kuumba) and faith (Imani). Have a Karamu (the communal feast) with a few chapter sorors and gather to celebrate. It is a wonderful expression not steeped in commercialism, religion, or faith practice.
Sisters, let us collectively “help each other” during this Dickens of a season. For some of us, it is “the best of times,” and for others, it is “the worst of times.” Let us lift each other and love on each other through it all. Let’s create space
to check in, make extra space at our dinner table, and connect over coff ee, a watch party, or a movie. Just make room. In this season, fi nd ways to replenish yourself and connect with a sister. Two things can be true simultaneously; we’ve never been women to shy away from a challenge.
As we bid farewell to 2022 and set our most radical and revolutionary intentions for 2023, let us carry love for ourselves, love for each other, and love for our illustrious sisterhood. My sister, I hear you. I see you. I am you. You are not alone. You are loved.
