“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” ~Alan Watts
March is Women’s History Month, which is about celebrating women’s contributions to history, culture, and society. This being Women’s History month, we’re seeing a lot of social media and blog posts about amazing women in history. Some that come to mind for me range from Susan B. Anthony to Rosa Parks to our more current history with Vice President Kamala Harris and Amanda Gorman, the young poet and activist who at just 24 years old is already putting into words what it means to stand for love and freedom and, well, is history in the making.
But I’d like to bring our focus even closer to home in this blog post. I’m inviting you to look at your own history, at the primary women in your life, and how those women and the choices you made as a result of knowing them, made history in your small corner of the world. Perhaps at a time when you could not see a way forward for yourself. Who were the women who inspired you, encouraged you, believed in you, or held out a hand for you?
Take a moment to reflect on your own history. Whose lives have you touched for the better? What have you contributed?
Each moment we are contributing to the whole life we all share as one organic organism. Thus, your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs, as well as our actions, contribute to the ongoing creation of the world we live in.
Are you resisting life as it arises, wishing it were something other than it is? Are you waiting for things to change or get better before you’ll let yourself really be happy?
Are you doom scrolling news feed media or social media, and feeling justified in judgments of unfairness or blame, feeling like a victim of circumstances beyond your control, resigned to wait it out?
Russia’s dictator, Putin has attacked Ukraine. There’s talk of a Third World War. The president of the Ukrainian people is standing up and standing alongside his countrymen/women.
What stance do you take?
Do you see it as standing against the war, against the injustice of the attack — or are you standing for freedom, the innate right of all human beings? It’s a subtle difference.
What is your focus — love or fear?
If you’re stuck in the belief that ‘it shouldn’t be happening’ or ‘it’s wrong’, you’re trapping your energy in victim mentality.
It is happening. That’s the way of it.
Right or wrong doesn’t help but rather ties your energy up in theoreticals, and that energy is not available to contribute to the resolution in the interest of wellbeing for all humankind.
But, if you’re paying attention, moment to moment, to where you’re holding yourself — accepting what is, as it is, your energy continues to flow with the current of life creating what will happen next.
Are you choosing to extend love; to have faith in the love, courage, and determination for freedom and wellbeing for all?
What is your contribution to this moment in history? I want mine to be love-based, regardless of circumstances. And this is where my work must be done. Each time I notice my tendency toward judgment or self-righteous indignation, I can feel it inside — a tightening up and itchiness inside.
Once I notice, I can breathe it through, and let love rise up in accepting what is as the only possibility. Now I can choose to love it all. This is the energetic contribution I want to make in creating what’s next. How about you?
As a woman, reflecting on Women’s history, I see the chance to claim the small part my choices and the way I live my life plays in creating what comes next.
Though there have been countless women in history who have paved the path upon which I have the privilege to walk as a woman and, as is my current focus, an author — and having just written a memoir, where my mentor Betty features greatly in my history, it is she who is an alive presence in my mind as I reflect on my history. Betty was my Yoda — the light that showed me the way out of the darkness of my own mind and belief system until I could keep my own pilot light burning.
But just as importantly, as I reflect on women’s history I can’t discount myself as a heroine that had the courage to tell my truth — my story of transformation in a memoir. Baptized by Love; How I Found Present Joy and Never Let it Go.
So, at the risk of coming off self-absorbed — which I kinda am currently — since my memoir was released just days ago —in this month of Women’s history, I can count my small contribution to its culture and social awareness, as a woman who transformed her life from one of fear and unhappiness to one of love and present joy — and being a woman of light and joy, shining the light for others to find their way too.
March 8th — the same day as my book went live — was International Women’s day! How perfect is that? Everything goes my way!
This month also celebrates my favorite thing — HAPPINESS!
March 20 is International Day of Happiness! It serves to remind us that being happy is a human right and worth celebrating! On this day (and every day)
- Refuse to let anything get in the way of feeling joy. If you can do it for a day, you can keep the roll going.
- Celebrate every little thing:
- The weather: be it sunshine, rain or snow… the sights and sounds and smells you’re being graced with through this medium, today
- The presence of a loved one
- The way music can bring emotions to the surface — listen, and let the energy flow through you and you with it.
- Experience the joy of each smile you see, give or receive.
- Appreciate the ability to hug someone or offer a helping hand
- Notice how well your body works to walk and talk, dance and sing
- To communicate and commune.
- To be present here and now — and love it with all you’ve got
We are the creators of history, with each moment of presence, each choice we make, and every interaction with our fellow humankind. By nature, Life is beneficent. The universe is friendly— if we’re not making an enemy of it. Let ours be aligned in love, joy, and happiness! The choice is ours. This is true freedom! Tomorrow’s history is in our hands and hearts.
