I attended a wonderful Meet Up in Asheville, NC last Thursday. I thought at first hat I was enjoying myself so much because I was getting intoxicated by the clean mountain air. It was a cool, comfortable evening at an outdoor courtyard on the main drag.

I walked into this Meet Up, and there were 15 or so women sitting around the table waiting for me to show up. Miraculously, I was on time. After greetings, ordering food, and some small talk, we got down to business. I spoke of our collective journey, how none of us were prepared for the events of 2008, what a wake up call it was, and what are we going to do about it.

I was asked if this particular Meet Up was any different than the previous ones I’ve attended. I can honestly say that with few exceptions, all of the Meet Ups have been pretty much the same. We are remarkably united in how we have seen and experienced things.

What’s been so revolutionary, however, is how The New Agenda is taking that spirit and moving it into a vision of 21st century feminism. Some of us have moved along with it a little faster than others. After all, we’ve been so upset and disappointed that it’s been hard to get beyond ourselves. That’s why the Meet Ups have been so good. They are the new version of the 1970’s consciousness-raising sessions.

What I saw in Asheville is that once we vent, we are all able to move on to the action phase. And from what I’ve seen, The New Agenda’s idea of completely changing our culture in terms of how women are viewed and treated and how we treat each other is an idea whose time has come. Whenever I talk about it, as I did in Asheville, the heads around the table start bobbing up and down in agreement. Never has a women’s rights group dared to dream so big and aim so high. But aiming high we must. And if we don’t do it—-who will?

So what if we are angry at certain people and by what has happened. We are moving beyond ourselves into a future that will be defined only by the limits of our imagination. My children and my niece have reminded me that we taught them that women can be anything. We want that to be true. So if in 2008 we saw that there are still impediments to that, so what? We need to use our anger over that to get going and create that better world that we had promised the next generation.

The New Agenda is taking that bold next step. Please join us by making your contribution today. I know you hate being asked for money. But our first historic fundraiser is Monday, and we have a specific goal we need to meet. And we wouldn’t ask you if we didn’t have to.  We’re doing the research to reach out to the masses to change our culture. Be part of it. It’s OUR turn to make history. You can press the “donate” button and find out how. Together we can move mountains!!!!!!

And speaking of mountains, many thanks to Phala Altman and Kathy Skerl (Kathy’s our The New Agenda Team Captain in Asheville) for putting together our Meet Up. I’ll be back. Your company and that Smoky Mountain air are an irresistable combination!!!!