Women's Crossroads

Collected from the participants of the Fifth Annual International Women's Day conference at Simon's Rock College, March 4, 2006

My dream: that words such as violence, greed, fear, distrust and domination will be no more. That International Women’s Day will become and legal and recognized holiday!

My dream is to pass on the knowledge that change begins by allowing ourselves to dream.

The opportunity for empowerment for women everywhere and equality with men everywhere.

I dream of homes and communities rebuilt in the Gulf Coast, in the Asian countries hit by tsunami and earthquake, and in all places where war rips apart our families. I dream of home and community embraced by Mother Earth.

I wish for women around the world: peace, good health and sustainability.

That my love for yoga teaching will benefit those in India directly and financially.

My dream is of a day when everyone knows that no human being is more important than any other human being, that no human being is any more or less lovable than any other human being. May all beings happily take care of themselves, may they know ease of well-being. May they be at peace.

I create the possibility of the linen project to collect clean sheets, blankets and bedding and offer them and distribute them freely to those who need them. Perhaps a free store or the Labor Project to help distribution.

One world without borders—loving and fruitful.

My dream is to see each person in each moment of every day begin to make choices actively. The passivity with which we, as world citizens, have begun to live our lives leaves us all feeling like victims of our own inability to move forward. I dream of a world without victims.

To trust in fellow women and to follow our dreams.

One of the most memorable experiences I’ve taken back with me from Ghana was interacting with children, both boys and girls, who asked for something greater than money. They asked for pens, paper, and notebooks. They asked for the opportunity to learn. My dream is to see a world which recognizes the fundamental wants and desires of children and provides it for them.

To create a better and more equal society.

A dream for a language of peace based on love, acceptance, wisdom, hope, possibility, prosperity. May each child be born into a community of love and support, well-being and celebration.

I dream that the laws of this country made to divide, separate and violate the human and civil rights of low-income families will be abolished.

To be able to pursue our dreams and live happily, and still be able to function as a society.

I have the feeling that my dream for the future of the women of the world will take a very long time to become reality. In my opinion this dream can only be materialized by changing the attitudes and ideologies of many cultures who treat women as property of men, degrade them by taking their will away, and in general repress them as second class citizens. May my dream come true very soon for women to be accepted equally and respected.

I dream of a world of psychological summertime, where all people can walk freely without their clothes on, without their masks on, a world where there are no limitations to the continuous unfolding of human potential.

My dream for the future: Every moment of every day I create kindness, and through my actions, inspire kindness in others. It is only through action that we live into a future we create.

I dream that organized religion will come to mean a shared sense of community and not individual power bases, and that religions will come to respect women as equal members of that community.

Reduce overpopulation through education worldwide—through vegetarianism worldwide through education to help save our fellow creatures and the earth. Have women run things instead of men worldwide. Understand reality and truth—thjat men are animals and are totally interdependent on our fellow creatures and nature to survive. We are one with everything in the cosmos, not a separate entity.

I dream of a world that is safe for my children and my grandchildren to be and for every child and grandchild and mother and father.

I pray for a return to the sacred feminine and the renewal of the sacred masculine. I pray our world’s sons and daughters have birth attendants and safe conditions to enter into this world. I pray for childhoods free of war. I pray our elders are respected. I pray we celebrate our diversity and our shared ancestry in the global family.

To end abuse of women and children.

I dream that no one may feel alienated and that no one may feel scorn for those things that they have passively endorsed in the past. I dream of us all being embraced by a feminine, human love, not hated for weaknesses we all possess. With this love, let the fear melt away and let the connection begin.

I dream that each child enters a world where it is understood that s/he will honor their own life by developing and living their talent.

An end to violence and discrimination and the oppressive system which created it.

March 4, 2006. I long for a new frame to look out of, from which we can take responsibility for ourselves and our community. Fear = applause.

I dream of making a difference and knowing my abilities. Of helping through farming food and making it available to many people.

My dream for myself: Use my talents in service to better my sisters’ lives in Asia and Africa. My dream for my sisters and brothers: to feel safe.

I wish for all to have peace in body, mind and spirit.

I dream that there is dancing and celebration—joy—because we know with our hearts and our bodies that we are one.

Find a little hope in every one and everything we encounter and then pass it on!

I dream of a world in which life is honored (but not in the distorted way those words are used in our country today). And life is respected. Hatred is not taught anymore.

I dream that we all begin to recognize the Sacred in all life; that every inner image has its outer equivalent and that every outer image has its inner equivalent, seen in the presence of light. May we all increase our light that we may see this truth.

To help create a safe space for our mothers, sisters, aunts and daughters to grow and expand their minds, power and will to help this world to be a better place.

I liked what Frances Moore Lappé said about freedom—that freedom is about realizing the talents of all so that in a free society all people’s potentials would be realized. There would be no wasted people in ghettos, poor nations, etc. Each person would have a chance.

My dream is to become an inspirational speaker, a friend, lover and revolutionist. I want my children to come and children that my children have to live in a safe, loving world. I want for brothers and sisters in privileged America to feel, to understand, and to have compassion and open their eyes.

To follow my spirit, seek my dreams, share my love, ease a heart of aching. Soothe one’s pain, be open to all possibilities.

My dream is to see women of Congo and children of the world living in a peaceful world.

My dream is to help empower abused and under-served women and children through my natural gift as an artist-activist and educator.

My dream is a world in which no woman has to live in fear, in which each woman has found her voice, in which we can all go to bed at night feeling that our families and communities are safe and secure.

My dream is to encourage and empower young and adult women to believe in and nurture the wisdom and necessity of their voices—each desperately needed in our world.

I believe that together, women can and do make a difference, every day.