I went to a Power Lunch today.
I know what you’re thinking: “Really, Ronna?! Are you now going to buffet luncheons and handing out your card, trying to drum up business?” No. Not that I shouldn’t be. There can be much value in that activity when done strategically and in the right groupings.
This was something far different. I sat in the Board Room on the 76th floor of the Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle. As you might imagine, the view was spectacular. If the unencumbered vista of the Puget Sound and the Cascade mountains weren’t enough, the Blue Angels were rehearsing around us for an upcoming performance. What a venue! And no buffet! We were served (as it should be, frankly…).
But that’s only the start of things!
I sat at the end of a long table surrounded by 12 amazing, powerful women. (Get it?! “Power” lunch?) We spent over 90 minutes together laughing, asking hard questions, reflecting, dreaming, inviting ourselves and one another into the most delicious, tantalizing taste of fuller, more abundant life.
I found myself caught up by the beauty of the view and the beauty of the stories by which I was surrounded. I found myself so curious about the lives, hearts, and dreams of these women. I found myself wishing for more and more contexts in which these kind of conversations with these kind of women could ensue!
Before I knew it, our time ended, I descended 76 floors to the street level, and went back to work, but not without taking something with me: a deepened sense of how beautiful women truly are, how much they can and do bear, how powerful they truly are, and how deeply they dream on their own behalf and on behalf of others.
My Power Lunch was hosted by an amazing entrepreneurial organization called Working with Power. Not surprisingly, it was founded by two incedible women who truly believe that we can live, work, and love in ways that enable, enhance, and empower our innate giftings as women; not having to function counter-intuitively, but naturally, spontaneously, freely, powerfully – and easily!!!
It doesn’t take long when in their presence to know that they’ve tapped into something. They themselves are powerful, beautiful, stunning women. But what I found most powerful, beautiful, and stunning was that they deeply wanted that for each of us! What a gift. What a blessing. What a lunch!
I’d encourage you to find a way to have a Power Lunch of your own – even if it’s by yourself. Find some way to recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate that you are powerful, beautiful, and stunning.
What might happen if you and all women actually believed this about themselves? What, indeed?
What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.” (Muriel Rukeyser)
I’m deeply sated – and already hungry for the next course!!!