It would take an archeological dig to find all the strata of gifts, cares, duties and dreams of the 21^st century woman.  What do we hide from others?  What do we hide from ourselves?  And, key, why do we hide from ourselves?  What is the cost to all of us that too many of us are hunkered down in dark places with our hands over our eyes?

Since 2000, Gail McMeekin has been introducing us to women who have dared to look directly into the sun.  And the stories of these brave women have lit up our dark places.  Whether it is a nightlight, a disco ball, or a strobe our spirits crave to be out among the company of others.

Gail’s magic is deceiving. There’s nothing ‘ta-dah’ about her style.  Moving stealthily from highly creative women to highly successful women she sends us the subliminal memo that they are one in the same.  And even more surprising we learn that we have more in common with these brave women than we would have ever imagined.  In a typical passage Gail drops a smart bomb, “You have more power in almost any situation than you may realize or utilize.  Write down all your options, even far out ones.”

In 2000 A Room of Her Own (AROHO) was for me a “far out option”.  What began as an irresistible urge to seek my purpose evolved into a transformational collective of thousands of women writers and artists.  At the beginning, the very existence of Gail’s book legitimized in important ways the mission of AROHO.

Oprah says that the pure experience of feeling ‘seen’ by another is what we really yearn for in life.  Gail ‘saw’ us when we weren’t even looking at ourselves.

Darlene Chandler Bassett, Founder of AROHO

Gail McMeekin serves on AROHO’s Advisory Council.  Her books are available on her website, Amazon, and at Barnes & Noble.

Author Gail McMeekin, image by Russ Street