Musings From The Trail

Musings From The Trail

Today I Rise

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“Where are you

little girl with broken wings but full of hope?

Where are you

wise woman covered in wounds?

Where are you?  Where are you?  Where are you?

Today is the day I will not sit still and give in anymore,

today I rise.

I am bruised but I will get up and walk again,

today I rise.

I don’t care if you ignore my beauty,

today I rise.

Through the alchemy of my darkest night, I heal and thrive,

today I rise.

I move through the world with confidence and grace.

I open my eyes and am ready to face

my wholeness as a woman and my limitless capacities.

I will walk my path

with audacity,

today I rise.

I reconnect with the many aspects of myself.

I am in awe of the reality I can create.

I am a queen,

I am a healer, a wise woman, a wild woman.

I will rise and be.

I am a rebel I will wake up and fight.

I am a mother and I am a child.

I will no longer disguise my sadness and pain,

I will no longer suffer and complain.

I am black and I am white.

There’s no reason to hurt.

Where are you? Where are you?

I call upon Kali to kiss me to life.

I transform my power and anger,

no more heartache or strife.

The world is missing what I am ready to give,

my wisdom, my sweetness, my love

and my hunger for peace.

I weep with the trees and the rivers

and the earth in distress.

I rise and shine and am ready to go on my quest.

Today I rise without doubt or hesitation,

today I rise without excuses, without procrastination.

Today I call upon my sisters to join

a movement of resoluteness and concern.

Today is my call into action,

to fulfill my mission without further distraction.

Today is the day,

today I will start,

to offer the world the wisdom of my heart”

from Films for Action; filmsforaction.org

Oh, They Have Done it Now

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“Oh, they have done it now. They have done what thousands of feminists, hundreds of feminist organizations, and millions of women working as social and political activists over the years have not been able to do: they have harnessed the power of a thousand hurricanes.

It is not just that they have triggered the memories of every woman who has ever been sexually harassed or abused. Now they have triggered the memories of every woman who has ever had her opinions ignored or her feelings scorned. Ted Cruz pointed out in his testimony that Dr. Ford was treated with respect. I suppose he means that because they didn’t throw eggs at her.

What those men don’t understand is that being silent after hearing her speak, as though actually she had not spoken, does not show respect. Basically ignoring what she said does not show respect. Making it all about “Brett, poor baby, he is one of us and he is hurting” does not show respect. In fact, their entire strategy now rests on ignoring what she said… not even grappling with her credibility, much less allowing a further investigation or more witnesses to testify. And every woman who has ever felt that her words meant nothing, that they somehow disappeared into the air after she spoke them and simply bounced off the ears of a man or men in the room, whether she was ever touched inappropriately or not, she is triggered now.

Congratulations, Senators Grassley, Hatch, Graham, Cruz et al. You’ve done it now. I think you might have just elected the first woman president. A fierce, giant force just been awakened among us. And unlike Quan Yin sitting silently next to my television, we will not be silent. In the coming days and weeks and years, we will speak our truth. We will hear each other and we will believe each other. And this time, by men by by women alike, we will be heard.”

~Marianne Williamson

☾☽

Remember that Tsunami of feminine power I wrote about after the 2017 Women’s March?
It just got 100 times bigger.

Justice?

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My takeaway after watching Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee:

The Divine Rights of Elite Men (and Boys)

To be the voice of authority
To dismiss or ignore all non-elites (peasants)
To blame all mistakes on others
To behave boorishly and get a pass
To feel superior to all women (and non-elite men)
To fuck whenever and whomever they choose
To fight whenever and whomever they choose
To take what they want by any means at their disposal
To use all women, children & non-elite men as props
To have their aggression lauded as heroic
To decide how all others should behave and speak
To label women silly, bitchy, lying, confused, trivial
To control everything of value
To bully anyone who disagrees or complains
To always be taken seriously
To make the rules
To enforce the rules
To break the rules whenever they choose
To be in charge of the entire world.

This is an ancient “code of conduct” that has held for generations.  If we want to change our world into a kinder, more compassionate place, this is what we face. The men who believe in and follow this code will not go quietly.

But neither will we. No longer will we quietly and obediently bow to their racist and sexist bullshit.

We stand. We speak out. We fight.

 

Image: Linda Black Elk

It’s Time

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“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt

AND no one can take your power without your permission.  Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi and so many other warriors for justice proved that.

What do YOU care about passionately? What do you care about enough to stand up and really fight for it?

Clean Air and Water?

Reproductive Rights?

Simple Kindness?

Black Lives Matter?

Organic Food?

Legal Marijuana?

Our Constitution?

Saving the Forests?

Quality Public Education?

Solar Energy?

Drug Prices?

Economic Justice?

Feeding the Hungry?

Increasing Minimum Wage?

LGBTQ rights?

Polar Bears?

Electric Cars?

Prison Reform?

Choose one cause you passionately believe in and get out there!  EXPRESS YOURSELF!  Make your voice heard. IT’S TIME.

#WeAreALLPowerful           #ThisIsOurDemocracy           #WakeYourDragon

For Grandma

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My maternal grandmother had 8 children.  Her first baby was stillborn, but the other seven lived to adulthood.

Birthing and raising 7 children was no small feat for a poor woman in a southern Illinois mining town.  My mom told stories of tough times when the family only had bread and butter to eat for dinner. She spoke of wearing the same dress to high school every day because it was the only one she owned. They were dirt poor.  Even though my grandpa worked 6 long days each week in the coal mines, his salary simply was not big enough to keep them all fed and clothed.

The struggle to survive left my grandma tired and angry. That’s how I remember her – tired and angry. I rarely saw her smile. Grandma had little reason to smile. She lived to be 90 years old, but much of her life was just plain hard.

Is this the life my grandmother dreamed of when she was young? Somehow I doubt it.  But with no birth control and little money, what other choices were available to her?

My grandmother needed choices. Grandma deserved to have control over her own body, control over how many children she would birth and raise.  She is why I am a feminist today.  Every woman deserves to choose how many children she will bear. Every woman deserves the right to say No, I simply cannot feed, clothe and raise another child.

So, yes, I’m a feminist.

I’m a feminist who believes that every woman should control her own body, life and destiny.
I’m a feminist who demands that poor women have free access to birth control.
I’m a feminist who insists that abortion be legal and available in every corner of this country.
I’m a feminist who stands up for the rights of poor women, black women, gay women, abused women… ALL women.

Most of all I’m a feminist because of my grandma. I keep standing up and speaking up because of her.

♡

“I am not free while any woman is unfree,
even when her shackles are very different from my own.” 
~Audre Lorde