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Be ground.
Be crumbled,
So wild flowers will come up where you are.
You have been stony for too many years.
Try something different.
Surrender.
~ Rumi

One thing that I imagine many of us can agree upon right now is that we are being broken open by these times. There is a lot of talk about the need for RESISTANCE to what seems to be a reversing of years of progress for women and culture itself. I certainly agree that we will need to stand firm around many things that matter to us and be willing to take actions that we have been complacent about before. In this sense we will need to resist the tendency to remain quiet or sit back and wait for someone else with more knowledge, connections or influence to take care of the world.

At the same time as there is a need to take action now as we witness the toxic Masculine shadow rising, I think there is also a need to SURRENDER into our truest Feminine essence so that we may source those actions from the deep waters of Being—not from a heart of hate, anger, grief or fear. We have an opportunity to turn toward these feelings, be with them, get the information we need from them, and soothe ourselves before acting – as opposed to pushing them out toward others or ignoring them.

Some of the greatest advances in culture over the years have happened when there was enormous chaos, confusion or crisis. The Chinese character for Crisis speaks to this in the merging of the two characters Danger and Opportunity to form the word. It is my hope that we can use this disruption in the status quo to take an enormous leap forward in our own consciousness and leadership capacity—at a time when it looks as though many things are going backwards.

We are in the churning of an evolutionary storm and it is not going to blow over anytime soon—which means we need to be prepared to be in this for the long haul. So I offer you 5 key things to add to your Stress Emergency Kit.

Stress Emergency Kit
  • Remember that each one of us cannot take on everything in the world. Find what is yours to do—donate, organize, participate, facilitate, lead—and then stay focused on doing what is your unique contribution.
  • Stay connected to your allies – we are needed now and we will need each other. Find local leaders you admire and join their communities or create your own; get together with friends for fun and nourishment, reach out around locally and globally.
  • Find times to be still and quiet. Women have the adaptive advantage right now to be agents of powerful change. But in order to do that we will need to value and engage not only our ‘doing’ but also our ‘being.’ Take walks in nature, do yoga, find time to meditate.
  • Explore what this experience is bringing up for you, personally. Become an observer of ways that the toxic Masculine shadow might be living in you. A valuing of power over as opposed to power with, competition over collaboration, aggression over understanding, doing over being, judging over seeking to understand, separation over connection.
  • My dear colleague and sister Pioneer with Rising Women Rising World, Dr. Scilla Elworthy also put together a great practical list of steps to take post our march together. Download her Seventeen Things You Can Do After the Marches.

For more in depth exploration read:

You Make Your Path by Walking
A Transformational Field Guide through Trauma and Loss
Buy on AmazonBuy on Bookshop
The Way of the Mysterial Woman
Upgrading How You Live, Love and Lead
Buy on AmazonBuy on Bookshop

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