Who Are You (BEcoming)?: A 6-Week Developmental Workshop Series
The question of “becoming” shall forever be worthy of exploration. But for vulnerable groups like women and women of color, in particular, whose lives are often shaped and mediated by intersecting power dynamics of race, class, gender, and sexuality, this question takes on a layered, urgent dimension.
In 2018, Forever First Lady Michelle Obama published a bestselling memoir entitled Becoming; it generated frenzied enthusiasm and interest worldwide especially in the Black communities among Black women and cast a powerful spotlight on this most critical topic.
Here are Mrs. Obama’s own words as she defines this notion of “becoming”:
For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end. I became a mother, but I still have a lot to learn from and give to my children. I became a wife, but I continue to adapt to and be humbled by what it means to truly love and make a life with another person. I have become, by certain measures, a person of power, and yet there are moments still when I feel insecure and unheard. It’s all a process, steps along a path. Becoming requires equal parts patience and rigor. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done.
This notion of self-realization—seeing yourself, knowing yourself, defining yourself, and growing into your fullest expression—is at the heart of this 6-week transformational series and indeed, my work as an empowerment coach.
Why Attend?
Someone casually asks, “Who are you? Tell me about yourself.” What do you say or do in response? (Check all that applies.)
Do you immediately pause because you’re unsure of how to answer?
Do you automatically identify with your profession?
Do you recite aspects of your resume that showcase your accomplishments?
Do you lead off with the roles you play—mother, wife, daughter, teacher . . . ?
Have you ever felt that you’ve satisfactorily answered that question?
Have you ever pondered the question yourself, “Who are you—becoming?
It’s not such a simple question to answer especially when you strip away your name, accomplishments, and the roles you play. Who are you?
Who Are You (BEcoming)? is designed with Black women and women of color in mind to:
1. ENABLE you to develop lenses and practices for self-awareness and personal growth so you may aspire to be as vibrant, authentic, and powerful as you possibly can be and to be empowered to define yourself for yourself;
2. SITUATE you within the rich continuum of herstories of your foremothers and foresisters who have blazed paths and paid dues with daring, resilience, and brilliance so you may know whence you came and how to fly;
3. EVALUATE the roles you play and family legacies you’ve inherited, and envision new possibilities for expressing yourself;
4. PROVIDE a forum and safe space where women on a journey to wellness and wholeness can gather and be empowered to share their truths, find their voice, and seek the highest possible expression of themselves.
What to Expect
Here are some experiences you can expect of the series:
- Norms of engagement and rituals (e.g., mindful breathing, affirmations) for respectful, inclusive interactions and personal wellness;
- Engagement in structured, well-facilitated discussions and activities;
- Quiet think time and opportunities for reflection;
- Revelations and insights about yourself (awareness) and strategies/paradigms/tools for making new choices (empowerment);
- A supportive community of other women on a journey affirming and holding you accountable; and,
- Homework assignments to support the work of the series and your own growth and development.
What You’ll Gain
At a minimum, you can expect to leave the workshop series with a:
- heightened understanding of the roles you play and whether these roles serve the best expressions of yourself;
- clearer awareness of who you are (becoming) and a self-generated declarative statement of affirmation, A Woman’s Pledge;
- deeper understanding of how your mindset—habitual patterns of thinking, feeling, and responding—affect how you see, experience, and interpret the world;
- vision statement and vision board for the life you wish to manifest; and,
- toolbox of frameworks, approaches, and resources for designing the life you want.
Envisioning New Possibilities:
Behold A Woman’s Pledge crafted by a past participant:
I am a woman.
I am free to be myself whatever that may look like for me because
I am forever growing and developing.
I am strong, determined, and disciplined.
I have a beautiful heart, smile, and mind with a positive attitude and the best intentions.
I live my truth and I don’t conform to the status quo.
I inspire people by my actions and have a talent for bringing people together.
I am a fixer and a problem solver.
I am very passionate about traveling and learning new things.
I am okay with not having it all figured out and being a work in progress.
I am love.
I give love and I deserve love and I will get it when the time is right.
So for now I will continue to live my life to the fullest and
enjoy the good things I have going for myself.
I am very blessed and I appreciate all that I have and all that I am.
I’m excited for all to come!
– Melissa Dodd
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
– Carl Gustav Jung
“You need not settle for any defining category. . .Of course you’re general, but you’re also specific. A citizen and a person. And the person you are is like nobody else on the planet. Nobody has the exact memory that you have. What is now known is not all what you are capable of knowing. You are your own stories—and therefore free to imagine and experience what it means to be human without wealth, what it feels like to be human without domination over others, without reckless arrogance, without fear of others unlike you, without rotating, rehearsing, and reinventing the hatreds that you learned in the sandbox. And although you don't have complete control over the narrative—no author does, I can tell you—you can nevertheless create it.”