Celebrate Your Life of Freedom, Thank Those Who Made it Possible,
Remember Those Still in Slavery
March 8th was International Women's Day. I ran across a great piece on the subject by my friend, Amy "Moonlady" Martin. Amy conveyed some important thoughts for all of us living in freedom. I want to share her words with you here, as they should certainly not be confined to a single day of the year.
Take a moment on this day and think about how lucky we are. Female babies are routinely aborted in China in favor of male progeny. Women are burnt for providing poor dowries in India. The cruel treatment of women in the Mideast is replayed in Muslim countries in West Africa, Eastern Europe and Indonesia.
Most people in the U.S. are blase about women's rights — been there, done that. But we are not there yet, not even close. There is much work to be done, as the dozens of murdered Hispanic women on the Texas border would attest, should they still be alive. Domestic violence continues to take the lives of women every day.
Celebrate today being International Women's Day by gathering with your favorite women.
But, as we laugh and celebrate, take a quiet moment and let us remember those who cannot because they no longer draw breath, killed solely for their sex.
Every time we gather in affluence, let us remember those who are paid a fraction what they are due, solely because of their sex.
Every time we gather and affirm our worth as women, let us remember those who are told they are worthless, solely because of their sex.
When we refer to god with a woman's name, even in private, we push the pendulum a little bit more toward a world in which all women will be free, in which all women will be valued, and the concept of the divine will truly transcend gender.
Now go out and email or call a woman who means a lot to you.
Reprinted by permission from Moonlady
This is an amazing time to be a woman. Kathryn Bigelow just became the first woman director to win an Oscar! Each generation of girls is easily able to do things the previous generation had to push through (within themselves & in the outside world) in order to manifest. Still, as Amy says, we have a way to go. Poet Emma Lazarus puts it like this: "Until we are all free, we are none of us free."
An exercise for expanding: Feel free to push the envelope of your own thinking. When you feel the feeling of freedom within yourself, you expand into the possibility that you can experience that freedom within your world. Your thoughts begin to change & new ideas are born that enable you to grow. True freedom always originates from within. Witness Anne Frank, Viktor Frankl, Nelson Mandela & so many other brave souls throughout history who were held captive & managed to find & live the freedom of their own spirits – something which no captor can take away, unless we allow it. Feel the power of your freedom. As you embrace it for yourself, move to the feeling of freedom for all others. First, free them from the bondage of your judgments, then visualize them experiencing freedom within themselves, & finally, freedom in the outside world.
You may wonder what this exercise could possibly do to free others living in oppression. I can't give you concrete, physical proof. What is factual, however, is that energy moves. When I change my own thoughts & feelings, I'm moving energy. That energy movement touches others in ways I can't begin to fathom. Nevertheless, I trust the process over time. The feelings, thoughts, & ideas of others in the past created the energetic changes that led to the freedoms we experience today. Let us do the same – we'll gain new insights, create new avenues, tap new resources & forge a path for future freedoms.
Live in Gratitude for the Freedom you Experience
