This week's guest on Five Things is writer and community leader Amy Bammel Wilding. She's the creator and lead facilitator at Red Tent Louisville, which she describes as a gathering place "dedicated to witnessing and inspiring the reawakening of the Sacred Feminine."
A collection of guided meditations that Wilding wrote for gatherings at the Red Tent has just been released as a book, "Wild & Wise: Sacred Feminine Meditations for Women's Circles and Personal Awakenings."
Wilding talked with me about the ways that her work revolves around guiding women through various transitions in life, what she hopes to impart to her own children, and how the absence of her own mother has impacted her life. And even though Wilding's work life is focused on women, I think men will get a lot out of this conversation too. Listen in the player above.
On the use of the word "crone" to refer to an older woman:
"'Crone' is actually a term of reverence, and it derives from the word 'crown.' So when we are talking about a crone, we're talking about a wise woman who has reached a level of maturity and wisdom by living her life up through these years. And in many cultures, in the past, particularly, women who were in their elder wise-women years were the most respected of their community."
On her new book:
"This is the lamp that I'm holding for the world. This is a compilation of over three years of the guided meditations that I've written for my work that I do with women and girls. So in it are all of the messages, all of the things that I wanted to say to the women that gather with me in circle and community. So I've had all of these on my computer for years, and over and over, women were asking me, 'Can I get that meditation, can you write that down for me, can you email that to me, I need to continue to do work with that.' And so I would. And eventually some really special women in our community said, 'You need to write a book.'"
On how she wrestles with the problems she sees in the world:
"I get really easily overwhelmed with what's happening in the world right now, and have a very strong mother bear reaction. And it can leave me feeling paralyzed, because there's so much to do, there's so much that needs doing. But there's too much in the world for one person to do, so I've had to really find a center in myself where I reflect on what I personally can do, and know that my efforts are a drop in the bucket, but yours are a drop in the bucket, too, and so everyone sharing their drop in the bucket doesn't just turn into a bucket, it turns into a wave."