Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Lucci.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Susan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Craving deeper dialogue, I activated an ancient social art form—the Circle. This concept is “too big for words” and yet, I will attempt to explain this unique experience in a stressed culture in constant crisis. As we slow down, reflect, become more present, connect and listen to each other, the magic of Circle unfolds. The Circle is a place for deep listen, where we see ourselves in others, and open to new possibilities to connect, to raise our awareness, to focus on what is going right in the world, to “catch courage” from inspirational stories, to become empowered, to discover who we came to be.
In Circle, the conversation shifts as we quiet our minds and speak from our hearts. We let go of expectations, do not rush to fix each other, and hold each other in the brave container of Circle. In dreaming up this particular format for gathering in Circle, I desire to connect people in a regular, accessible place close to home—like continuing that retreat feeling that fades all too soon. I love to make connections. (In another lifetime, I was likely a matchmaker.) Despite our growing interconnectedness thanks to the world wide web, studies reveal that people are feeling more isolated, unhappier, more disconnected than ever before. In Circle, we create community! In Circle we are deeply recognized, heard and truly seen.
My impetus for Circle began 10 years ago when my husband lost his job, a victim of Wall Street layoffs. Those were dark years for us as he dug in deeper to find his purpose; for the first time in our lives together, he was home all the time! Yikes! My routine, my sacred space had been invaded by a dark cloud. Fortunately, it was also the catalyst I needed to create myself anew. When I considered the possibility of returning to the practice of law, I literally felt the walls closing in, boxing up my soul.
Asking “What’s Next?” I was certain that it had to be an adventure, not just a job.
For 14 years I had been a full-time mom of three and volunteer/community activist extraordinaire. No bonus, no thank you’s, but I built a home and grew a community I felt proud of and was happy, if not entirely content. And yet, I knew that I was here to do something MORE, something big, something life changing, but—what? Somehow, at the very time I needed it, along came a wonderful book: This Time I Dance! I emailed author Tama Kieves and before I knew it, I was hosting her and dozens of women for a “Living Inspiring Lives” workshop. As a thank you, she gifted me with an hourlong coaching session, on the phone from her home in Colorado.
What, prey-tell, could one hour with a woman 1,000 miles away who I had met only once possibly do for me, the nearly decade-long seeker?
Something amazing, it turns out. Since I was young, I have journaled, written poems, hundreds of letters, honing my skills as a writer. Prepping for the call with Tama, I synthesized 7 years of discernment into two pages. Here’s a coaching challenge, I thought: Weave all of this together into an adventure, a vocation—the intersection of “my deep gladness and the world’s deep need” (Frederick Buechner). She did! Together, we planted the seeds of what became Circles. Hours later, reflecting on years’ of journals, I read ideas for circle after circle.
My annual 24-hour getaways quieted like an oyster in dark solitude, had cultivated pearls! Just then, the art tile of three women sitting in circle weaving together that had called to me at a local art show years before, suddenly made sense. I was to become a “Circle Tender,” connecting and weaving together women’s stories. I started this crazy idea in the darkest of times, with no investors, no business plan, no marketing skills, no “Circle” degree or knowledge or experience, no website, and with nobody other than Tama telling me that I could. No one even understood what “Circle” was… and yet. They came. They sent me their children.
In the past 10 years, I’ve been privileged to facilitate more than 550 circles covering fascinating topics from transformative transitions to living more mindfully to discerning purpose at midlife with hundreds of women and young girls. It is truly magical when you align your passion with the world’s need. I started Circle to create a place for something other than the cocktail party chitchat. One weekend a few years in I was at my daughter’s concert when a local woman said, “I’m intrigued about your Circles. Tell me more. I heard women talking about them at a cocktail party last weekend.” I had come full circle.
I answered the urgency of my own calling to do more, to become more because I felt the urgency of our time of crises. With so much in the world a mess, we need a place to focus on what is working, what we can do to right the sinking ship. And so it is also true that we live in a time of extraordinary possibility. Although we stand on the shoulders of wonderful mothers and grandmothers, there is no model for who we are becoming at midlife, having worked careers, built homes, raised children, and still wanting to give and experience more. Never before have so many ordinary people awakened to new levels of consciousness on such a massive scale. There are literally millions of NGO’s, citizen groups, made up of individuals just like me and you, who are changing the world!
We are part of something BIG! When we sit in a circle, we change the conversation. We gently push ourselves and each other outside of our comfort zones, stretching to reach that place where true growth—and even transformation—occurs. Sharing our stories, our hopes and our fears, women encourage and empower other women. That’s how a society is changed for the better. While I am admittedly a visionary, a pragmatic one if possible, I recognize that change comes not just by moving mountains (thankfully) but also in “the Butterfly effect” —something as small as our daily interactions if we spread our wings. Each connection we make sends ripples farther than we can ever imagine.
My deep desire is that these interactions activate our highest potentials and that, together, we transform ourselves and the world. As Jean Shinoda Bolen says, “Women hold the antidote to this Crisis: we are the answer and we have the power.” My great hope today is that we “do not lose heart” as the wonderful Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes says, “Ours is not the task of fixing the whole world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.” My goal in Circle is for each one of us to find our voice, to find our vocation, to live more compassionately and courageously, to attain our highest potential, to become better together.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not, although there were moments of synchronicity and ease that comes from being in flow.
Struggles:
-Trying to entice people to try something new, that offered benefits they don’t even know they need. -Holding places for a courageous vulnerability that requires people willing to show up and do the work…
-Criticism for doing something not mainstream (why don’t you just go practice law?)
-Finding space, teaching myself how to create and maintain a website… always struggling to promote the next new thing (where to advertise? how to reach my tribe?)
-Finding collaborators and support networks…
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am know for being someone who cares and is truly committed to creating community, who is creative and thinks outside of the box, who is fearless and persistent, and who can gather, guide and motivate a group to do really wonderful, impactful work in the world. After 10 years, the group work I am privileged to do has the potential for us becoming our best selves, together, as we tap the collective consciousness.
In my 1:1 work as a purpose guide and college essay coach for teens, I give it my all. They know I am in it with them and committed to their success. I am known for my mindfulness and passion.
I am proud that I have held hundreds of circles with hundreds of people with different perspectives. I am proud that I have found amazing ways to find people to teach me and support me along the way, all the while raising three amazing kids (they are now in college). I am really proud of the community of activists and activating women I have been fortunate to guide, encourage and cocreate with!!
I am authentic — I talk the talk and walk the walk. I am a force of Nature — my energy and enthusiasm are limitless and contagious. 🙂 What sets me apart from others is that I am comfortable not doing or being in the mainstream. I am always looking to widen the circle and be inclusive and expansive in my thinking and acting.
What were you like growing up?
Type A. Great student, leader, great big sister, loved babies, a good girl who did her chores (there were tons!), did a ton of volunteering and loved to be outside riding my horses when all of that was finished. I grew up on a farm in Cincinnati Ohio as part of a HUGE family.
Tons of great memories! I was loved. I was raised to be a leader and told I could do anything I could imagine. We were always giving back, helping neighbors in need, doing big projects that were fun!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.2big4words.org
- Phone: 708-557-1176
- Email: smlucci@sbcglobal.net
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.lucci.16
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