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It’s July of 1981. I’m six weeks old. I feel safe in my mother’s arms, but she must be terrified as she clutches me tight and gingerly takes each step down the fifteen-foot dock ladder to the boat. Along with my three-year-old sister and dad, we make it safely to Cumberland Island, Georgia, for the […]

Editor’s Note: This week we welcome guest author and former RCWMS Board Member Rachael Wooten. RCWMS Executive Director Jeanette Stokes joined Wooten via Zoom last month to discuss Wooten’s new book about her journey of discovery with Tara, the female Buddha. Twelve years in the making, this book is timely, as Rachael notes that “Tara […]

We arrived at the farm in the early afternoon, hours before our hosts were due to arrive. They had said to make ourselves at home, and the gentleman who gave us a ride from town was unsurprised to be taking strangers to the Dring place, for John Dring and his family welcomed newcomers all the […]

The pandemic is taking an extreme toll on our energy. Therefore, we are feeling tired, depleted, unbalanced, cranky, depressed, and anxious. We are falling into old patterns in our relationships, some that are not beneficial to our wellbeing. For introverts, this may be an easier adjustment. (That doesn’t mean in any way that it is […]

It’s hard to believe it’s May! We continue to Zoom along and we have lots of new workshops starting up this month. That’s in addition to some of your favorite workshops from April, which are back by popular demand. Here are a few highlights below. Make sure to head over to our calendar for a […]

I remember staring at the original Earth Day poster above my brother Jerry’s desk. My small-town, Kansan, seven-year-old brain was mystified. Why set aside a day to protect the earth? The earth as I knew it was filled with turtles and thunderstorms and babbling Colorado streams. Jerry was an early activist and already knew there […]

This week, the RCWMS staff reflects on daily life in quarantine. What are you experiencing, feeling, thinking about, learning? Email your snapshots of daily life to rebecca@rcwms.org by Wednesday, April 22. Maximum 200 words. We’ll include some in a future blog post.  The last in-person meeting I had was Wednesday, March 11. Ethel needed help […]

For several years now the RCWMS labyrinth has been installed at Binkley Baptist Church in Chapel Hill for the community to walk during Holy Week.  Ensuring our safety through physical distancing measures means we don’t have the opportunity to be together in that way this year. Interestingly, the labyrinth itself was designed for those who couldn’t […]

We’re excited to launch all new online programming next week at RCWMS. It’s been an adjustment and an adventure retooling our typical workshops for virtual community-building. We’re think you’ll like the results! Here are some highlights of what’s coming up. See our calendar for complete listings, and let us know if you need some help […]

Rachel Sauls, a UNC senior, is our Anita McLeod intern this spring. Like most college students around the country, Rachel is finishing her semester remotely, and she continues to work for RCWMS remotely as well. From the time I was three months old until I was four years old, a local mom cared for me […]

On Monday, at the now-daily press conference on the coronavirus, President Trump added his sober warning to those of public health officials from around the world to advocate for all individuals to avoid contact where possible with others to help slow the spread of the virus. He’s encouraging all Americans to practice “social distancing”: stay […]

Like everyone we know, we at RCWMS are grappling with uncertain, anxious times with the coronavirus now marching around the globe. For the month of March we are cancelling some of our workshops, including the writing workshop this weekend.   When my mind becomes a tempest I often turn to a favorite practice – quietly, alphabetically, naming people […]

Rachel Sauls is the spring 2020 Anita McLeod Intern at RCWMS. She grew up in Durham, but has always been a Tar Heel, and is currently a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill. Rachel is majoring in English and Comparative Literature with a double minor in Jewish Studies and Hispanic Studies. Her concentration within her major is […]

How Did I Get Here and Where Am I Going? On January 18, my colleague Cathy Meerbergen and I facilitated a workshop entitled “How Did I Get Here and Where Am I Going?” at the home of Dot, a generous friend of RCWMS. The goal of this workshop was to help women explore “Where we […]

Dislodging the myths that were embedded in me as a child has been a painful and illuminating project of adulting. In a cosmic game of Jenga, I delicately loosen, rearrange, and rebuild the planks of my beliefs and practices, hoping to avoid a total collapse.  This project takes on more urgency as my three-year-old begins […]

Let me introduce myself. I’m Christine, and I want to let you know why I’m supporting RCWMS this December. Exactly a year ago, I pretty much gave up on the nonprofit sector. I had just lost my job and was floundering about seeking clarity and a place to land. I was questioning who I was and […]

Though the weather is chilling and the leaves are falling, my mind has been traveling back to a different change in the seasons. Spring of this year brought with it two moments that would change my life, though I didn’t know yet that they would. My doctor told me that pain would be a part […]

I took a long road trip in October to New Orleans, Tulsa, and points in between. I drove because I don’t really like flying, and it would have required many airplanes to get to those two cities on consecutive weekends. I covered almost 3,000 miles in just over two weeks and enjoyed most of it. […]

When Shelley and I first became interns with the Resource Center for Women in Ministry in the South, Homegrown was one of the main events of the semester that we eagerly anticipated. Over the course of our first few weeks of spending time in the Resource Center, we heard bits and pieces about the festival: […]

This month we welcome our interns for the 2019 fall semester, Liddy Grantland and Shelley Leazer. As our Anita McLeod Interns, they will each work about 10 hours a week and will focus some of their attention on intergenerational issues. Liddy Grantland is a senior undergraduate studying African American studies and English, with a minor […]

“I have my new life plan!” That’s what one participant exclaimed at the end of one of our writing workshops recently. Though that wasn’t the goal of this particular evening, having the time to write in community and sit with her thoughts had planted seeds of clarity. Watching people grow and blossom is one of […]