communion/community
com·mun·ion
/kəˈmyo͞onyən/
noun
an act or instance of sharing
intimate fellowship or rapport
In my youth, the majority of my friends were boys. I was a tomboy with a competitive personality so, naturally, I was drawn to sports (and other “rough & noisy activities traditionally associated with boys” as the Google definition of tomboy describes) but that meant that I sacrificed friendships with most girls. Once I started dating, my boyfriend became my best friend and his circle of friends were the people I spent all my time with because I always found myself more comfortable around the guys than their girlfriends. It took multiple, difficult break-ups, a period of solitude & reflection, and opening myself up to some remarkable women to make me aware of what I’d been lacking: the special bond specific to people of the same sex.
Now, with experience in the art of curating the circle of people around me, I have realized the potency of friendship between women.
Equipped with profound intuition, delicate sensitivity and an unmatched pain threshold, women are fiercely powerful, deeply spiritual beings and it took years of shedding the limiting yet firmly entrenched misinformation I believed about myself to acknowledge this power within.
Self-awareness to thank, now this strength is ceaselessly reflected back to me by every woman - my mother, grandmother, aunts and cousins, coworkers, friends and soulmates - all of them my teachers. We all have stories worth sharing of struggles and successes similar to one another. It is in true communion, sharing boldly of ourselves and compassionately listening to our peers, that we build a community. One that values
intimacy over competition.
A supportive community is essential to unleashing our boundless potential.
The reality is not everyone has the luxury of support so I’d like to include an organization that provides access for women without a network: the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters. By featuring a variety of tops that a portion of their sales go to the ACWS my intention is to bring awareness to the population of at-risk women, single mothers living in poverty & victims of physical or sexual abuse. As much as women around the world are becoming more empowered, there are women in our communities who remain feeling powerless in their situations. I feel extraordinarily lucky & grateful to be uplifted by my circle, this small contribution is the start of paying it forward.