I woke up this morning and the first thing I did after brushing my teeth and making tea, was watch the full interview with Carly Valentine. This is a woman who has exquisite grace in movement and and execution. Carly is a person in which ritual and placement has been integrated in daily relationship with her life. She is a skilled emotional dancer in this and is a pleasure to experience, as grace in any form is something I admire.
Please watch Carly Valentine’s full length video here http://vimeo.com/257023665
In watching the footage of Carly and reflecting on the emotion of our conversation, what stands out it is the extraordinary thread of strength in women and their communities. This is how we as women have survived millennia of subjugation and persecution by the patriarchy, our response has always been to rally together and turn to each other for safety and support. To call on our intense resilience and our integral knowledge that it does indeed take a village to survive. We gravitate toward circles more often than not, understanding that ancient strength and it can take shape in a sewing circle in a church basement or a pagan ritual circle under the full moon. Its still an understanding of the power of coming together in unity and establishing balance in the circular form of protection.
Carly has come from a heritage of a strong matriarch lineage and a tangible connection between the generations in her family. Her connection to her strong creative self and expression of that through her photography and personal aesthetic, Carly directly attributes to the love and connection to her mother and grandmother, she honors them through her work and sense of self.
It comes as no surprise to me then that Carly is the initial architect of the community of 400 plus women in the Mojave Desert area named Daughters Of The Desert and now holds the title as President of the organization but has co-created a system of support with a vice-president, treasurer, etc. Carly has spearheaded the project, www.daughtersofthedesert.com in which through her photography and portraits of the incredible women in her desert community, she has opened the door for these women to band together to promote and support each others creative and professional lives. This group of women are also are in the midst of creating an actual sanctuary for women to go to when they are in the need of safety, retreat, education, creative space, and resources. These women have organized themselves politically, promoting social justice, women’s rights, and shifting their local communities tolerance and silence when it comes to abuse of women. These women, powerhouses each in their own right, have come together and created an even more powerful sanctuary and refuge for one another and I for one am completely inspired by the work that they are doing together and the commitment to each other.
This is how you get it done. Together stronger than alone.
This past year with all the challenges and struggles thrown up and into the harsh light of the reality of American culture and its dark relationship with gender, race, class, and immigration has been deeply disturbing for all Americans wherever you land with your ideology. We are in the midst of uncovering real, ugly social truths about one another and simultaneously attempting to radically change how we go about navigating them. Its intense to say the least and we’ve barely scratched the surface, We have a long way to go and it takes all of as a nation with all our dissenting opinions and voices to somehow, create harmony, or at least carry a tune together. Otherwise this great ideal, this great possibility that is our country, is lost.
So in this corner of the country, these women in Daughters Of The Desert have come together in in a short period of time and have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Women when they run out of silence, are quick to take care of business and the evidence in that with the last year with women rising up politically, radically shifting our national conversation about abuse towards women and challenging generational attitudes toward sexual and physical abuse. It is in evidence in Daughters Of The Desert and other women communities forming around the country. Circles of women coming together in solidarity and sparking progressive action while maintaining momentum.
Carly Valentine speaks softly and with authority. Eloquent and elegant. Her personal strength is reveals itself with grace as you speak to her, she has all the time and her own time, its a beautiful way to move through the world. Carly has the ability to bring people together and inspire, she draws power from her own vulnerability and understands that in sharing her fragilities she will instigate solidarity and therefor strength in others. Carly is a leader and knows the timing of stepping back, letting the work unfold and catch its own momentum.
This is the power in women.
This is the nature of refuge.
