2017 - A Pivotal Year For Women
Reflecting on this year as a woman I can really only just take a breath. It was a pivotal year!
Personally and collectively we have been moving through our daily lives with incredible amounts of pain. For centuries. Pain that has accumulated year after year of being a woman - just for being who we are. Pain that turned to numbness through continual cultural denial of the truth that we suffer abuse and inequality. And yet, we have continued to hold strong, do it all, and be it all. Bravo?
Part of healing trauma is actually to stop being strong, to stop doing it all, and to stop being it all. Healing trauma takes falling to your knees and surrendering into a heap of devastation and exasperation. For women, I'm talking about the moment we realize that our culture has put us up to the impossible and manipulated us into thinking we have to say yes, and finally feeling the depth of the betrayal. Ouch.
This kind of pervasive emotional and mental programming causes dis-ease or the inability to think, feel, or know the truth of what is normal and natural. The truth is that the way women are treated in this world is far from normal and natural - not in work, not in law, not in finances, not in families, not in dating, not in sports. Not at all. And this year, that truth finally surfaced collectively. Women are saying NO more!
Prior to this year, women's voices mostly fell on deaf ears. But the tipping point came in 2017 through #metoo. It was not only important for men to begin to fully hear the truth, but for women to be able to share the truth with each other. And in doing so, starting to release the shame that kept us quiet all these years.
In any process of enlightenment, the first step is awareness. To be aware is to feel and acknowledge the truth of what is and accepting it no matter how horrible. And the truth for women is that we have live enslaved and continue to live enslaved in a pathological culture dominated by men.
Beyond #metoo and the outpouring of truth from women is a movement of men standing up to redefine masculinity in our culture. This movement is critical for our success. The Mask of Masculinity recently hit the book stores and if you haven't seen Justin Baldoni's TED Talk, it's essential. Watch it. Share it. Only choose men in your life who live it. And check out the upcoming series We Are Man Enough for more inspiration.
Remember we are here now. While this collective wound awakens on a new level this year to heal, the abuse in our careers, our finances, our government, our families, our relationships, our schools and colleges, our opportunities, and our day to day lives remains. In no way do we come close to equality and freedom. This is only the beginning.
Know that your purpose as a woman or a man on the planet right now is to assist this enlightenment, to support this healing, and to create a better world for our children. Have conversations with women and men about this. Share the ways that you have been unjustly treated. Stand up for yourself when you encounter the collective (un)consciousness. Raise conscious children. And redefine what life will be like when we are free and clear of these wounds and whole again! See it, feel it, and meditate on it's reality each and every day. And so it will be!
Sending you blessings on your journey this December!
With Love,
Peyton