2017 A Year of Expansion

We exist within this vibrant living web that involves all of each others’ lives. As we deepen our knowledge of each other we strengthen the fibre of this web, built by our stories, our expanding connections, our awareness of all that each other has experienced, and all that we are doing. The more we know, the stronger our understanding and love has grown. The strands of this web are now unbreakable, forged with our determination and the importance of our purpose, wrapped in our caring for one another. With this knowledge of and connection to each other we are able to work together toward the whole. We are now truly working globally.

This gift of World Pulse makes it possible for us. We know the ways that World Pulse can empower women we are meeting, and how women we are meeting can empower others with what they have to offer. We continue to bring into our own communities this wisdom, this energy, this news, these plans with all of the potential and urgency that they hold.

And now leading us gently forward, World Pulse shows us proof of how fast we are growing, how far we have come, and urges us all to go deeper, to expand ourselves, and to expand the numbers of those involved. I am asking myself, how can I do my utmost to further this global movement? How can I create expansion here in my country? How can what we are doing become even more effective, involve many more, benefit from many more, increase the sound and vibration of our collective voices until we succeed in every woman being free?

Canada is a large country geographically, about 7,000 km east to west with about 36 million people. There are millions of women here who have never heard about World Pulse. There are millions of girls who do not yet know that we are working to create these changes. There is a half century of work for women’s rights and against violence against women. We have a strong network in place through safe houses, sexual assault networks and women’s centres. Indigenous women here are powerfully leading the way, refusing to accept that any woman, missing or murdered will ever be forgotten, holding the Government accountable. We have many organizations, and many individual, strong, seasoned activists. We have a few hundred World Pulse members. Yet the violence continues.

I am envisioning these millions of women and girls here who have never told their stories, finding and writing through World Pulse, becoming empowered this way, as so many of us have. I am envisioning the women who are activists learning about World Pulse, joining us here, having access to all of this news, building connections to their own work, joining in the conversations, broadening and strengthening the web of working together, experiencing and becoming part of the love and dedication that flows between us within this site.

I am envisioning the men here who believe in equality, who understand and welcome this rising of women, being able to more easily find each other, the purple bow-tie men, the men wearing moose hide patches, working together with the men in World Pulse who are supporting these efforts whole heartedly, creating time for men to speak together about erasing misogyny, embracing the redefining of culture. I am imagining these new models for discussion among men and boys, the public declarations of support, these important seeds to be broadcast much more widely and shared as resources, so that these ideas can take hold as the new norm.

In 2017 I will be driving across Canada planning to meet as many as possible who have never heard about World Pulse, or who know about us and want to build connection. I also hope to meet in person or online the other World Pulse members who live in this country, to confer, strategize, strengthen and celebrate our connections with each other. I want to be so connected that we are able at lightning speed to better support each others’ actions here and globally. This is an open invitation for anyone in Canada to be in touch. Let’s do this together.

Every time I describe what my sisters in World Pulse are doing, I am met with amazement, great excitement and renewed hope that women are truly rising globally, not just a dream, but a reality. In magnitude and magnificence we are now connected by profound love, determination and brilliant action. This news needs to be known, the gift shared, our work everywhere succeed. Let’s expand together.