The Beauty and Softness of a Winter Morning
Western women will save the world. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Several threads woven through my week focus on the idea, the necessity really, of integrating feminine principles and energy fully into our culture. Wikipedia lists the following as traits of the feminine: nurturance, sensitivity, sweetness, supportiveness, gentleness, warmth, passivity, cooperativeness, expressiveness, modesty, humility, empathy, affection, tenderness, and being emotional, kind, helpful, devoted, and understanding. Who among us would not agree that more expressions of these qualities will make the world a better place?
Women as well as expressions of these principles were, from my perspective, front and center in both the Inauguration of President Biden last week and in the new President’s first week of executive actions and his communication with we the people. I found that refreshing, inspiring, and hopeful.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is famously quoted for saying that 'Western women would save the world' at the Vancouver Peace Summit in 2009. He went on to say "Some people may call me a feminist...But we need more effort to promote basic human values — human compassion, human affection. And in that respect, females have more sensitivity for others' pain and suffering."
Those words came to mind instantly when Alice Walker’s poem 'Calling All Grand Mothers' published in 2010 landed in my inbox, giving further voice to the urgency of this pivot.
Calling All Grand Mothers
We have to live
differently
or we
will die
in the same
old ways.
Therefore
I call on all Grand Mothers
everywhere
on the planet
to rise
and take your place
in the leadership
of the world ….
You can read the rest of this timely, poignant poem from Hard Times Require Furious Dancing here:
The feminine is not solely about what we DO, but rather how and who we BE. It is not about gender or sexual preference. Men, women, LGBT, straight, all of us have access to the energy that is feminine.
It is about the perspectives we hold in life and the beliefs and actions that follow. A few days ago a Facebook post shared by a friend related a conversation between two men talking over a beer. One got up saying he was going to go 'wash the dishes'. The other seemed surprised and said "I don't help my wife." The man going to wash the dishes replied that he wasn't 'helping his wife', that he lived in the home and had a responsibility to participate in its care. That represents collaboration, cooperation, empathy and so many other feminine principles in action!
A deep knowing that ‘we have to live differently’ has long been a theme running through these weekly muses and my life in general. I often ask myself ‘what do I need to shift to be a better partner on and to the planet?’. Powerfully weaving more feminine threads into my expressions of life seems to be an element of the answer. Join me?
Zadie Byrd’s New Friend