Our First Red Tent Meeting 2017

On Friday the 13th 2017, we came together for our first Red Tent gathering.

I'm so glad we started. It's been an enriching and empowering experience. 

I used online resources to help facilitate the meeting: the Red Tent Tool Kit and The Answers You Are Looking For Inside.

I'm writing down these notes as a record of our meeting, to pass on resources and to keep everyone in the loop of information, even if they couldn't come to the first meeting. 

I've ordered the book, The Red Tent, but I haven't read it yet. One of our members already has it on kindle! Yay!

Statements we discussed:

• We are not against men, we are just pro women. (I am not anti British - Gandhi)
• Tea is going to be part of our ritual - bring a thermos? 
• Candles and a short statement is part of our ritual.
• We like the idea of a speaking stick (I will bring the whopper the next time)
• Hyper normalisation 
• Zeitgeist movement
• We'd like to open up the group to a wider age group. 
• After the meeting, we can go for pizza/pasta and let our hair down. Or, alternatively, bring easy tapas to enjoy through the evening. We can decide before the next time. Nothing that further eats into our time. 
• Suggestion: to 'adorn' our bodies in some way, simply if you wish, before the meeting. Something that symbolises honouring ourselves, to ourselves, before meeting with others. 
• "We meet our own needs before we give out time, energy and resources to this work. We encourage other women to do the same because we believe that learning to meet our own needs before supporting others is a vital lesson for many of us. From a place of fullness we have so much more to give."

Things to do in the future

• Bring a photo of an inspirational woman from your own life and introduce her to the group
• Honing in on our MOJO
• Write up advertisements of our partners, as if trying to sell them - in a hope we can see their pros. (suggestion from an absentee) 

Next Meeting: Our Future Career. What do we want and how to get it.  Feel free to bring any resources you have to help structure the meeting.