GEM Daughters Network Successful 2024 Father’s Day Annual Event.
Last week, the GEM Daughters Network successfully conducted its’ second annual Father’s Day virtual retreat for all women and girls who are experiencing or have experienced an absent, abusive, disconnected, flawed, and unattached father-to-daughter relationship. Our founder and visionary, Dr. Doris Wesley, led and facilitated the 2-Days event, engaging women and girls from around the globe for over 10 hours this weekend.
Our focus has and will always be to address the social issue of fatherlessness by changing the narrative that daddyless daughters should see themselves as helpless; instead, we are committed to helping these women and girls transform their experiences, recognize their value, harness their true potential, and redesign a purposeful future for themselves. We are strongly committed to transforming these daddyless daughters into priceless GEMs.
Current statistics highlight that in the United States alone, there are over 20 million children living in a home without the physical presence of a father, of which over 50% are daughters (see the U.S. Census Bureau). Meanwhile, there are millions more daughters whose fathers are physically present but emotionally absent, experiencing the same effects of being fatherless. When we consider other daddyless daughters from different countries and continents, we can view fatherlessness as an epidemic that requires national and global emergency response.
During the retreat, attendees engaged in deep work to become aware of what it means to be a fatherless daughter and understand how the social issue of fatherlessness affects them. In addition to exploring some of their hidden patterns and formulas in their self-made survival handbook, they excavated their individual father-daughter narratives, identified their to-go stories, and reviewed them with the current lens of their awareness, to mention a few.
The theme for this year’s event was “Forgiveness.” As such, the women and girls in attendance were guided on how to reclaim, reframe, and redesign their lives as they embarked on a journey of awareness, acknowledgement, and cooperating fully with forgiveness to experience freedom and flourishment from the hurt they feel as a result of their experiences. Please see the following clip from the teaching session:
Participants were encouraged to discover their unique gifts as GEM daughters! They were reminded to explore and embrace their beautiful fossils and gemstones. In Dr. Doris Wesley’s words, “give yourself credit for your resilience and decisions that countered your hurtful feelings and experiences. S-t-r-e-t-c-h your mind and reframe your beliefs to see how strong you were to keep persisting and moving forward despite all that has happened in your relationship with your father." Look at how you are going through your darkest days, and validate the strengths and connections that you've hung onto along the way. Therein lie your gifts.”
See below to see what attendees shared about their experiences from the retreat:
"Being given the opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings was the main highlight for me. Also, realizing that I need to cooperate with forgiveness and make that choice in order to heal. Forgiveness is about me not the other person. Being equipped with strategies to kick-start the journey of healing was also empowering and valuable. Lastly, intentionally recognizing and celebrating the gems (strengths) that have been born of the ashes (fossils) of pain was insightful."
"The entire Retreat was just fantastic. Being in a room with individuals with shared experiences was cathartic. I loved the practical exercises which are pertinent to my healing journey. Learning about the various archetypes of the various daughters; my to-go story, my survival handbook and so much more was enlightening. What stood out to me was Dr Doris sharing about examining her life from different points of view (baby Doris, present Doris and future self Doris) was insightful and is something that I will be applying to my life as I self-reflect."
"I am making a commitment to be a better daughter to my parents immediately as I hold the image of a harmonious relationship with them. I have opted to give them grace as I truly don't know the full story. Besides, if I have never gone through the hardship of not having parents around, and the lack that accompanied this reality, I would never have known how to fight for myself and set boundaries and standards for my life."
"The most meaning aspect is the one from the limitations and the reframe of it. Hearing other people's story regarding previous hurt makes me feel happy that I am not alone in the journey of freedom from self-unforgiveness. I also enjoyed learning about my archetype, I loved the practical interactive sessions, and the declaration we did. I see myself applying these ideas in relation to family and social relationships, to give understanding to people's position in any situation, being compassionate and separating people from their behavior."
The GEM Daughters Network is on a mission to help ONE MILLION of these women and girls by providing them with (digital) resources, mentorship, opportunities, and a loving community to inspire, transform, and empower themselves. Kindly click here to support our mission.
Through our practical transformative methods, we equip these women and girls with the skills to establish and maintain healthy relationships, seize personal and professional growth opportunities, and enhance their financial awareness, among other benefits. We recognize the significance of women and girls empowerment, which is why we commit to offering our network's women the mental, emotional, social, and financial assistance they require to unlock their inner potential and make meaningful contributions to society as unique GEMs.
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