10/3/14 Mujeres Sin Fronteras Workshop Ivette

Last Friday, we attended the Mujeres Sin Fronteras group with Sarah, Klarissa, and Xochitl.  The theme was about personal care and how we can find balance in our lives.   In addition to covering the 4 toltec agreements, they added a fifth which was spaces for "listening with power" and the transformation that has.  Later the conversation was about comfort zone and moving beyond the spaces that we become comfortable in.  I found it interesting and needed to speak up after we were talking about an imaginary person and described strengths and attributes and then in the next sentence began being intolerant of this imaginary person who, despite 17 years in the US had not learned English.  For me this demonstrated how we are not separate of the mainstream narratives we hear of others and even when we are doing great work, we need to be cautious of not marginalizing people and making assumptions of their priorities, values, and lived experiences.  It was a vivid reality that our work will never be done but we need to start somewhere and starting where we are, is the best we can each do.