Lessons from Wild Geese

It was fun for me to compare wild geese flying in "V” formation to women's circles in my book Urgent Message from Mother. Except for the shape, a circle functions as geese do. They rotate leadership -When the lead goose tires, another takes the lead position. By flying in formation, they fly 71 percent further together than one goose could fly alone. As each goose flaps its wings it creates an uplift that supports the goose flying behind it. The support of the others makes it easier to go where they want to go. They honk while in flight to encourage the lead goose to keep up the speed.

The lessons are applicable-we do go further with support of others; their thoughts, ideas, and prayers add an uplift, and our "honking" does need to be encouraging. I've ended some workshop circles where I talked about Lessons from Wild Geese in a lighthearted, playful way -I had participants be pretend geese, flapping arms as wings and honking. It's also been a delight when, from time to time, I get an email that ends with "Honk! Honk! Honk!"

Page 73-74 of Moving Toward the Millionth Circle 5WCW Energizing the Global Women's Movement