One Billon Rising ⋆ Christine Gautreaux MSW

One Billon Rising

Dear friends,

I have somehow found myself as part of a revolution. When I think revolution I think protesting in the streets and violence yet the movement I’m a part of uses art and love.

As I reflect on it I realize it started around 10 years ago when I attended a play the Vagina Monologues in Fort Worth, TX to support four of my friends from Earthsprings who were performing. The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler. It is a powerful play and I highly recommend it! Usually it is being performed in the month of February and supporting local women’s shelters. Using Theater and performance art to raise consciousness for change.

This weekend I participated in a Peace Post making workshop hosted by Atlanta’s One Billion Rising.

One Billion Rising is the biggest mass action to end violence against women in human history. The campaign, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS.

The frog Joe and I created together 🙂

The workshop this weekend was a creative way to use art to bring awareness to numerous causes. There were post made for Education, Immigration, One Billion Rising, The environment and more. We had a great time meeting new people, talking about peace and creating beautiful art together.

Here is a quick video from the creator of the project, Kira Corser:

Saturday our team planned and then painted for over four hours.
Joe joined me on Sunday and we had a blast creating together on the environmental post.

Our environmental post team!

We dashed off after painting for 3-4 hours to make it to a SoulPrint Players rehearsal. Soul Print Players are the InterPlay performing arts troupe that we belong to and our company will be performing as a part of a benefit on Feb. 14th to support the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. We’d love for you to join us to see an incredible show and support this amazing organization.

“What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make” -Jane Goodall

Wrapping you around with infinite love and peace,

Christine

About the Author: Christine Gautreaux, MSW

Christine Gautreaux, MSW is dedicated to the pursuit of play, joy, art & social justice. Christine’s superpowers include connecting people, helping folks manifest their dreams, standing up against injustice and using art to make a difference in the world. She currently uses Interplay to address issues of oppression with people living with severe and persistent mental illness, homelessness, women refugees, racial justice and women who are incarcerated. Christine believes in the power of body wisdom and somatic play to help heal trauma. She also works with professional caregivers, activists and artists to maintain balance and self-care during these intense times we find ourselves living. Christine Gautreaux holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Social Work. Christine is a professional speaker, coach & author and entrepreneur and the owner of Wisdom on Wings Coaching. Christine is the co-author of Stillpoint: A Caregivers Playbook to find ease and to take a deep breath and reclaim joy. www.christinegautreaux

2 Comments

Eli@coachdaddy February 3, 2015 at 3:05 am - Reply

It's sobering, that statistic. Especially for a dad with three daughters. We have to keep doing the good we can around us, learning from each other and great women such as Jane Goodall, and doing our best to change the trend.

Thanks for what you do.
Christine Gautreaux February 3, 2015 at 12:58 pm - Reply

Eli – thanks for stopping by – I feel the same way about that statistic – it's heart stopping. I have two daughters that inspire me to get out there and make a difference one baby step at a time.