This year BYM’s women’s retreat was held at the 4-H Conference Center in Front Royal, Virginia. I had never been to the retreat before, but it came highly recommended by Friends at my home meeting, so my mother and I both decided to attend together. The title of the retreat this year was “Let It Begin With Me: Stepping into Our Own Power,” and Tasha Walsh (Maury River)gave the opening talk of the same title on Friday night. She covered what it means to step into our own power as women, in however many aspects power can be defined. She went on to say that it can be described in mathematical terms (as something multiplied by itself), in physical terms (as energy spent), as well as the more common sociological definitions (as authority or control over someone and as the freedom for self determination), which was something that I had never considered before. She included that power comes from us using our own personal strengths, and emphasized that power was not necessarily something that had to exist in one person at the expense of another. Power also carries a negative connotation for some of us, so many women have struggled with assuming their full power. In addition, Tasha talked about how lots of women struggle with taking up their power because we think it means giving up our femininity and encouraged us to find ways to incorporate the feminine into our own power. Tasha’s talk was then followed by very rich and growthful discussions about our own power and its expressions in small worship sharing groups Saturday morning.

We also had two sessions of workshops on Saturday, including topics such as “Older and Bolder,” instruction in Qi Gong, the Quaker community in Kenya, and leadings for knitting chemo caps. I ended up attending the workshops on intentional Quaker communities and sacred chanting. I was particularly interested in the intentional communities because I knew so little about them. I was surprised to learn that there are many in our area, including two in Virginia that had members attending the retreat. We heard about these two communities’ experiences in forming, living in and having children grow up their intentional settings. It really gave me food for thought about how I want to design my living situation for my next few years in college and how I might be able to bring aspects of Quakerism into my everyday life. I also participated in the sacred chanting workshop, which was very moving to me. The singing and chanting came from a particularly joyful and prayerful place that I’ve never experienced anywhere else. It also snowed briefly on Saturday, which I understand is a longstanding tradition of the women’s retreat.

That evening, women gathered in a Coffee House setting where we shared stories, poems, dancing, and the occasional raunchy joke. Sunday morning, we wrapped up with our final worship sharing session and our final meeting for worship. I was so happy that I attended this retreat, especially as a way to meet more BYM women who I otherwise may not have met. I was, in fact, the youngest woman there, but I really found talking with women older than me to be a wonderful shift in perspective that I really appreciated. The retreat provided a space for reflection that was great, and I highly suggest that other younger women look into attending, too.

Lauren Hoy, Herndon