Women creating change: Author receives Women of the Decade award
Written by Silver City Daily Press on October 21, 2017
(Courtesy Photo)
Sharon Mijares enjoys a focused and personal visit with the Dalai Lama in McLeod Ganj near Dharamsala, India, in May 2017.
Some people see a need and step into it. New Silver City resident, psychologist and professor Sharon Mijares sees a need and reaches out her arms wide and gathers experts from across the globe and brings their collective expertise together in a book.
"I connect people and create places where people can have a voice," said Mijares.
She sees a crisis, a world problem, and the result is a book bringing together women experts in the field — this one her sixth.
"A Force Such as the World Has Never Known: Women Creating Change" was published in 2013.
"We need a more feminine voice in the world because the guys aren't doing a very good job," she says.
To find those voices, Mijares reaches out to connections she has in other countries and asks who is a woman doing something powerful and helping to create change in that country.
"That's the way it should be with women," she said. "It should be that way with all people, that we are all sharing what we can share. In this book, I have a governor of Sweden, Leymah Gbowee, who rescued Liberia from the dictator Charles Taylor, and more."
The book led to her being invited to speak at the Women's Economic Forum in Delhi, India, in May. It was there that Mijares received the Women of the Decade in Community Leadership and Social Change award for her work empowering women to connect and work together to inspire and effect change around the world.
"One of the things I said in my speech in India was that I also brought together people who are known and unknown," she said. "Giving people who are unknown a voice."
During her trip, she was also invited by one of the authors in her most recent book to speak to the Central Tibetan Administrative Staff on spirituality and psychology in the modern world.
"I was like, 'Wow, what do I have to say?'" she said. "That was totally unexpected. I didn't know that she had arranged all that."
She also had a private meeting with the Dalai Lama. Upon learning of her work, His Holiness invited Mijares to visit with him at his office in McLeod Ganj near Dharamsala, India, even though he had been down with a cold.
Mijares experienced a peaceful visit with the Dalai Lama on the grounds between His Holiness' office and the primary temple, where she could hear the lamas and the monks chanting in the background.
"I was quite struck by the warmth of his hand-holding and arm around my shoulder as he greeted me," she said. "What I sensed in the Dalai Lama was an absolute presence. He gives you full attention."
Mijares is enjoying her new community and all it has to offer, she continues to teach online, and is remaking her third book, and opening a private practice. She describes herself as a "spiritual scientist."
"I use everything that has been known through research and science to help a person grow and deal with the issues in their life," she explained.
She has done research on the benefits of sound, rhythm and movement. "I believe that people need to reach altered states to create change," she said. "Change doesn't occur in the same place the problem started, it occurs outside of it."
For more information on Sharon Mijares, visit www.psychospiritual.org.
Susan Louck contributed to this report.
Christine Steele may be reached at [email protected] daily press.com.