Entries Tagged 'Feminine Heritage' ↓

I used to think Xerox Art was super-cool. Because it is.

I painted this, with oil, from a framed Xerox of my face while in college.

I spent my 20s in a bit of angst. I had pretty decent reasons, boyfriends were all druggies with a tendency to knock me around, stalk me or be otherwise addicted psychotics and I tended to have overly-dramatic relationships with pretty much everyone. I think I believed that the more extreme emotions were more valid than less extreme feelings, like peace. Thank God I’ve changed that thinking.

Now, I wonder how much more fun it would have been to be one of those happy, go-getter sorority girls.

I painted this in my 20s, probably my early 20s.

This was what I wanted my life to be. Powerful and beautiful. The flaming sword of truth and the gavel are definitely power symbols here.

I found another one I’ll show you tomorrow.

I’ve been excited to hear about the 100 women who claim authority as Catholic Priests in the United States, as in this Time article.

While there is evidence to suggest that women were equals and held authority in early Christianity, The Church – Catholic, Mormon, Protestant – have spent the last two thousand years eradicating femininity and authentic feminine godliness from its rituals and hierarchy.

It appears that it takes quite some time for women, who have been slaughtered throughout history for being “witches” if they believe in their own authentic spiritual power or exhibit any of God’s power and authority, to stick their toe out and reclaim this inherent authority.

Interestingly, while Rome is using the same verbiage against these Womenpriests – delictium gravius (grave crime) – as it used against the many pedophiliac priests, it is only excommunicating the women who claim God’s authority and not the “legitimate male priests” who abuse God’s authority and molest children. This, itself, is delictium gravius.

Time reports that 59% of U.S. Catholics favor ordaining women.

I’ve long thought that any church or religion with waning membership, especially among the younger population, should look first to its gender issues and its rules about authority. Perhaps there were generations of women who would do the heavy lifting of the church, yet be denied religious authority and spiritual powers, but these young women coming up in a world of increasing gender equality consider such policies delictium gravius.

Last Thursday I accidentally stopped recording the Redskins game while my husband was at a work dinner. I didn’t consciously do it, the DVR has an annoying habit of changing the channel I’m watching to record 20-year-old Seinfeld episodes. I just flipped it back and entered the protect code. He was seriously pissed.

Seriously murderous is how I will feel if someone changes the channel and stops recording the Farewell Season of Oprah which premiers today.

Oprah is my cultural icon of all time. You know that question, “One person, living or dead, who would you want to have dinner with?” Mine is Oprah. If there’s “one person you admire most in the world,” again Oprah. When she does those Oprah Hook-ups the only person I want to be hooked up with is Oprah.

My mother began watching Oprah when she aired after Days of Our Lives and Phil Donahue (which incidentally, I dreamed about last night). I was, and still am, pretty sure she’s the most enlightened person on the Planet Earth.

Over the last 20-something years I’ve spent 4 o’clock with Oprah. I sit down with my snack after a long, productive day and I cry or laugh, cheer and shout, and root for my fellow humans. I root for them to win contests, cry for their sorrow and root for their resilience and healing. I shout when someone makes a dream come true, literally shout in this teary, loud way, with fists in the air, as if it were my own dream come true (which, of course is, to be a best selling author on Oprah). I listen to people honestly convey why they did a crazy, stupid and wrong thing and I allow myself to recognize a piece of me that can relate. I learn about addictions of all kinds and I can relate a little too much. I get jazzed when the people loose the weight. I buy the books and read them like delicious glasses of white wine. I take the classes offered on the website and I listened to every author in Oprah’s Soul Series and took her A New Earth teleclass. Honestly, Oprah has educated me on a million things I probably would have known nothing about. I’ve even changed my health habits in response to her Dr. Oz shows. I’ve often ridden my elliptical machine while watching Oprah, knowing she’d be so proud of me.

Some years I’ve missed her because of work, but not since the DVR was invented. I’m glad my husband never bought me the 25th Anniversary DVD set, because I’m going to need him to buy me the one they market after this year.

She’s going to start her own OWN Network and I’m proud of her. Honestly, last year I was getting worried about her being so tired, not taking care of herself and working all the time. I kept thinking I should send her a letter, telling her we’ll be okay if she quits and takes care of herself. I totally plan to subscribe to OWN. I don’t really even care how much it costs. I like her “young pups,” but not the way I love Oprah. I wonder if she’ll have a weekly show or something that will give me my Oprah fix?

I suppose the next 20 years will be like the summer, when you have to make do with old Oprah reruns and it doesn’t really matter if you miss them. Sometimes they can still make you shout and cry (like yesterday when I saw Will.I.Am. pay off two people’s mortgages). After today, the Oprah Fall Premier will never come again.

This year, at 4 o’clock you’ll find me where I have always been: watching Oprah, eating my snack, and sharing emotional and psychic space with all the other millions of people in the world doing the exact same thing. I’ll be half-sad the whole time thinking, this is the last one exactly like this.

Honey, I’m so sorry I stopped recording the Redskins game. Please don’t take it out on Oprah.

Appreciating and embracing our sexuality is a key part of flourishing. All life is, after all, sexually transmitted. Most of us were conceived with an orgasm, even if it was just your father’s. The main reason why sex sells everything from cars to shampoo is that we are naturally drawn to life-sustaining and pleasurable energy. Our cells recognize it just as instinctively as a bee recognizes honey. Sure, you can sublimate sexual energy into other areas of life besides actually having sex. But your body will respond to the erotic until the day you die. We are hardwired from birth for sexual pleasure. It is our birthright. Humans are the only primate whose sexual desire and functioning are not necessarily related to the reproductive cycle. Women’s ability to enjoy sexual pleasure is virtually limitless, which is why marriage and family therapist Pat Allen, Ph.D., refers to women as “orgasmatrons.”

Christiane Northrup

Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom (Revised Edition): Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing

This book should be on the night table of every woman, especially one with a daughter. It’s so insightful, intuitive, and wise about the woman’s body. The best part about the book is the connections she makes between our physical bodies and our spiritual energy and emotions.  When I read it I feel a sense of . . . connection and peace with my body and an excitement about being a woman, especially the beautiful creative phases that comes with it.