An International Women's Day Rejoicing

Dear Fantastic Women of the World,

I am convinced that the only way to save the universe is for some Wonder Woman style Amazonian takeover run by you.  It's going to have to be a collective effort.  We're going to have to pull out all the stops, use all our profound knowledge, all our savvy, all our sex appeal, and all our nurturing habits to make this thing work.  We've been leaving it up to the men now for so many centuries, and pardon the diss, gentlemen, but you're failing miserably at running the world.  It's time to bring out the golden lassos of truth and send the existing "Administration" to the rehabilitation center on Transformation Island.  It's time to tap into our womanly super powers -- draw upon our strength, develop our limited telepathy and use our eyes-in-the-back-of-our-head supervision to steer this ship back on course -- without the gas-fired vehicles and jets that have been getting us around for so long now.  We need to travel in a different kind of vehicle on a different route than has traditionally been done for some time now.  And women, we are not afraid to start at home.

First, turn off the status quo.  (This may include your gas furnace.  Think now -- how do I warm the place up without PG&E and Shell Oil in bed together?)  Abandon stale or fixed ideas as changing and insubstantial. Move into the present.  See a different future.  How do we cook up some good news for ourselves, our families, our communities and our planet?  Do some brainstorming about better ways of being and doing.

Secondly, call upon the Female Muses.  Who are the women you admire?  Bring them to mind and contemplate that which inspires you to greatness.  Top of my list -- my Mother, Barbara Ann Elledge.  In spite of the fact that she's not my birth mother, this has never stopped her from loving me and my brothers and sisters alike.  She's hugely responsible for instilling in me a strong work ethic, a sense of belonging, a desire to be self-sufficient and a can-do attitude.  She's allowed me to make my own mistakes and to learn from them. She taught me that if I was going to do something half-ass, not to do it at all.  She taught me that in spite of educational shortcomings, you can still perform at a high level of excellence in the workplace and in the community.  She taught me to nurture and to provide, to take care of my family and not to sweat the small stuff.  She taught me that being successful in the world means a peaceful existence with your basic needs for food, shelter and clothing met.  She taught me to cook, clean and be friends with the neighbors.  She taught me that you are sometimes called upon to take care of others when they are in a bind.  She taught me not to judge others, and that what others think of me is not my business.  But most importantly, she taught me that there is such a thing as unconditional love, and she exhibits it each and every day with her husband, with each of her children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren.  She continues to love me in spite of myself, and this is a very high calling.  I never had to look far for a role model of womanly love, strength, power and attainment; she was right there in my mother.  I hold her image in my heart today and every day.

Thirdly, call upon the men you know and love and ask them to support you.  (And I don't mean in a stereotypical monetary fashion, ladies and gentlemen!)  Call upon the men you'd like to know and ask them to support you.  Call upon the men you don't know and ask them to support you.  Men, we women could use some support!

Most importantly, call upon yourself.  Be your own Shero. With your women ancestors and idols and Sheroes and role models in mind, take yourself to the next level.  Keep in mind that we are all interconnected, and that our thoughts and actions, relationships and endeavors all manifest in wonderful womanly ways.  We cannot continue to underestimate ourselves and our place in the world.  We must prevail in the Power of the Feminine.  The World is watching and waiting for our ascension.

Women of past, present and future.  This day, this time, this moment is all about YOU.  I salute you!




My mother’s unconditional love breaks the bonds placed on her by social, economic and environmental strictures. She is a Force of Nature.    (That's my Mom on the right. :)

Note to Mom:  You're right up there in my steering committee, along with Padmatara and the women Sangha members of the San Francisco Buddhist Center, Toby Blome and the ladies of Code Pink, my sisters Cheryl and Tena, my good friends Christine, Miria, Tammy, Nelda, Jane, Joanna & Carolyn, my boss Hillary, Dr. Jill Stein and Amy Goodman.
 And of course, my daughter Zoe, the youngest and most hopeful Shero of them all.
(Other women that I love, I have not excluded you.  I just ran out of breath on my way to work.)

                                        


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This is a placeholder for an entry that has yet to be written due to circumstances of life.  For the chronological sequence of things, it belongs in this order. I'll get back to you shortly, my friend.