The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bracelets
How four women, a tiny car and a bracelet shop on a cobblestoned street in France became a sisterhood I never forgot.
The cover image for my beta Soul Prompts deck (called BFF in a Box) was taken in the spring of 2013 with a group of women who, for one remarkable week in France, became a little sisterhood.
My own hand is in the picture – can you guess which bracelet is me?
That spring found me travelling solo across the world to join a small group for a private retreat in the South of France.
Each of us, for our own reasons, was drawn there to be part of one of the last intimate retreats offered by world-renowned author of “Refuse to Choose” and “Wishcraft,” godmother of Life Coaching (and amazing all-around human being) Barbara Sher.
Our first meeting was like any other – eyeballing each other tentatively across the auberge’s sunny courtyard while we waited for our hostess to arrive. Our attention split between drinking in the breathtaking scenery, racking our brains for the polite but curious questions to get to know one another, and tamping down our first meeting jitters.
But as when all kindred spirits meet – it wasn’t long before there were giggles and confidences being shared. Fears expressed. Sadness too.
A-ha’s met head on.
Hopes & dreams whispered and proclaimed.
Midnight glasses of wine and purloined snacks shared sitting on the floor of our hotel room in our pj’s. Exploratory rambles around the ancient hilltop fortress that was our home for the week.
All the things women do as they bond and sink deeper into sisterhood.
The bracelets enter our story on a day close to the end of the retreat. Three women from the retreat and I piled into a tiny car so we could Thelma & Louise our way on a road trip of our choosing, while the rest of the group joined a scheduled bus tour.
Best. Decision. Ever.
What a day! Gleefully shoe-horned into the car, we navigated the French countryside with only our rusty French and a vague sense of direction to guide us. Got turned around a time or two. Developed a healthy respect for the huge, slow-moving tractors that could pop out of nowhere.
Shared car snacks and more stories.
Explored amazing old towns.
So when we spotted these bracelets in an itty bitty shop squeezed into a cobblestoned side street of old Cordes, it was almost inevitable.
We each had to buy a bracelet to remind us of each other and this amazing adventure.
So right then and there – we put on our bracelets and, in a fit of silliness and love, we proclaimed ourselves “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bracelets.” Never to be forgotten. Always to be there for each other.
Fast friends in that moment, no matter where time and life took us next.
And so, when the idea for BFF in a Box arrived later, it felt natural that this photo became part of it.
BFF in a Box would eventually become Soul Prompts, one of the pieces of work from my earlier creative life that people knew me for.
I love that its beginning traces back here – to sisterhood, silliness, friendship, and a little bracelet bought on a cobblestoned side street in France.
Long live the Sisterhood of the Traveling Bracelets.
Four bracelets, four hands, and the French countryside behind us – the original Sisterhood of the Traveling Bracelets, spring 2013