finding myself through my sisters

A decade ago, I was a married mom of three, living in Chicago, and something kept nagging at me. At first, I assumed it was a call to find a new job or help those I love to traverse their difficulties. I laugh now knowing it was never about anything or anyone other than myself. That call was a push to start my own healing and self-discovery.

My path often felt lonely, and I came to find unlikely teachers and companions. I found my first spiritual teacher from her long inactive website and ended up in weekly meetings for years with women decades older than me. During this time, I also completed a coaching certification, which serendipitously placed me in an intimate container with five other women navigating their own growth journeys. Later, I was indirectly invited to a sister circle through a family member, who I’m convinced was simply the connection I needed to cross paths with this group of women who were peers. 

For someone who grew up as a tomboy, feeling more comfortable with boys than girls, I was shocked at how life led me to these groups of women who eased my burdens, held me gently, and saw in me what I had been unable to see for myself. I sensed power from gathering with intention, without judgment or comparison, and for the sake of healing and growth. After experiencing what I now call “true sisterhood,” I again sensed a call. This time the call was to create my own “Sister Circle,” a safe space for women to be seen, heard, and supported. 

Healing comes in layers and arrives in many forms. For me, it felt like a homecoming, an awakening to the truest and most soulful version of myself. It required me to look in all the dark spaces within my own psyche and reconcile the past so that I could create a new future. Parts of me died while others emerged as butterflies do from their chrysalis of transformation. I’m incredibly grateful to the many women who helped me and am humbled to serve women in that same capacity. 

If you’re feeling the call like me toward sisterhood, I urge you to open yourself up to finding a resonant community of your own, be it online or in your local community, or have the courage to create one of your own.