Our fire, food & folktale retreat for women
“If women remember that once upon a time we sang with the tongues of seals and flew with the wings of swans, that we forged our own paths through the dark forest while creating a community of its many inhabitants, then we will rise up rooted, like trees.” - Sharon Blackie, If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging
I've just gone for a run: a chest-burning, taste-blood-at-the-back-of-your-mouth kind of run. It was hot, the light was blinding and my legs felt pretty much like they'd be keen to fall off, if only I'd lift my foot.
But, of course, it was lush.
The kids had been herded to school, the house was the usual scene of carnage and my work could wait a minute. I was taking time for me.
This year has been tricky for all, but studies are already showing that Covid has had a disproportionate impact on women - many of whom have had to balance the challenges of working at home, schooling the young ones and maintaining the health and wellbeing of the whole family. Mothers have been silenced and disempowered. Where gains have been made in relation to gender equity, they've now been found to have quickly dissolved.
Women need some time out: we need some space to rest.
When Holly and I first came up with the concept of our all-woman retreat She Can Do Wild, we did so with a very clear 'rewild, rest, recharge' mantra in mind; feeling strongly that to successfully create a space where women can take time out, re-energise and emerge with a renewed sense of self and purpose, the wild outside was key.
'Rewild' can sound a bit cliché. Only, it shouldn't. Re-connecting with the wild should never be 'cliché'. To level the charge that 'rewilding' or 'reconnecting with nature' is overused or unoriginal as an idea is ridiculous, when it is so fundamental to us all beginning once again to understand what it is to really be alive. It's spoken about so often because it is important - better understanding the wild and your place within it is one of the single most important things any person can ever do. Let nature take the place of teacher and the knowledge is always positive.
When I posted a Nikita Gill quote recently, 'Some days I am more wolf than woman, and I am still learning how to stop apologising for my wild', I found that I wasn't alone in wanting to access and celebrate that part of ourselves that is still wild; still fierce and free. Silent and disempowered we should, indeed, not be.
In Sharon Blackie's book 'If Women Rose Rooted', she, like us, draws from a potent blend of ancient Celtic tales and wild, untamed places to excite and inspire; urging women to closely examine and better understand ourselves and the world around us. She calls loudly and clearly for the 'rewilding of womanhood' and I answer YES! Do you?
She Can Do Wild is for women of all ages and all levels of experience. It's about sharing time together as women have always done - celebrating our songs, our stories and our skills.
June 12th and 13th will be our first retreat of 2021. It will still be early days for us all as we emerge from lockdown again, but it will be beautiful. We cannot tell you how excited we are to soon be outside, in a safe and beautiful space, enjoying the rich experience of shared walking, talking, cooking, creating, crafting and storytelling - together and outside.
If you are keen to rewild, rest and recharge with us and would like to find out more, visit our website at www.thewildofthewords.co.uk/shecandowild or follow us on Instagram @shecandowild or Facebook @shecandowild. Questions are always welcome - message us!
Pridie
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