You are here. That is a start. Now give the rest of us a chance to know the person doing the work—not your résumé, your polished public version, or your entire life story. Just enough to begin a real conversation. Copy the questions below into your comment and answer whatever you are comfortable answering. 1. What should we call you? 2. Where are you joining us from? 3. What brought you to Take Your Power Back? 4. What is one part of your life you want to examine or choose more deliberately? 5. What is one inherited rule you are beginning to question? 6. When you share something difficult, what kind of response is most useful to you? • Suggestions • Questions that help you think • Accountability • Shared experiences • Encouragement • A place to be heard without advice You do not need to answer perfectly. You do not need to explain or defend every answer. Share only what you choose to share. After posting your introduction, welcome at least one other member. Ask a genuine question, notice something you have in common, or simply let them know they were heard. I will go first in the comments. Question everything. Figure out who you want to be.

now that we have Why'd it down, figured out where it came from and what it is, examined it to see if we want to keep living by it. If we do, then great, you get to move forward knowing that you made the choice now. If not though, its time to build new guidelines to live by. Example: To start living in a way that aligns with our new decision we need to have a conversation with the other members of the household to figure out a truly fair share of the household work, and now that we know that at least some of our beliefs are based in antiquated social systems, we know that we need to analyze more of our reactions and beliefs.

Now that we know the function of what we are working on, we get to decide if it is actually service us the way we want it to. Example: Do I really think it is fair that all the house work is done by those who do not bring money into the house? Do I agree with the 1950s concept of the nuclear family? Do I want to support the patriarchy? I do not on all accounts

Now that we know where it came from, we need to figure out what it is supposed to be doing Example: The bread winner is not supposed to do house work what is that supposed to be doing? one the surface it looks like it is to keep the household functioning fairly. But we are not here for surface level stuff here. What this belief was really doing was supporting the concept of the nuclear family and the patriarchy

Now we are getting somewhere. we should have gotten close to a core function, something that is running your life in the background. If you don't think you have yet, ask why a few more times then come back here. What we are doing now is moving from why to what or where. Example: I shouldn't have to clean the kitchen We can go why again: because I am the one who works to earn the money why does that mean I shouldn't have to? and there is the bottom, there isn't a good answer to that one so we move to where where does this belief come from? I was raised that the bread winner doesn't do house work