The Goodenough Community
The Goodenough Community is a long-term experiment in community formation and
development sponsored by the American Association for the Furtherance of Community.

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Women's Culture

By Susan Osborn

I’m making my shoulders strong
For the young to stand upon,

Stepping lightly on the backs of those
Who hold me up.

It’s a chain of life unending,
Ever new and ever bending.

Grateful is the heart
For the chance to be alive.

I see where I am now
At the table of the harvest.

Before me went the plow
And the trees that grew to forest.

There’s a chain of life behind me
From here to the horizon,

Each generation rising
From the one that went before.

I hear the young ones coming,
Hearts open and hopeful.

Their dreams will be unfolding ,
On the ground we leave behind us.

Take the best of what you’re given,
Make a joyous dance to living,

And somewhere in the spinning,
You, too, will sing this song.

 

 

Women's Culture Program  

The women's culture program encourages and supports self-development, helps us as women of all ages reach a greater connection with our inner source of feminine strength, celebrates who we are as women, and improves our relationships with our partners, family members, friends, and self. Come join us for one or all of our activities!

Women’s Program Dates and Themes 2009-2010
"Self in Community"

In the Goodenough Community, we have found that a carefully planned cycle of themes helps us utilize our cultures and programs to their fullest. One well-tested cycle consists of studying first one’s self; second, relationship; and third, organization or community.

Following on two years of learning about one’s self and one’s self in relationship, the women’s program will help women look at themselves in the context of a social organization, especially community.

The women have also over several years deepened their understanding of the role of archetypes in our individual and cultural (or societal) psyches, and have paid particular attention to the four womanly archetypes of Maiden, Mother, Guardian, and Crone. The women who gather range in age from teen years to their 70s. Together we have explored the archetypes of Maiden and Mother, learning how each of us, from our youth through old age, lives with aspects of all of these archetypes.

In this coming programmatic year, the women will ask the archetype of Guardian to guide their experiences together, knowing that in every woman—not just women in the middle years—lives the Guardian. A song that has been important to the women over many years, "Chain of Life," sung by Susan Osborn, loosely shapes the program (see the song on this page in the left column).

From September through May, the women’s programs build on each other, growing out of the lives of the women present. Whenever possible, it is lovely when a woman can attend all of the programs. Yet the programs are discrete and it is not at all necessary to attend all of them to enjoy, understand, and grow. Please feel welcome to come as you can.

Self in Community – Focus on community and the Guardian archetype
Characteristics: Activism, lifeways, and social intelligence
appearing in every woman’s life, at every age.

Cost: We suggest a donation of $20 for each of the Saturday sessions, and encourage you to gift according to your means.

Contact: For more information, call (206 399 3219) or email Hollis Guill Ryan at hollisr@comcast.net.

About Our Leadership

Our curriculum draws on a body of teaching developed by John and Colette Hoff over a period of more than 25 years on such topics as the Living Arts, right relationship, human development, mental health, and the Perennial Wisdom.

We are fortunate to have Colette Hoff, M.Ed., as key faculty for the women’s program. Founder of the program in 1983, Colette is in the Crone phase of life. She has a special vocation in working with women’s issues as she supports and encourages women through their life-stage transitions and on their spiritual journeys.

Hollis Guill Ryan is the focal person for the women’s culture leadership team, with team members Elizabeth Jarrett-Jefferson, Irene Perler, Laura Sweany and Joan Valles. Please contact us at (206) 323-4653 or e-mail goodenough@aboutcommunity.org  if you are interested in attending an event.
 

 Articles

Why We Have
a Women’s Culture

Hollis Guill Ryan

The Crone Archetype

Valuing a Culture
 of Women
Colette Hoff

How to Form a Women's Culture
Colette Hoff

 

 

  

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Copyright © 1998 The Goodenough Community
Last modified: May 16, 2010