fbpx

Changemaker Annie Dickinson – Helping Women Find Their Way

About the Author

Changemaker Annie Dickinson is proof that our roots do not dictate where we plant ourselves. Annie's life transitions have led her to far-flung places, including moving abroad. Annie found a way to embrace BIG change and welcome transformation, even when it's terrifying and encircled with deep grief. Through living her one wild and precious life, Annie's experiences have taught the criticality of prioritizing our own self-care so we can show up in our aspirations every day. Her journey has revealed the immense power in the connections among women; to enrich our own life while impacting positive change worldwide.

Annie's teacher and mentor, Bréne Brown, gave her one of her guiding mantras:

 “We can do hard things.”

Annie supports and encourages women to do just that.

 

In this episode of “On Your Own Terms,” Annie shares her “Homegrown Solutions for a Patchwork World”. Watch the video of our conversation, listen to the podcast, and read the summary here: 

Homegrown Annie

Born in a small midwest town in the early sixties, Annie observed little tolerance for being “different.” Her hometown was a headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. She recalled watching clan members marching in the town's annual Halloween parade and seeing the white robes and hoods hanging with regular articles of clothing at the local dry cleaners.  At the time, she was too young to understand the deeper meaning behind those robes.  As she grew older, Annie recognized the immeasurable damage intolerance and xenophobia caused individuals and communities. Such experiences formed the values that have guided Annie's life and work.

 

I witnessed horrific things they did to people in the town so that was a big part of launching me into this desire for equality, understanding, acceptance, tolerance, and wanting real peace.

And promoting love in the world.  

Growing up, Annie's father was her hero. He taught her how important it was to be in service of others. Each morning and breakfast, he would charge her to,

Go out and make someone’s day happy today.

While that's a positive message on the surface,  Annie internalized those words to mean she should put everyone's happiness and care before her own.  

I know he didn't mean it to be that way at all. It's a beautiful message, and I still live by it today, but I've learned to modify that so that it doesn't take away my personal strength and ability.

These days, Annie recognizes the importance of discernment – taking onboard the positive aspects of lessons, expanding with this new knowledge, and releasing what doesn’t serve, to proactively live our best lives. In this way, she says, 

Life offers us joy!

Solution-Focused Annie

Annie credits four women who have had a lasting influence on her life: her grandmother, her mother, her daughter, and her best friend:

Her grandmother was the source of unconditional love who modeled acceptance and love for everyone. Everyone.

Annie's relationship with her mother was more challenging. The personal fears and self-doubt her mother carried were often projected onto Annie.  As a former beauty queen, the focus was often on keeping up appearances.  Fortunately, she and her mother were able to resolve their challenges and establish a more positive relationship before she passed.

Her daughter, Kate, is the one Annie credits most with helping her become the best version of herself. 

My daughter has probably been the one that's taught me my hardest life lessons, and I am eternally grateful for that. She's the one that really helped me see that while we think we know how we are showing up in the world, it may not necessarily be how others experience us and it may not be congruent with who we wish to be.  That kind of self-awarenss is not easy to rumble with and often requires a coach or a therapist who can lovingly hold up the mirror for us.

 

It's her lifelong best friend, Shari, who inspired Annie to leave her 29-year career in inpatient psychiatry and create her own business.

As young women, Annie and Shari lived in opposite parts of the country. They stayed connected by committing to “women's weekends” where they would meetup for 3-4 days to reconnect and recharge. As young women, they were exhausted and spent from taking care of families, managing careers and volunteering in their communities; by giving, giving, giving.

Those weekends saved us. We would meet up, take naps, eat delicious food, talk late into the night trying to solve world problems, and laugh until our sides ached. We were able to go back to our families, our work and our lives better able to give again.

Early on, those trips were only in the United States and just for a few days. As they expanded personally, so did their travel to more distant parts of the world.  Their first trip to Europe together inspired Annie to create Wayfinding Women. As Wayfinding Women has grown, Annie not only gets to experience the world firsthand, she also invites you to join her, stepping into your full being and potential.

Wayfinding Women provides opportunities for women to step out of their everyday lives and reconnect with themselves and other heart-centered women.

Annie created her business because she believes it is imperative for women’s well-being to be able to let go and let someone else be in charge, make the decisions, and be responsible, at least for a while. 

Women are powerhouses! 

We are Energizer Bunnies on autopilot a significant amount of our lives…whether it’s raising our own children or minding the grandchildren, working in careers, or volunteering in our communities, most women are ON much of the time. If someone else needs something, women generally set aside their own wishes, desires and needs to do for someone else. 

While this is a noble characteristic, it’s not sustainable. If we don’t prioritize ourselves, we become depleted, lose touch with our joy, and have little to give to pursuing our dreams and purpose.

The mission of Wayfinding Women is to support women in actualizing their dreams, living in joy, and transforming the(ir) world.

One of Annie’s favorite ways of doing this is curating and facilitating life-affirming and life-transforming worldwide retreats. Annie’s talent and passion for research, makes these adventures truly one of a kind.

Frequently asked questions like, 

What do you mean by retreat? “

“What do you DO on your retreats?

Are these trips religious?

Do you do yoga???

Annie explains that something powerful happens when women leave their homes & routines, travel half-way around the world and experience life through a new window. These retreats are a time for women to relax, restore and renew in beautiful places, connecting with like-hearted women.

One story she shares is about a woman who joined the first retreat to Tuscany shortly after her husband passed. Annie asked her: “What is one intention that you would like to set for yourself during this retreat? Something you want to experience or learn?”

The woman thought about this and set the intention to make a meaningful connection with someone outside the retreat group, a local. On one stop, Annie observed that the woman had walked away from the group and was standing with an Italian woman of similar age at a scenic overlook. They were each holding their rosary beads and smiling. While they did not speak the same language, they discovered they were both widows and shared the same faith.  Across cultures and language barriers, a bond was created because they shared an openness to connect. With few words, using predominantly body language and non-verbals, they found connection.

Human connection can change the world.

While Annie is passionate about women’s rights and women's capacity for change-making, her career as a therapist, and her own personal journey underscored the need for women to stop putting themselves last. 

When we consistently prioritize others, we deplete our energy and diminish our capacity to step fully into our life's purpose. 

Self-care is one important facet of the solution, yet it is when women come together in community that their energy is renewed, and their power is multiplied for the good of the world. 

 

“Wayfinding Women retreats are the perfect combination of experiences and exploring combined with camaraderie and self care.  They are wonderfully planned and flexible,  all at the same time.  I love not being in charge!”                             – Kim Patton

Annie's Patchwork

Through the years, Annie's worldview has expanded as diversity of ideas and experiences have become more and more important to her.  

As a young mother and Girl Scout leader, her horizons broadened when her troop took the initiative to organize a literacy camp in a village in rural Jamaica. The Girl Scouts worked tirelessly on numerous fundraisers until they were able to travel to the small village and work with the children in person.  

These beautiful children walked miles and miles to get to school every day. There were 250 of them; beautiful, beautiful souls, and we learned so much from them. It was just this incredible experience.

In addition to conducting the camp, the troop collected hundreds of shoes so students could meet the country’s uniform requirement to attend school.

 

Engaging with people whose life experience is very different from our own is essential to developing compassion and respect for each other’s journey.

Changemaker Annie

Annie has many more examples of how women have come together to create powerful change. 

 

In 2014, she was linking, through Facebook, with women who were also passionate change agents. This led her to meet Phionah a remarkable woman in Kenya who founded and operates an NGO (non-governmental organization) promoting literacy, education, and sustainable work opportunities for the girls and women in her village. Annie wanted to help her achieve her goals of providing access to menstrual hygiene products that would enable girls to attend school and to elevate more women into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math careers).

 

In 2021, Phionah contracted COVID, just after she was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition.  Despite all she has done for others, she did not have the resources to save her own life. Annie responded by leveraging her connections with Wayfinding Women, who then reached out to their networks, and together they raised enough money to get Phionah the life-saving procedure she needed, cover a month-long hospitalization and ensure post-hospital medications and aftercare.

 

In gathering, this community of women saved another woman's life on the other side of the globe; and this in turn impacted other women and girls when Phionah was able to return to her NGO. 

 

Many of us women, especially when we are tired and finding life challenging, question how much we matter or how our efforts really matter in the big scheme of things. 

But these moments when we come together, we find that every small contribution of resources, of love, really can make a huge impact.

Where will Annie go from here? 

Annie dreams of creating a platform where women can connect around their passions and the issues they care about.  Wouldn't that be amazing?!

In the meantime, she's weaving her magic by offering empowerment coaching for women as well as organizing “femme-nomenal” retreats.

When women go with me on these retreats, we have deep laughter, which is so therapeutic. We do amazing activities that are just bringing out the joy in us, and that's restorative.

Today, Annie continues to gather powerful women so that their combined energy can ripple out, positively impacting the world. If you’d like to join the Wayfinding Women community and be among the first to know about retreats being planned, or wish to explore coaching with her, visit her website at www.wayfindingwomen.com.

For additional perspectives on Annie's work, visit: https://www.wayfindingwomen.com/one-woman-another-testimonials/

As you can see, Annie's efforts help advance many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Her efforts in personal self-care reflect Goal #3 – Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal #11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities. Banding together is important to Goal #10 – Reduce Inequalities and Goal #16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. 

Do you see any I've missed? 

Please get in touch to let us know what YOU and people you know are doing to realize these Global Goals by the year 2030.  We can do it when we care for ourselves and join with others on the Changemaker's Journey!  

CHECK OUT our CHANGEMAKER YOU course to help you get started today! 

ACCESS your Changemaker YOU eBook