Saturday, October 4, 2025

Seeing through the Jagged Pieces of our Lives.

 When we can see others through the eyes of our jaggedness and replace judgment with compassion, miracles can happen. By remembering all the obstacles we surmounted, we can see through the eyes of compassion. All broken relationships, career setbacks, and loss of loved ones are shared and never wasted. Our past mistakes give us the ability to understand others. When we look at each other and see ourselves, we bring healing. We embrace the preciousness we find in their eyes; we make the world safer and more accessible.

I was part of a multi-disciplinary team for a Drug Court. A judge in the area established the program to lower the recidivism rates of drug and alcohol addicts. Working with a team of law enforcement and probation officers, and human services professionals, I provided trauma therapy for women who were sexual abuse survivors. The program demanded 365 consecutive days of drug testing and extremely strict hoops to jump through. There was no room for error; non-compliance put the client in prison. The expectations were high, and clients were held to high standards of accountability. However, the incentives to succeed were also exceptionally high. In exchange for several years of prison, they could go on probation with no prison time.

I remember one client I will call Janice; it is not her real name. She grew up in a violent home where she was repeatedly sexually abused by men in her family. Both of her parents were drug addicts. She remembered “doing pot” with her mother when she was twelve years old. Janice grew up to be an extraordinarily successful drug dealer. She bought a duplex with cash from the money she earned selling drugs. Janice lived there with her three children. She made sure it was a good neighborhood so her children would be safe and could attend good schools. Her children’s fathers were drug addicts and did not contribute to their expenses. When one of them physically abused her son, she left the relationship. She was very protective and nurturing to her children, in ways she never experienced as a child. She loved them dearly and it was that love that gave her the strength, courage, and determination to complete the program. Her sexual trauma complicated the hoops she jumped. She used drugs to numb the pain. Without drugs, her journey to recovery was very steep. When we face our trauma, we suffer. Without motivation, therapy, and a supportive group, it is an impossible task.

At the time of the arrest, Janice lived alone with her children. The rent from the other side of the duplex gave her consistent income. She vowed to have a safe place where her children would not be abused or neglected. Going to prison meant her children would be in foster care or with her abusive family. Drug Court was a lifesaver for her.

When Janice first started therapy with me, she told me what she thought I wanted to hear so that I would give the judge good reports. I could give positive reports because she did show up on time for every appointment. One day, I will never forget was the day she told me her truth. She looked straight into my eyes with a combination of fear and confusion. Then her silence went on for a long time, and I wondered what she was thinking. Finally, she spoke to me from her heart with tears in her eyes. I don’t remember the exact words, but it went something like this. “I am turning into the other side. I am becoming like the people I hate. The boring and stupid people who obey the law and think they are better than everybody else.”  It was a profound statement that caught me by surprise. At that moment, I realized how we are all victims of our family, culture, and society. Our brains wire the beliefs that surround us, such as those of our mother, father, grandparents, uncles, and aunts. Their beliefs become our reality and are deeply ingrained in our subconscious minds.

I remember listening to a talk by Thich Nhat Hanh, challenging his audience to love those who are difficult to love. He told a story about a twelve-year-old girl who jumped into the ocean and drowned herself after being raped by a pirate. He says, “it is easy to see ourselves in the eyes of the twelve-year-old girl. It is more challenging to see ourselves in the eyes of the pirate.” It is difficult not to condemn him. Thich Nhat Hanh explained that if we were born into the pirate village and raised in the same ways as he was, who would we be? Thich Nhat Hanh says there is a great likelihood he would become a pirate. If you were born into a violent family with drug-abusing parents who broke the law as a way of life, who would you be? Would you be a drug dealer?

I could see the preciousness in Janice. She valued and cared for her children in ways she was never valued as a child. She started Drug Court and continued the struggle for the love of her children, and finally, after a year of intense struggle and suffering, Janice finished the program with all the odds against her. She became sober, found employment, and volunteered to take a mindfulness class for she knew the support of a group would sustain her recovery. She maintained her recovery for the love of herself.

Bringing the jagged pieces of our lives to the places we live and to the people we meet helps us to love and share our compassion. We see ourselves in the eyes of the ones judged by society and seen as “other”. When we can see ourselves in the eyes of the pirates and the parents who neglect their children, we bring healing and peace. When we can bring our jagged pieces, we witness miracles. It is magic driven by love because we replaced judgment with compassion. We use the sweetness of the jagged pieces of our lives to make positive differences in the lives of others. We change the world, and we change our own lives.

Friday, October 3, 2025

A Mystical Experience

  “I am more than my physical body. Because I am more than physical matter, I can perceive that which is greater than the physical world”. –Robert Monroe

The Universal Subconscious can also be called Cosmic Consciousness. It refers to consciousness that is beyond human perception. It could also be called Metaphysical consciousness. Metaphysics represents the beliefs of Unity Church and Science of Mind. They study what is possible with the concept of our Oneness with God and all living things. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Science of Mind, defines it as the creative intelligence of the Universe. He says there is nothing supernatural about the study of the metaphysical viewpoint. He says what seems supernatural today will be understood in the future by many and found to be part of the natural order. Many teach that we are headed to our next steps of growth as spiritual beings through an understanding of the cosmic realm.

Our ancestors lived close to nature. They lived in a dimension based on symbols and rituals, causing a trance state of consciousness and thus connecting them to the universal subconscious. Even though there were tribes of people all over the world, many of the same healing practices, values, and wisdom can be found in each of them.  As Howard Thurman says, "There is plenty of evidence to support the belief that the universal subconscious mind is the connecting link between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence of God. It is the intermediary through which one may draw upon the forces of Infinite Intelligence at will. It, alone, contains the secret process by which mental impulses are modified and changed into their spiritual equivalent. It, alone, is the medium through which prayer may be transmitted to the source capable of answering prayer.” In other words, we all can tap into universal creativity and intelligence. The more we use it, the stronger it becomes in our lives. I believe it is through the universal subconscious that we can find the same path to wisdom and healing as our ancestors.

For thousands of years, our ancestors found, on every continent, used trance as a bridge to the subconscious. Mainstream groups such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sufi (Islamic mystics) also use trance as a spiritual journey. Psychological work for the treatment of P.T.S.D. and addiction uses the induction of trance for healing. Trance is defined as an altered form of consciousness in which a person is neither fully awake nor fully asleep. We experience a fleeting state of trance just before we go to sleep and our conscious mind is winding down and right before we wake up. Entering a trance state happens when we can bypass the critical chattering conscious mind. In a trance, we can communicate directly with the subconscious mind. A trance can help us access deeper states of awareness and experience mystical or Maslow’s peak experiences. Often, they can have life-changing effects. 

Defining a mystical or peak experience is difficult. I had one several years ago. It was an out-of- mind experience, I was full of awe and wonder. It happened when I was 30 years old, and it started my spiritual quest for truth. I remember it like it happened yesterday.

          I was a hospice volunteer, and I spent the day and evening with an elderly man who was dying. He was conscious most of the time. He shared stories about his beloved wife and described how he felt so lost since she died a year before. He shared in vivid, colorful detail the gardens she planted and tended. He missed her homemade bread. He missed the smells she created in their home. It was like we were on a sense tour together through his life with his wife. He shared the gentle touch of their first kiss.

When he first came into the Hospice that day, he joyfully proclaimed, “Today is the day I am going to die.” I didn’t believe that was true, as most people are there for several days before they die. He was excited because he knew it was the day he would be with his wife again. The energy around him was alive and joyful, but I just didn’t see how he could be dying that day. It did not fit the usual pattern I saw many times before him. Several hours passed, and his energy became quieter. He slept on and off. For most of the day, I was there with him alone. He didn’t have children. As he told me, “It was just the two of us building castles in the sky.”

Around nine and after dinner, he was unconscious. He really was dying today! His pastor came to give him the last rites. It was the first time I was a part of this very holy ceremony. My body tingled with awe and wonder as the pastor’s gentle words cradled the energy in the room. Soon, our patient peacefully took his last breath and was gone. After he died, I went out into the night and looked up at a sky full of stars. They twinkled so close; I could touch them. At that moment, I knew I would never doubt there is a Presence some call God. The reality of an all-powerful God was a flash that felt more real than anything else in my life. Suddenly, my sense of self was free and full of Love.


Thursday, September 18, 2025

The Work of Grief and Love

 

Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for September 18, 2025, paraphrased:

 

When you look at the world as lover, every being becomes precious to you. And the impulse to act on behalf of life becomes irresistible. 
Joanna Macy, World as Lover, World as Self 

The Tears of Things Reader’s Guide introduces Buddhist teacher and environmental activist Joanna Macy (1929–2025):  

When Joanna Macy traveled the world with her husband, a Peace Corps director, she supported Tibetan refugees in India and discovered Buddhism. After earning a PhD in Buddhism and systems theory, Macy helped create the field of “deep ecology” by articulating “the Work That Reconnects,” a process of group transformation that acknowledges ecological grief and encourages people into collective action. Macy has empowered countless people in her workshops to face their grief at the world’s injustices and act with hope, reminding us that by grieving with others and engaging in collective grief, we can “find strength in their strengths, bolstering our own individual supplies of courage, commitment, and endurance.” [1]  

Joanna Macy identifies four stages of work that support our ongoing participation in the healing of the world: 

The spiral of the Work That Reconnects outlines an empowerment process that unfolds through four successive movements, or stations: coming from gratitude, honoring our pain for the world, seeing with new eyes, and going forth. This spiral … reminds us that we are larger, stronger, deeper, and more creative than we’ve grown accustomed to believing. When we come from a place of gratitude, we become more present to the wonder of being alive in this amazing world, to the many gifts we receive, and to the beauty and mystery it offers. Yet the very act of looking at what we love and value in our world brings with it an awareness of the vast violation underway, the despoliation and unraveling….  

From gratitude, we naturally flow to honoring our pain for the world. Dedicating time and attention to honoring this pain opens up space to hear our sorrow, fear, outrage, and other felt responses to what is happening to our world…. Our pain for the world not only alerts us to danger but also reveals our profound caring. And this caring derives from our interconnectedness with all of life. We need not fear it.  

In the third stage, we step further into the perceptual shift that recognizes our pain for the world arises from our love for life. Seeing with new eyes reveals the wider web of resources available to us through our rootedness within a deeper, wider, ecological self…. It opens us to a new view of what is possible and a new grasp of our power to act.  

The final station, going forth, involves clarifying our vision of how we can act for the healing of our world and identifying practical steps that move our vision forward…. With the shift of perception that seeing with new eyes brings, you can let go of the need to plan every step; instead, trust your intention…. Focus on finding and playing your part, offering your own contribution, your unique gift of Active Hope. [2] 


Monday, July 21, 2025

The Lovers, the Dreamers and Me

One of my favorite authors is BrenĂ© Brown. Her ideas about belonging to a faith community interest me at this time in my own faith journey. Rather than striving for uniformity, I am seeking not to fit in, but to belong. Brown suggests true belonging comes from accepting differences. My current faith journey involves finding a place where I can share in the “faith and mystery”.  I enjoy the diversity of beliefs and backgrounds when they come from an open mind, loving heart, and reflect their life history rather than fitting into a place where everybody thinks and behaves alike. I share Brown’s belief that true connection and belonging are built on vulnerability. The feelings of vulnerability and humility come to me when I am surrounded by strangers in a traditional church I attended for many years, many years ago.

I have had a strong faith life even without being actively involved in a traditional church institution. After leaving the church, I went on a journey seeking truth. I studied many other traditions, Buddhism being the one I relate to best. Today, my needs are different. Rather than searching for truth, I wish to belong, feeling grounded in connection with many. 

It feels like I am going back to my roots, with a deeper understanding of what it means to be a soul in a human body. What it means to belong and accept rather than judge and criticize.  Remembering the messy reality of the human experience. and knowing all people are vulnerable and valuable, even if they do not think like me and belong to the same political party. 

While I feel the need to be grounded because of the uncertainties of life as an elder, I  believe a messy human existence can evolve to a loving, more inclusive way of living. I wish to bring that light and energy wherever I go. 

Someday we will find the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me.

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbows are visions
They're only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told, and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What so we think we might seeSomeday we'll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me

Have you been fast asleep
And have you heard voices,
I've heard them calling my name
Is this the sweet sound that calls
The young sailors
The voice might be one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that I'm supposed to be

Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me
La lala la lala la la la lala la la la

Writer/s: Kenny Ascher, Paul Hamilton Williams

Thursday, February 27, 2025

The Call of the Mermaid


The Call of the Mermaid 

"It is very important to go out alone, to sit under a tree, not with a book, not with a companion, but by yourself and observe the falling of a leaf, hear the lapping of the water, the fishermen’s song, watch the flight of a bird, and of your own thoughts as they chase each other across the space of your mind. If you are able to be alone and watch these things, then you will discover extraordinary riches which can never be destroyed." ~Jiddu Krishnamurti

Legends say sailors heard haunting singing from mermaids echoing across the seas, calling them to the unknown. Some say it was a seductive force that meant danger, uncharted waters that could swallow them into the vast seas. It touched a longing deep in their souls.

The mermaid's call symbolizes a longing impossible to ignore; we can define it as our wish for happiness. Could it really be something much deeper and more profound, like a call to go deep within our inner self to find the mystic, our connection to the divine?

Are our fears like the sailors of being swallowed up by a vast sea of the unknown? The mermaid is a metaphor for the longing for something we don’t fully understand and something dangerously mystical. It is the call to explore something beyond the ordinary, dangerous, and yet very enticing. 

In psychology, water represents the subconscious mind. It is a place of nightmares and fantasies. A place where we store hidden thoughts, intuition, and instinctual knowledge. It is the scary part of our souls, not in our awareness. It is like where mermaids live, dangerous and frightening.  Sometimes we experience a magnetic force pulling us toward the possibilities of what is beyond our everyday ordinary routines. A path into the unknown.

Divine truth cannot be measured and logically explained; it must be experienced. Magic doesn’t come from our rational mind. A great example is an experience psychology calls a peak experience. It happens when you are overpowered by your senses. Maslow defined it as, “unusual moments of heightened joy, serenity, beauty, or wonder.” He reports that these experiences have happened across time, culture, and religion and are indescribable. If you have had one, you know it, and you know when somebody else starts to try to describe theirs. During a peak experience, you feel an overwhelming sense of being one with the world. There is a heightened sense of wonder, awe, and ecstasy. There is a sense of losing track of time. 

A peak experience can lead to significant changes and serve as a turning point in living a deeper or more meaningful life. It is usually a fleeting experience. You can’t make it happen again even though you wish you could. It creates a longing for a feeling of oneness and love like you experienced. It can be scary and wonderful at the same time, like dreams and whispers from the unknown.  

How do we find the mystic within? How do we satisfy longing? 

We try to satisfy our longing with a new relationship, car, house, or clothing. We often find misery instead, as attachments to things and people lead to a reliance on other people's opinions of us. We rely on outside sources for what it means to be spiritual. We live a busy life, ignoring the whispers from dreams. Busy people don't remember dreams or take the time to imagine. They don't take the time to notice the messages from their senses, where we find the magic and wonder in everyday life. 

Some describe going through life as becoming a block of marble with layers of defenses we accumulate to survive. Inside the marble is a beautiful soul hidden. Spending time alone in meditation, in the forest, or by the river, begins the process of removing all the excess rock, piece by piece. The world of cultural expectations, rules, and borrowed beliefs is stripped as we go deeper into the self. Sometimes we meet scary memories, nightmares, past mistakes, and the truth about our delusions. Thankfully, these things are revealed when we are ready to see them in the light of self-love. The Universe uses gentle nods and subtle whispers to light our path. Love never judges, and we learn to do the same.

Practices to support our inner journey.

    1. Self-love

    2. Silence/ meditation

    3. Awakening our senses

    4. The mystical experience of hope 

    5. Contemplative practices

When we learn to be peaceful in silence and how to just be, we find the mystic within and the everyday miracles that nourish our soul journey. 


   

  

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Patience Visted Me

 Patience visited me

And it reminded me
That good things take time to come to fruition
And grow slowly with stability
Peace visited me
And it reminded me
That I may remain calm through the storms of life
Regardless of the chaos surrounding me
Hope visited me
And it reminded me
That better times lay ahead
And it would always be there to guide and uplift me
Humility visited me
And it reminded me
That I may achieve it
Not by trying to shrink myself and make myself less
But by focusing on serving the world and uplifting those around me
Kindness visited me
And it reminded me
To be more gentle, forgiving and compassionate toward myself
And those surrounding meConfidence visited me
And it reminded me
To not conceal or suppress my gifts and talents
In order to make others feel more comfortable
But to embrace what makes me me
Focus visited me
And it reminded me
That other people’s insecurities and judgments about me
Are not my problem
And I should redirect my attention
From others back to me
Freedom visited me
And it reminded me
That no one has control over my mindset, thoughts, and wellbeing
But me
And love visited me
And it reminded me
That I need not search for it in others
As it lies within me.
Words by Tahlia Hunter

The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self. —ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879–1955)

This could also be explained as ego-self. Love self comes from a different place when it is doing good in the world.

Fruits of wintering:
1.    Yesterday's readings helped me to not judge myself or others for coming from ego good. It is a stage we go through to get to heart good. Wintering has helped me gain this insight. It helps me to let go of all judgment. The judgment I feel when I observe ego good deeds of my past and ones observed by others. I understand what I picked up as elitism, is really ego good deeds which is a stepping stone to heart good deeds done without or without others noticing.
2.    

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

retelling our stories


Reclaiming Our Power, Retelling Our Stories

“We are all longing to go home to someplace we have never been—a place half-remembered and half envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time.” Starhawk, The Spiral Dance.

Crones' half-remember and half-envision a time when we had a powerful leadership role in our tribes. In the past, female elders were respected and had important and meaningful roles. They were the ones who held the myths and wisdom stories, the ones who knew where the medicine plants grow and what their uses are. They served as guides for younger adults, caregivers, and mentors for the community’s children.

Storytelling is a way of teaching that gives meaning and understanding to life. It began in ancient times with our ancestors who told stories around the campfires. Just like words, stories have power. They speak to our subconscious; they shape our perceptions and form a basis of cohesiveness within tribes and cultures. They also cause a natural exclusion of others, encouraging judgment and ‘othering’ of those who live outside of our interpretation of life’s meaning. Creation of stories and beliefs about what is right and wrong creates a duality of thinking; a framework of how to believe that is very subtle and often not in our awareness. It divides everything into good or bad, beautiful, or ugly, strong, or weak, evil, or saintly. It is what political and religious leaders use to control their people. It is how women lost their role as powerful elders in the culture. 

Why does this matter? It matters because how we think about aging women and thus ourselves, depends on the stories and images we hold in our heads. The images we hold today are not helpful. It is getting better due to the brave actions of some strong, wise women in the culture who are demonstrating what women can do. For the most part, older women in our culture today are ignored, encouraged to be inconspicuous or to try to look younger if they wish to be respected and noticed. You know, dye your hair, stay thin, have eyelid surgery, fake eyelashes, Botox to erase the wrinkles. The greatest compliment being, “Oh you don’t look your age, you look so young.” Older women are held up as objects of satire with late-night comedians who think it is funny to make fun of them. If they have more than one cat, they are victims of mockery. A cat lady who is sad and lonely and uses felines as a substitute for a man.

Ancient belief systems tell a different story.

While researching the best example, I found was Irish folklore and the female figure they call Cailleach. She is a power and fights the exploitation of animals and the land. Irish mythology is highly female-centered. Many of their stories tell of Cailleach’s closeness to the animals, both domestic and wild. In one folk tale she scolds a servant boy for setting out to turn hay on what will become a wet day. He asks how she can be so sure of her weather forecast and she tells him that the crow and the deer are reliable advisers. The stories tell us that the wisdom of the animals is to be valued as much as the wisdom of humans because animals have a way of being in the world which we do not. They understand things we do not. Below I share one of her stories because I love the image of a fierce elder woman standing up for herself. There are many stories like this one, including powerful creation stories that are very different from the Western Creation story we all grew up with. There are a couple I share at the end of this lesson.

            The Story of the Old Woman and the Priest (A story from Southwest Ireland)

One day, a parish priest visited the Cailleach’s house to ask how old she was. He thought, as such men do, that he was a fine fellow, and very clever; he’d heard that she claimed to be as old as time, and he wanted to catch her out. Well, the old woman replied that she couldn’t quite remember her exact age, but every year on her birthday, she told him, she would kill a bullock, and after she’d eaten it, she would throw one of its thigh bones into her attic. So, if he wanted to, he could go up to the attic and count the bones. “For every bone you find up there in that attic,” she said to him, “you can add a year of my life.” Well, he counted the bones for a day and a night, and still he couldn’t make a dent in them. His hands, they say, were shaking as he pulled at the door handle and left.

The Power of Creation Stories

For two thousand years, our Western culture’s creation story is based on masculine domination over women and over all the creatures of Earth. Women were created from man’s body to please him because God saw that he was lonely. I remember as a young girl believing I had one less rib than my brothers. The first woman was blamed for causing all human suffering because she was seeking wisdom and knowledge. She talked to an evil serpent. She shared the “evil” fruit with her partner. God punished them by throwing them out of paradise and made women subordinate to men forever. For she could not be trusted. She may see the beauty of snakes and continue to seek wisdom and knowledge, both very bad things.

These messages formed a foundation of a culture where women are not to be trusted. Men have control over women and the natural world because only men can be trusted with wisdom and knowledge, not women and not crow and deer. The story justifies a world in which men have dominion over all the animals and plants. Our ancestors saw the plants and animals as our brothers and sisters and teachers. I believe the patriarchal push of a domination-based culture is the cause for climate change, decline of the nutritional value of our food, animal cruelty, and the cause of mass extinction of species, leading to the destruction of Mother Earth.

In western culture, women have been trained well not to share their gifts of intuition, their ability to connect to Universal wisdom, and their faith in Spirit, seeing on unseen levels what many eyes cannot see. Women were burnt on stakes, drowned, buried alive or incarcerated in cruel and dirty insane asylums if they did not comply to the teachings and rules of men. Today, there is still a subtle message to not shine, to dim our light so as not to upset the masculine power structure. We know agism and sexism directed at older women in our culture impact our physical performance, impair mental health, hasten the onset of dementia, and strip us of a feeling of belonging, thus causing loneliness in epidemic proportions. Isn’t it interesting that twice as many women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s? There is a price to pay when we feel invisible, that we believe we don’t matter, when we do not know or share our gifts, and when we spend years under the dominion of the masculine culture.

Because words matter, and older women matter, older women will be referred to as elder women. It implies authority, ‘a leader”, a trusted figure that matters in her family, community, and country. I use the word masculine because it is not about men or women, it is about masculine energy, traits and characteristics. The fight against the patriarchy isn’t a fight between men and women. It is not a fight against men. There are masculine and feminine qualities in each of us. We have those qualities in different amounts that vary at various times in our lives. As a young mother I was happy to surrender to the feminine traits of nurturer. As the owner of a business, I valued developing masculine traits of leadership and reasoning. The fight is to put the world back into harmony and balance with respect for both the feminine and masculine. And to once again value plants and animals as our brothers and sisters and teachers. To share equally in reciprocity.

One of the most damaging results of the Western creation story is how it kept women from each other. The message that women are not to be trusted meant we did not trust ourselves or each other. Our ancestors shared daily responsibilities; they gathered food together, cared for each other’s children. They shared wisdom passed on from grandmother to mother to daughters. They shared insights, intuitions, and visions that benefited the entire tribe. My wish is to reclaim the respect for women and the natural world. I wish to reclaim sisterhood. We reclaim our sisterhood by meeting in circles and sharing in deep friendship. We replace archetypes and stories diminishing the feminine with the ancient ancestral wisdom that still lives within us. We can once again bring balance and reclaim our natural feminine role as elders. Elder women matter, we have dignity, and we embrace growing older as a gift to share. When we believe in the superpower of Love, we share the energy and vibration of love all around us. We lift up humans and non-humans with the energy of love. This is a purpose worth striving.

Some things to try:

1.      Begin to identify feminine qualities and see them positively.

2.      Are there aspects of being a woman in our culture you have buried?

3.      Do you see love-driven, receptive, relatedness as positive traits.

4.      Is there a place for intuition in running a business?

5.      Which feminine trait is your strongest? Which masculine trait is your strongest?

6.      Can you see the value of bringing both the feminine and the masculine traits in balance?

7.      If you want to know where you fall on the spectrum of feminine/masculine, you can find the Bem Androgyny Test online.