Posts Tagged ‘feminine’

My Husband, My Watch

July 8, 2009

I realized this week that I have very few men in my life. I’m single, I have four sisters, and I work mostly with women and girls. My Dad has left this mortal coil, my grandfather also, my brothers-in-law are scattered to the far reaches of the world, and my nephews are busy just trying to make it out of boyhood alive.

Now, I love being on the feminine side of the spectrum and you know I love digging deep into all that that entails. I love my girlfriends; I love the women who participate in the Women’s Circle.

Sometimes, however – oft times I should say – a gal needs some masculine energy to help hold up the fort. Whether from a man, another woman, her own self or… from Target! And that’s where I found mine this week. In the form of… a watch.

After five years without one, I worried that it would stress me out or cramp my style (the oh-so-flattering style of perpetual lateness!) However, a miraculous thing occurs every time I put it on… I relax! I breathe. I unclench. I feel held within the simple structure this little $14.99 hottie provides for me. Structure that allows me to come undone within its walls.

A few years ago, I participated in a women’s yoga retreat with Sofia Diaz. Because we finished each evening an hour or so past schedule (I didn’t mind because I love her!), mid-way through, Sofia bought a zen clock to help her keep time. She called it her husband.

I really love that we don’t have to do it all. We don’t have to be all of what we need. We can do our part and then we can rely on simple things like a watch or on wondrous things like our partner or a Higher Power.

I’m happy to hold that structure for you each or any Monday in the Women’s Circle. Treat yourself to a 2-hour exploration of what it is like to feel deeply as your feminine self while someone else watches the clock.

Showing up for the other 50%

June 21, 2009

I heard this on a video of the Vital Voices’ Global Leadership Awards:

“Women constitute 50% of society, but please, we should not forget that they raised the other 50%.” - Shaika Lubna Al-Qassimi, the first woman Cabinet Minister of the United Arab Emirates
 
After I finished laughing, I realized the huge impact we have on the next generation by who we are as women today. 

On this Father’s Day where we celebrate the good men in our lives, I want to ask, how am I and how are we as women showing up for the other 50%?

What will my nephews know about women from the way I love them and from who I am in their presence and in the world?  What will your colleagues know about women from the way you lead a Board Meeting or manage your staff?

How do we show up for our boyfriends and husbands in love one minute and in a fight over his socks on the floor the next? What will all of those not-quite-right dates remember from the way we said goodbye?

What do I show my father about the woman I’ve become when he still remembers a 6-year-old needing his hug and a 16-year-old needing (but not quite wanting) his loving guidance?

I think it is worth exploring and practicing how we want to show up for this other 50% whom we love, lead, follow, learn from, partner with, raise, give to and send on their way.

For ourselves and for others, this is what we help each other do in the Women’s Circle.

me and my Dad in 1970

My Dad and I in 1970

New Valentine’s Day Workshop!

February 8, 2009

Girl, Get Your Love On!


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