I'm a Woman, that's my weapon.

“What keeps you up at night?”

“The stories.”

Several months ago I was participating in a leadership program for women. During that program we were encouraged to explore our passion for feminine leadership. What was the call that we were hearing. It was a powerful and painful night for me.

I cried-all evening. The stories of war cracking open my heart. Every day as a counselor, I hold the space for healing for American Veterans of the Armed Services as they walk their journey of healing the emotional wounds from war. and most of these veterans have experienced one or two traumatic events. But, those weren’t the stories that shattered the protective shield around my heart. It was the untold stories of the women across the world who experience the threat of trauma and violence virtually every day of their lives. These were the stories that I was never told-that I never saw on the news. I felt confused.

I wondered...what if my current events class in high school told us the truth? What if there were Mercy Corps recruiters instead of Marine Corps recruiters in my school recruiting every day? What if the rhetoric about duty and citizenship included supporting the UN Millennium Development Goals and supporting gender equality? How might things be different?

I spent ten years training for battle with the most elite fighting force in the world today and yet I felt completely powerless. My “skills” were useless. It wasn’t until I allowed myself to fully rest in the pain, hear spirit, and descend into the Truth that I knew...

“I’m a woman, that’s my weapon.”

I found the above quote from Catherine Robbins, a biochemist, the following day when I was at the library and was flipping through a book entitled, In Search of the Woman Warrior. I took the title of this as a challenge. Yes, this is the rising up that I feel. From all corners of the earth I heard the “War Cries” from my sisters, my fellow Woman Warriors. I heard the cries from the woman who just broke free from the brothel; from the woman who just left her abusive husband; from the woman who said, “No, you will not cut my daughter!”; from the woman who just took her first college class...I heard it raging from my own soul! I have found them. I have found the Woman Warriors...They are on World Pulse!

I went to bootcamp to learn battle skills. I’ve come to World Pulse to hone my skills and to teach others the way of the Woman Warrior. We are redefining Warriorship grounding it’s essence in feminine power, fierce compassion, unyielding truth, and global citizenship. Our weapons are ourselves, because we are women!