May 31st, 2011
Thinking about summer almost always brings up the thought of vacation. As a child we were living on the East Coast of the U.S. and we always took our vacation on Cape Cod. I have special memories of deep pine forests, ice cream cones, long bike trails and hot sandy beaches that warmed my toes. As I embraced the business world, the lines of vacation became more blurred. During some years time became less available and resources were expended with careful choice. At the same time the need for rejuvenation still existed.  For me the most important thing has always been that I change my rhythm and pace so that I can begin to hear myself more deeply. This, for me, is the finest gift of a staycation or of a truly relaxing vacation.   Today with the world moving at such a quick pace, many of my friends and colleagues are reevaluating what they need in a vacation/staycation. For many this needs to be a block of time set aside for rejuvenation, contemplation and renewal. That is not to say that the traditional vacation luxury is to be discouraged. However, many people are being financially frugal or working more than they have in the past. So what’s a woman to do? What’s your plan for the summer?  What would be your version of an ideal staycation or vacation?   Join us for a wonderful staycation. Come to our summer Bubble Bath on June 23rd , June 30th and July 7th from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm Pacific Time. Read more about our Bubble Bath at www.theessentialfeminine.com . Maureen J. Simon Founder and Creative Director The Essential Feminine Company™ maureen@theessentialfeminine.com http://womeninfluencingnow.wordpress.com www.theessentialfeminine.com
Tags: bubble bath, change, contemplation., Maureen Simon, rejuvenation, renewal, staycation, summer, The Essential Feminine, vacation
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March 16th, 2011
There has been much conversation concerning how women and men speak different languages and look at things differently. When researching my book, “Awakening The Essential Feminine: Claiming Your Influential Power” I learned that there really is a feminine perspective informed by specific attributes, gifts and talents. Our brain biology; socialization and whole perspective is different. Our sisters the suffragettes created an opening where our voices could be heard. Our later sisters fought for the Equal Rights Amendment which moved us towards an equal footing in business and finance. Today we face the next movement. This is the movement to claim and fully live our Essential Feminine.
Often women’s confidence is shaken because we don’t fully understand or claim these natural gifts. For many women they have been convinced that these gifts are inferior aspects of being. For us to gain confidence in this world, we first need to “know thyself”. Once we know ourselves, we then need to believe in ourselves and allow ourselves the opportunity to fully express the amazing beings that we are. If your confidence has ever been shattered, stand back and rebuild it. Bring yourself to the company of other women who can serve as models or guides. If you have strong confidence, look at a sister who does not and guide her. Point out what is amazing in her. If she is young, support her to understand the unique and special meaning of her life. Confidence prevails when we are deeply aware of our meaning.
On Wednesday, March 23rd in The Essential Feminine™ Company “Living Room” we will be discussing confidence and how it relates to creating an amazing life by choice. Join us at 12:00 noon – 1:15 PM PSDT for conversation and networking on this topic. Register at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/411759432
Maureen Simon
http://womeninfluencingnow.wordpress.com
www.theessentialfeminine.com
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March 9th, 2011
Writing to you on the topic of Confidence during this very special week of the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day has made me think of how the meaning of the work confidence has changed over the years for women. When we go back to what confidence would have meant to our sisters (the Suffragettes) who were paving the way for our vote and freedom of voice – they had little confidence in their ability to be heard or taken seriously in a system that saw them as invisible.Ă‚Â
Today we are not invisible. Today we have 85% of the purchasing power in the US and we make up over 52% of the small businesses and are heads of household in 51% of the American households. Today in Egypt and One Million Women March is scheduled to take place. Reem Shahin, a member of the Million Woman March movement says, “We are not convinced by the amendments of the constitution as they don’t give women the right to run for presidential elections, and there are still no equal rights”. This quote amazes me as we are now beginning to see many issues that our women faced in the 1920’s become prevalent issues to our sisters in the Middle East. I wish them well.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating International Women’s Day with our friends at the Global Dialogue Center. We at The Essential Feminine™ Company strongly believe that it is when we ourselves and our sisters allow confidence to develop in all areas of our lives, we will reach freedom. Confidence is a birthright built on our ability to voice what we feel and our ability to express  our inner wisdom and knowledge. Please join Debbe Kennedy and me along with other wonderful hosts and facilitators in conversation with Frances Hesselbein as we discuss “LEADERSHIP by Example 2011 | WOMEN in the Lead: Our Significant Roles as WOMEN in a Global Economy” https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000011799/Registration.aspx?pageName=pb23p9cvqs97g2lh  or go to http://tinyurl.com/2a99638 |
Also join us at The Essential Feminine Living Room, March 23rd 12 – 1:15 PM PDST for our complimentary webinar/teleseminar exploring “ Awakening To Powerful Feminine Confidence: Designing A Life of Optimum Success”. The Living Room is a conversation and networking opportunity that brings women together world-wide. REGISTER NOW…https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/411759432
Maureen Simon
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Maureen J. Simon
Founder and Creative Director
The Essential Feminine Companyâ„¢
maureen@theessentialfeminine.com
http://womeninfluencingnow.wordpress.com
www.theessentialfeminine.com
Tags: confidence, feminine attributes, influence, International Women's Day 2011, Maureen Simon, The Essential Feminine
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February 22nd, 2011
Can you imagine living your life with influence, power and success? If you can, then this is your time. Women are stepping forward to live and lead in ways like they never have before.
 The Essential Feminine™ Company is leading a movement based on the belief that women’s natural talents and gifts are needed in the world today. Women world-wide are awakening on mass—just look at your email and you will see the awakening –daily.  We are re-launching our well known and loved complimentary Living Rooms this month and will be hosting them on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 12 noon PST. Let us take you on a journey to that essential part of you that is ready to create success, live with influence, and really make a difference in the world. We will provide consulting, webinars and products that support you to create your custom life and/or business building from your natural feminine essence. Join me on this journey to your Essential Feminine.
To begin this journey,  please join us in our  Living Room on:
 February 23rd:  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/178124041
March  23rd: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/298901249
April 27th: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/298901249Ă‚Â
Begin to build lifelong confidence, overcome your resistance to change, and create a life that allows you to live with influence, power and success.
Maureen Simon
www.TheEssentialFeminine.com
Tags: awakening, change, confidence, contribution, Maureen Simon, Self-discovery, The Essential Feminine, women of influence
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October 25th, 2010
As we move into the autumn and winter months, for many of us, it becomes easier to reflect on our lives. The darker days with rain and snow inevitably slow us down. Use this time to contemplate where your confidence level is today in the different areas of your life; work, partnership, health, new acquaintances, and with new possibilities and risks.  ÂÂ
You will probably notice differences in these areas. Notice also the state of your well-being in each of these areas. Is there a direct correlation between well-being and confidence?
In The Essential Feminine™ Living Room, on October 27th at noon PST, we will be looking closely at how our energy, biorhythms, the meaning of our lives and our overall physical and mental health totally inform our confidence. We will look at ways to raise our vibrations and discover how your choices relate to the life you live daily.
It is important to realize that a truly confident woman gains her strength from truly respecting her body, from a clear and rested mind and from a deeply expressed soul.
Join us in our “Living Room” for our complementary session of information and networking with women world-wide. Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/957535688
Tags: confidence, Maureen Simon, meaning, The Essential Feminine
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March 12th, 2010
Spring is almost here; a time for new growth, new beginnings. This is a time when creativity stirs within us. Can we bring forth our own growth and the expression of it and live our destiny? This weekend we will set our clocks forward. Will we set our lives forward?Ă‚Â
Remembering your destiny is so much more than simply recalling some ephemeral past memories. It is actually returning to, and rediscovering your whole self. It is a full realization of your extraordinary place in the tapestry of life.Ă‚Â
In order to live a fully expressed and alive life, it is essential to stretch beyond your normal comfort zone. Take some time to explore your inner self. Let yourself have the freedom to imagine new possibilities in the areas of career, finances, fitness, well-being, friendship and love. Say “yes” to new opportunities and practice being fascinated with your own answers to these questions.
- What innate talents do I possess:
- What are my greatest gifts?
- What do I enjoy doing so much that I lose track of time while I’m doing it?
- What are the guiding principles of my life – what is my polestar?
- What do I love the most about life?
This year it is a time for restoring the “feminine” in us all and for emerging leadership for women. Take a moment to gain the powerful and on-going support of other women on the journey towards becoming themselves and join us in The Essential Feminine Companyâ„¢ “Living Room” for an hour’s conversation on “Inviting The New, The Different and The Good Into Our Lives” which will take place on March 24, at noon PST. This is a free event which will happen on the fourth Wednesday of the month, with a new topic each month.  You will need to register for this month’s event at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/448858688Ă‚Â
I hope to see you there.
Tags: destiny, fully expressed and alive, greatest gifts, Growth, imagine, innate talents, inviting the new, new possibilities, on-going support, rediscovering your whole self
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March 9th, 2010
Among the natural attributes of women are collaboration and team building. (And, we hold many more.) Our ability to use these gifs has been recognized by such groups as CARE, Heifer International and The Hunger Project. (See notes below.) These groups have invested their resources and total faith in women to rebuild their communities as they know that women will use their opportunities to feed their families and strengthen their communities.
Relationship building, networking and community building are some of women’s finest gifts. Therefore, The Essential Feminine Company™ is opening its “Living Room” as a place for women to get together once a month to share ideas and suggestions about various topics. This is a free event happening at noon (Pacific Time) on March 24 and continuing on the fourth Wednesday of the months following. You will need to register for the event at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/448858688
We will begin our Living Room discussion with the topic, “Inviting The New, The Different and The Good Into Our Lives”. After the initial theme has been presented we will be opening the lines for announcements, wishes, desires, and general networking. Please contact us at info@theessentialfeminine.com if you have something you would like to share during the second half hour. We need at least forty-eight hours prior to each Living Room event for your comment or need to be considered.
We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to join women from around the globe and help us create a community of women who want to create their lives from their true selves and thus make a difference.
Maureen Simon
Note: Yesterday (March 8) “was International Women’s Day celebrating the progress women have made in their struggles for equality and development and also focusing on what remains to be done to ensure there is equality for all. The theme this year is “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All.””
Note from The Hunger Project:  “(THP) firmly believes that empowering women to be key change agents is an essential element to achieving the end of hunger and poverty. Wherever we work, our programs aim to support women, build their capacity and ensure their voice is heard and influence felt, both in their own communities and more widely.” To read more: http://www.thp.org/learn_more/publications/newsletters/february_2010
Note from Heifer International: Women Working Wonders; Since they received goats from Heifer, the members of Zambia’s Evergreen Women’s Club have been able to provide life-saving milk for their children, grow valuable crops to support their families and help their neighbors support themselves. To read more: http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.201594/?msource=kwg538
Tags: CARE, community building, community of global women, conversation and networking, feminine attributes, Heifer International, inviting the new, Maureen Simon, relationship building, The Essential Feminine, The Essential Feminine "Living Room", The Hunger Project
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February 9th, 2010
Around the world, more stories are being written about change. As Ghandi said, “We must be the change we want to see in the world.” For me this has always meant that I must look at the things within myself that need to change to improve in order for me to make a meaningful impact on the world. ÂÂ
In 1994, Rwanda once again made the news with the genocide that killed more than 800,000 people, most of whom were men and boys, leaving Rwanda’s population at 70% female.
Fast-forwarding to 2008: “The economy has revived and is holding steady. Major road arteries between cities and outlying villages, which were destroyed, have been rebuilt. Today, the Rwandan lower house of Parliament is nearly half female, the highest percentage of women in any parliament worldwide. Girls are attending school in record numbers.
The women of Rwanda are behind one of the most inspiring comeback stories of national transformation in recent history. And while their story is dramatic, it’s not unique. Indeed, in the field of international development, women have emerged as the not-so-secret secret to changing the world.
As former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said, “If there is one lesson we in the United Nations have learned over the years, it is that investing in women is the most productive strategy a country can pursue”–to raise economic productivity, improve nutrition and health, and educate the next generation.””
 How Women Will Change The World Huffington Post Update 6/2/08 Filed by Anya Strzemien ÂÂ
When women begin to understand the natural gifts and talents we hold, claim them and use them we will gain a strength and contribution that will bring the feminine forward in the world in a way that has never been seen. The time is now.
Tags: change, confidence, contribution, Ghandi, influence, Kofi Annan, Maureen Simon, natural gifts, Rwanda, The Essential Feminine, United Nations
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February 3rd, 2010
“Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do”.
The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
I believe that there has not been a time in modern history on a cross-cultural and global basis where men and women have stood side by side, providing leadership that equally respects and acknowledges both masculine and feminine attributes. I believe that that time has now come. It is now time for us to create a more equitable, harmonious and more successful business, political and community environments as we integrate the feminine and masculine traits. Women have an opportunity to now step forward and to chose to make greater leadership contributions across these arenas by leveraging the innate feminine attributes that they have for so long set aside in order to adapt to the masculine culture that defines our world today.
So what will it take for a major awakening in women to occur? How will women realize that when the strong feminine gifts that we hold are integrated in to the decisions of the world that healing of wars, corrupt businesses and our planet will follow? Malcolm Gladwell in his brilliant book, “The Tipping Point”, speaks about ideas, products, and messages spreading like viruses. It is now time for women to understand and own the essential role that their feminine attributes contribute such as relationship building, web thinking, inclusive communication, to name a few. These attributes must be honored and valued by ourselves before a tipping point in awareness or the collective conscience can occur.
As a woman, do you understand the unique and precious values and gifts that your feminine attributes can play in the world? Where can you contribute your wisdom, knowledge and care to make a difference in the world? We must understand and value the gifts of the feminine in order for there to be a tipping point that travels across the world and proudly claims – that women hold an essential role in the world today.
Tags: essential role, expression and contribution, inclusive communication, integrate masculine and feminine traits, leveraging their innate feminine attributes, Malcolm Gladwell, Maureen Simon, relationship building, The Essential Feminine, The Tipping Point, uniqueness, web thinking
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December 22nd, 2009
 This blog was originally posted four years ago and I believe it’s worth posting again. Time spent in the “stillness of your heart” will help you discover your heart’s desire. Then create a blueprint to achieve your dream.  Here it is:
******
As the holidays closely approach, we have an opportunity to understand where our home actually is. Creating beautiful spaces and sharing intimate moments with family and friends are all an important part of this special holiday season. However, our physical world and how we live in it is only one aspect of our actual home.
[Once again,] during this holiday season, I have renewed a very special commitment to myself, and that is to remember that my true home lies in the stillness of my heart. My true home lies in a deep connection with that which is much greater than me. In the rush and quickness of these times, it is very important to remember that if we quiet our busy mind and go inward and connect with that which is greater than our selves, we will truly come home for the holidays.
May all the blessings of the Season be yours!
 Maureen Simon
Tags: actual home, commitments, creativity, inner quiet, stillness of your heart
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