Natalie Habalou Johnsen's Page

What issues are most important to you?

environmental sustainability, building self-esteem for girls, fertility awareness, self-sufficiency, rape and sexual assault prevention and survivors

What kind of social activism do you engage in?

community garden and food donation, Red Tent Temple Movement, reclaiming "lost" folk arts

What organizations do you love or work with?

EarthSpirit, ALisa Starkweather, Womb Shamans, Unitarian Universalist Association, Heifer International

What books, music, films, etc. do you think educate and empower women?

Loaded question, that! I have never read or seen anything I was not educated by. As far as empowerment: The works of Frida Kahlo, Joseph Campbell. Writings of Starhawk, Vicki Noble, Michael Pollan, "The Hebrew Goddess" by Raphael Patai. Surprisingly, the "Star Wars" saga.

Career: what do you do or want to do?

I'm currently looking for paying work but was formerly an arts administrator and a fund-raiser

What skills and interests to do you have to offer to others in the Red Tent Women's Project communty? This is your chance, so sell yourself!

I'm a natural organizer and comfortable teaching in large and small groups. I am a self-taught baker, seamstress, shoemaker, cheese-maker and knitter. I am a survivor of childhood sexual assault and worked extensively in my teen years in education regarding teen sexuality and healthy relationships. I am known as a counselor and sounding board - the reflecting glass others use to see solutions in front of them.

What would you like other members of this community to know? About yourself, about the world...anything (try not to be profane, though)!

I thought for a long time that I wanted to become a UU minister but am coming to the realization that my calling might be more specific than that; that it may be to be a beacon to women and girls who thrive on individual mentoring. I am working on honing my skills as a listener and trying to find a way to be of service and also put a roof over my head.

What was your "women really matter and I'm going to do something about it" moment?

I think that had to be viewing the "Women and Spirituality" series by Donna Read. Must have been in the early 1990s because I was still in high school. I saw that series and knew how many of "us" there were. It changed the way I saw the role I play in my own life.