Gender Equality

 

This is an image in red of the gender symbols with text that says Gender Equality

©mypokcik/shutterstock

 

 

This past Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day, which we associate with the feminine role in our society.  We are now looking forward to Father’s Day on June 16, which we connect with the masculine role within our world.  Since we are presently in the gap between these two gender-associated holidays, it feels like the perfect time to discuss a topic which is currently getting a great deal of attention and publicity:  Gender equality.  

 

 

Gender equality, is also known as sexual equality, equality of the genders, and gender neutral. All of these terms imply that men and women should receive equal treatment. The concept is based on the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and the ultimate aim is to provide equality in law and equality in social situations, especially in democratic activities and securing equal pay for equal work.

 

 

There are presently two books on the New York Times Best Seller List that are delivering powerful messages about the importance of gender equality: Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, urges women to pursue their careers without ambivalence. The other book, The Athena Doctrine, by John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio, discusses how the feminine values of nurturing, listening, and collaborating are redefining success for both genders. It is very interesting to note that Sheryl Sandberg is a woman advocating for females to invoke more masculine qualities; and John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio are men calling for business to incorporate what is viewed as feminine values.

 

 

Everyone has both a masculine and a feminine side

 

 

It is important that we do not confuse this topic with perceiving that this is a battle of male vs. female. Whether we are male or female, and no matter what our sexual preferences are, everyone has both a masculine and a feminine side. This is the yin/yang energy that has been referred to in Asian cultures for thousands of years.  There are certain characteristics that are inherent within both masculine and feminine energy.  Masculine energy (yang) deals with the strength of the self and the value of your own life.  Some of the qualities we attribute to being masculine are:  power, aggression, survival, focus, and decisiveness.  Feminine energy (yin) is more tuned into the value of the life of others and letting others take control of their own lives.  Some of the qualities we associate with being feminine are:  intuitive, gentle, nurturing, compassionate, and responsive to the needs of others.

 

 

For thousands of years, the collective energy of our world has been primarily masculine in nature.  Business, in particular, has been dominated by masculine energy because it has been focused on competition, power, and the bottom line. While up to this point in our evolution, this predominance of masculine energy has been appropriate in order to survive, an excess of masculine energy is being reflected in our social problems of greed, violence, and crime.  This is not to say that masculine energy is bad – far from it!  It is an extremely important component in our society, but we need to realize that it is imperative to maintain a balance of masculine energy as we bring in more feminine energy.  The key word here is BALANCE.

 

 

The fact that the issue of gender equality is moving to the forefront of our attention is an extraordinary sign that humanity is evolving to a much higher perspective than we have been in the past. We are being called upon to integrate the masculine qualities of focusing on the strength of self and being action oriented with the feminine qualities of being compassionate and responsive to the genuine needs of others.

 

 

The energy of Universal Love is a perfect balance of feminine and masculine energy.  While the world around us may seem pretty tumultuous right now, we can find great inspiration in knowing that we are beginning to integrate our masculine and feminine qualities internally and externally.  As we each discover the balance of masculine/ feminine energy within ourselves, it is being reflected in the conditions of our outer world.  Humanity is beginning to move out of polarity and into our spiritual truth of ONENESS!

 

 

I welcome any stories you choose to share regarding your struggles and successes on your personal journey toward gender equality.

 

 

Love and Light,

 

Sandra

Mother’s Day – A Perfect Day for Healing

This is an image of a mother holding her child above her head at sunset

© Konstantin Sutyagin/shutterstock

 

 

Mother’s Day is just around the corner.  Mother’s Day, a holiday proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914,  is a day of celebration in which we honor mothers, motherhood, and maternal bonds. The power and influence of mothers and maternal figures in our personal lives and in our society is beyond measure.  Mothers and grandmothers are the core strength of the home, the creators of life, the nurturers of children, our first teachers, our female role models, and our indispensable companions. Most importantly, when we think of a mother’s love, we frequently think of the unconditional boundless love that is the closest human expression of divine love.

 

 

Mother’s Day, like all holidays, elicits different feelings for each one of us.  Whether we think our mothers did a “good” job or a “bad” job of raising us, the truth is that our mothers played an enormous role in helping us to form our system of values, sense of self, foundation of security, and, in general, the initial foundation for all of our perceptions in life.

 

 

Some of us were fortunate to be raised by mothers or mother figures who were confident, strong, and a model of unconditional love.  If this is the case, the mere mention of the word “mother” conjures up feelings of warmth, nurturing and safety. If you are one of these people, Mother’s Day is a joyful day where you are inspired to cherish and appreciate your mother and buying a card, giving a hug, and saying “I love you”  feels completely natural.

 

 

If your mother has passed on, this may be an especially sad time of year as you recognize that losing a mom creates a void that no one else can fill in your life.  Who could ever understand you, unconditionally accept you, and always love you the way your mother did?

 

 

And then there are others who have had a vastly different experience. There are many people who attribute the root cause of most of their pain and problems to their mothers. In working with clients over many years in my spiritual healing practice, I discovered that blaming our mothers for our shortcomings is the deepest underlying issue for almost every major healing issue: mental, emotional, and physical.  In fact, I observed that our mothers have so much influence in our lives that when a mother would heal a painful issue, the child (whether young, middle age, or old) was automatically positively affected; and, conversely, when the child (of any age) would heal, the mother would also be positively affected.

 

 

From a spiritual perspective, the soul of a child chooses his or her mother, and the mother chooses the child.  Because our life journey is all about becoming whole, we choose parents from whom we learn what we most need to know – we fulfill these lessons in both positive and negative ways.  If, for example, our mothers did not praise us very much, it could be that our souls needed to remember that we get our genuine validation from within ourselves – not from external sources.  On the other side of the coin, mothers learn just as much from their children.  For example, a child with learning differences may be teaching a mother all about patience and acceptance.

 

 

The single most important factor that affects our relationships with our mothers is our own attitude.  As children, we typically had great expectations of all the qualities we wanted our mothers to have — we wanted her to be our Rock of Gibraltar, the model of an ideal woman, have the patience of Job, and express the love of an angel.  As we mature, we need to accept that our mothers are human and that they have had to deal with issues that were passed on to them by their parents. I truly believe that most mothers love to the best of their capacity and want the very best for their children.  I also think most mothers would agree that motherhood is simultaneously the both most difficult and rewarding job in all the world.

 

 

Unconditionally accepting our mothers for who they are (or were) is our greatest lesson in compassion and forgiveness. Since we are inextricably connected with our mothers, forgiving them for their shortcomings and for falling short of our expectations is the same thing as forgiving ourselves for carrying forward any unhealthy patterns which need to be healed.  And when you think about it, who better than our mothers to teach us this magnificent lesson.

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

Love and Light,

 

Sandra