Friday, March 20, 2015

Cinderella 2015 (Be courageous and kind)

In many of the women’s sessions I facilitate we often speak of the fairy tales we remember from our childhood and how many ended with “happily ever after”.  Additionally we discuss how we have all looked for the fairy tale and came up disappointed when our “Prince Charming” was really the “Duke of Earl”.  Tonight a friend and I attended the newly released Cinderella movie and were surrounded by dozens of “Cinderella’s” some in jeans and tennis shoes and some with small tiaras, wands in hand, bejeweled purses, blue dresses and yes “glass” slippers.  I watched as they took their seats to be swept away into the Disney magic.

 At this point you might be asking yourself why did this sixty-six year old women go to a children’s movie without a child in tow.  The short answer is I had to see if it was the same as I remembered the story to be and was it still a happily ever after ending.  Well, yes and no.  While the story still follows the original story line, there was a different under lying message of the importance of being you.

Cinderella’s mother instilled in her (before her untimely death) the importance of being one’s self, being courageous and kind to others no matter how they might treat you.  Then ending was a little different from the animated version I saw years ago.  The prince still had to seek out his princess, only when he found her before she would even try on the slipper she said he would have to accept her as she was.  Not a princess, because she wasn't but as a person and the importance of having courage and being kind.  Therefore just as our beauty takes the hand of her new love she looks over her shoulder and says to her step mother, “I forgive you”.  Let us never forget to see the magic in the world, especially when it feels like the world may be falling down all around us.  And may we all find the courage to be ourselves no matter how others may see us, or try to change us and the ability to be kind when doing so isn't the easy choice.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Women: We Can Be Our Own Worst Enemy

What would we all do without Face Book, Twitter or all the other means of posting our deepest thoughts and craziest moments?  Running through my own feed today it came to my attention just how many postings are directed at women.  Not all of them deliver a message worth reading, imagine that.  Today my favorite was one telling the reader the "the most dangerous animal" in the world was a silent woman sitting with a smile on her face. This tidbit was supplied to the reader through a radio station's post.  Thank you Alice 105.9 Denver, CO for your insightful understanding of the female psychological state.

This is the United States and we still have the freedom of speech so they may post all they want.  Today's blog is the response given to these postings by women.  After going through other postings it stands out that many of my own gender (female if you don't know me), join in and promote the degradation of our gender. Ladies we are at times our own worst critic.  We talk about each other and put each other down. We stand with the "popular" afraid of not being accepted.  We build walls of protection from fear of being vulnerable. We are so busy worrying about what someone else is thinking about us we don't live the life we are meant to live.

Today I encourage each of you to think about your own life:
  • What are the messages I send to others about myself and women as a whole?
  • Do I give respect to myself and others?
  • Do I stand silent when my voice needs to be heard?
  • Am I part of my own belittlement?
  • Do I hide in the shadow so I won't be seen because it feels safer?
Affirmation for today: I open my eyes to the world and seek enlightenment of my soul. I believe in myself and encourage others to do the same. ~Namaste~