One morning not long ago as I was deep in meditation I saw an image of women gathered and gathering around the earth, the entire globe, hands touching and connected, forming a web of protection. A few weeks later as I was struggling through some leftover darkness I heard an invitation and my response was, “I’m ready to take my seat at the Council table.” As with most things out of the ordinary like that part of me snorts and scoffs and part of me bows to whatever Sacred breeze just blew through my heart. It’s not easy having a split brain but I’m learning to manage.

The image and the invitation have stayed with me like an intense dream that you can’t let go of but can’t quite understand either. However, tonight this comes to me – the Council – whatever that means whether in concept or some future literal gathering needs all voices. All faces. All opinions. All.

One of my biggest struggles when forming teams is getting people to understand that the nit picker who rubs everyone the wrong way is needed exactly for their ability to spot flaws. The stickler for details is the one who keeps you out of litigation. The clown keeps you from taking it all too seriously and the asshat stirs the pot for the fun of creating conflict which ironically enough can bond the rest of the team closer as he or she becomes the common “enemy”.

All voices are required – harsh, barking, soft, moaning, articulate and stuttering. There is a place for singing, chanting, brazen and bashful, the eloquent and the plain. Choirs have a universal appeal to most people and why on earth would we ever go to listen to a choir that could sing only one note? A sustained unchanging note drives people mad. Only in the blending of voices do we feel our hearts soar and dip, our creativity spark and our breath quicken.

Who are we to say who does and does not have a voice at the Council table? Who do we become when we say such things? We become Fear incarnate, the diametric opposite of what we are here to do with the talents we have been given. The talents meant for our use and expression alone – our unique voice with our unique song in it. Are you speaking yet? Do you dare raise your voice in your own song yet?

Today as I watched women heatedly arguing over whether or not to drink coffee I shook my head in love for the way we get lost in the details and despair over the way we get lost in the details. How hard it is to maintain our place at the table, to stay seated and speak from our hearts when we want to shove our chairs back and go bodies in the center of the gathering. How simple the solution is to speak from respect and Love, so simple that we discount it and push it away preferring to use our precious air to shout “Right” and “Wrong” rather than to breathe deeply to calm our reptile brain and speak to each other from the Question instead. How can I help? Will you talk to me so I can understand your fears? I can hear your Shadow speaking through your Judgement. Will we help each other embrace the parts of ourselves that are warring within us thereby perpetuating warring without? Is Love available to us right here in this moment of conflict? Can we pull back from the ragged edge of Chaos in time?

I have to believe it’s not too late for us to figure out where our True Power lies and use it. As long as there is air in our lungs we have a chance every day to choose a different path, to sing a different song, to add our voice to the others sitting at the Council table. We can wake up to the fact that we really are driving the car which means we really can shift gears at any time.

Will you join me in taking a seat?