Thank you both for your comments about your own question and journey to validate mine. I have wondered about sharing my question and process with wForum members as a way to relate my questions to theirs. I might eventually, but better done in person and better done when I have some kind of exit plan. I therefore decided that this was a safer space to explore the ramifications and possibilities. Michelle, I have thought often about our hike on Diamond Hill as the theme for that day’s trek was Sovereignty. The word itself is powerful and intriguing. It seemed then that it was something you invited us to grow into. To ponder. To imagine. Soverignty. As a word it is hard to spell, and wonderful sounding. I love saying it aloud. In the big picture, complex ideas with simple teachings like you offer in Wild Wisdom are needed. This is why we, many of us leaders in our own right, need women who invite us to explore the inner territory and provide ways of connection to ourselves and others. In that space we gain energy to take action in the world. While doing so, we hope to pass along the values, aspirations and contributions we have been given, and hope others will learn and to both adopt and adapt them. After that, we trust someone else to come along in her own time and in her own way to take her place - as our place recedes.