Guest Speakers!

This week (November 16th- November 20th) we had the privilege of TWO guest speakers!!! Jacqui Thomson-Dodb was the first, a strong Buddhist practitioner. She talked about the benefits of being buddhist, and how everyone has a Buddha inside of them. She showed us a traditional alter, at which she prays every morning, and showed us the book of Nichiren (a type of Buddhism) Buddhist prayers. She also talked about Buddhist beliefs on death, birth and the never ending circle of life.

The other women who came in was Elizabeth Squires, or the "BOOB" lady. She spoke about how her breasts have influenced her life, and why she decided to write her book, BOOBS. She also talked about the influence that magazines and the media image of breasts have on kids, teens and adults. Elizabeth, while embarrassing some people, spoke about the power of having breasts, and the difference between cultures when talking about nipples. In Europe, many women couldn't care less about having their nipples show through a tee shirt. Here in America, the same type of thing would be shocking, even though women can walk around in extremely low cut shirts, showing practically everything BUT the nipple, and be considered sexy. After the presentation, a few of us had a discussion about why many body images are considered wrong in our society, yet we still practice them ourselves. After these two great women speakers, we all hope to have many more great ones throughout the year!