Welcome to a new year of Sisterhood. At our first meeting we did the activity below. We heard a lot of great comments and insights about why, as girls/women, it's hard to give ourselves permission to act or even think certain ways. Because there were so many girls at each lunch, we didn't get a chance to hear everyone's thoughts. Please feel free to read through the lesson again and post your comments. Don't worry--your name won't be on it and all comments will be read by Ms.Ramacciotti and me (Ms.Elliot)before they're posted. We plan to blog every week after the Sisterhood lunches and hope you will be a part of our online discussion, as well. Again, welcome Sister!
Giving Myself Permission
*Do you ever feel like you HAVE to be a certain way or else people will be disappointed or think less of you?
*Do you ever feel like you are too hard on yourself?
*Do you think society has more expectations of girls than of boys?
I’m going to read through a list of things that many girls feel like they would like to give themselves permission to do. Please raise your hand if you would like to give yourself permission to do any of these things. Also, take a second to look around and see who you have common ground with.
I would like to give myself permission to:
Have fun
Take risks
Focus on now, instead of focusing so much on the future
Be angry
Be talkative
Be quiet
Be kind
Love
Be loved
Feel good about my body
Be intelligent
Be selfish
Make mistakes
Achieve
Follow my own path
Show others that I am upset
Be happy
Be sad
Be free to “just be” and not worry about others’ expectations of me
Live okay in a less-than-perfect situation
Be comfortable when alone
Stop a bad behavior or harmful habit
Be imperfect
Relax
Say difficult things to someone
Take charge of my life
Were you surprised by how many times you raised your hand? Were you surprised by how many others felt the same way? What does this tell you?
Girls/women have an amazing capacity to connect with each other. And so many of our experiences/perceptions share common ground with other girls’ experiences/perceptions. As you looked around and saw who else had their hands up, you may have seen people who are different from you in many obvious ways: socially, culturally, age-wise, physically, etc. Finding that common ground with other girls tells us that we’re not alone. And we hope you will be able to make connections in this group that will open you up to connections you can make outside the group. Finding and ‘collecting’ Sisters, building that web of support and encouragement to BE WHO YOU ARE and be comfortable and at peace with yourself is our goal as leaders of this group. We are here to help you make that connection, to discuss the uniqueness (good and bad) about girls and to help you be happy about who you are—in an environment of Sisters. There is a famous quote I like that says,
“Who is my Sister? She is the one who sees the good in me.” We are here to see the good in each other, and to to share, affirm, and relate to each others’ experiences. And we want you to know that you are a part of something strong and special: The Pine Lake Sisterhood.
6 comments:
A few days after our Sisterhood meeting, I was talking with a friend about how hard it is to receive criticism about my writing. Since she thinks of me as a good writer, she was surprised that I felt this way. I told her that I thought criticism was hard for everyone to hear, even if they felt reasonably competent. She then told me about a speaker who suggested that we re-define (healthy and productive) criticism as input that shows great hope for positive change in the writing (or whatever the critique is about. . .)
CONSEQUENTLY, I WANT TO GIVE MYSELF PERMISSION to receive criticsm about my writing with hope and an open heart, instead of defensively.
Anne
Great work girls! This sounds like a wonderful exercise.
I'm so proud of all you girls for showing up to the Sisterhood! So many people! Keep it up in my absence!
This activity sounds like it was very interesting. If any of the girls on here can give me a synopsis in their own words of what you did I'd be very interested to hear.
former PLMS Sister (PCFC student)
I agree with anne kiemle, I write a lot and if I ask somebody what they think of it, they always say, "It's good." Well, I know it is good, that doesn't help at all. I look towards me friends for real critcism.
Another year of Sisterhood fun! Glad to see it back.
I agree with anne kiemle. I write a lot, and my friends get to read most of it. Most of the time that say, "yeah, its OK." or "Its good." Not much help, you know?
Mayb we should also give ourselves permission to be popular?
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