Nevertheless, She persisted
Today is International Women’s Day. So, for the sake of sharing herstory, rather than history, and quoting Presidential Nominee and Senator Elizabeth Warren, I used the pronoun ‘she’ instead of ‘he’ in my title. Perhaps it is best to use ‘they’ to take gender construct out of the whole discussion, but I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that until we understand some things about how we have made one gender lesser than another, as a rule of patriarchy. The rise of equality, of believing we are all just as valuable as one another in our uniquenesses, will not happen without consciousness, reckoning, and persistence.
These letters to you, is my form of persistence. I may not always know what I am doing, or the impact of what I am saying, but I trust I am learning as I go. I am so grateful for any feedback you have. I am sharing my story as openly and honestly as I can, to model how we can risk showing up as our authentic selves in this world and be rewarded with being received with love.
I often think about what it would be like if we lived in a world in which we felt a deep sense of belonging for being exactly WHO we actually are. I wonder sometimes if this is how it once was or still is, at least in some human communities throughout the world. Imagine you are loved, you are cared for, you are respected, you are encouraged to grow into your natural gifts and use them to better your community, and you are held accountable when you cause harm, by having an opportunity to hear how your actions impact others, so that you can apologize, learn from your mistakes, and feel forgiven. This is my personal utopia. It is how I believe our world can be.
Can you find the courage to identify with your own ideal world and then begin to take steps to create that change? Remember that popular environmentalist slogan in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, “Think Globally, Act Locally?” What if you could trust that your thoughts, your emotions, your beliefs and your actions were of true value to the greater world? What would that feel like, to believe that what you think, say, feel and do matters as part of a bigger whole? And, to know that others share your values and support them?
It is too easy to feel isolated these days, to think as individuals rather than as a community. Many of us are constantly afraid to open to others, to gather together, and to raise our consciousness together. For good reasons. I understand, I do. We have been harmed by a society and powers at be that value profit over people, competition over collaboration and dominance over vulnerability. We are guarded. We are overthinking out of a need to protect ourselves from feeling. We turn blame and guilt onto ourselves. And, it is our feelings that need our attention in this time. We can use our minds to support our hearts, but we need to listen very closely to our hearts. They have deep and important messages for us.
What if it was our singular job, as beings in the world, to show up as and be ourselves with an open heart. No more. No less. You get to just be you! Wouldn’t that be splendid? A relief? Maybe even Fun?
The question underneath being yourself, is of course, WHO ARE YOU?
Haha. Now we are talking. Who are you? Do you know? Do you have a sense when I ask that question? Do you identify with your various roles you play in your life such as your job title, your relationship status, your family place, your gender, your race, your soci0-economic status, etc? Most of us do, and this serves a purpose for understanding and challenging hierarchical structures, for sure. However, if you want to go deeper and find out more about WHO YOU REALLY ARE, you can start with the following questions:
What is most important to you? (your values)
When do you feel most like yourself? (your essence)
How do you sense or know you are being you? (your internal reinforcers/resources)
Where are you when you are thriving as yourself? (your external reinforcers/environment)
I am a little all over the place emotionally today, so thank you for bearing with me in my imperfection. My excitement comes from taking a stand on this day to express my own voice, however it comes out, that in turn, honors and celebrates the voices and accomplishments of women all over the world. I appreciate your willingness to read my thoughts and feelings and to hopefully feel inspired by the questions I am posing. I want to provoke you and others to be the most themselves in this world and to feel the purpose of their lives at their fullest! If you want that for yourself, please reach out. We can sort through these big questions together and you will get to know WHO YOU REALLY ARE and what you want to do with it or about it :)
With Gigantic Love,
Erin
