Call on your Sisters

 I am RADIATING with the energy of women power, y’all. 

And I wanna tell you about it.

This year of my life has been so *potent*, in terms of true, deep, cup-filling connection with women I love, admire, and learn from. Which is a first for me! It’s felt like scattered breadcrumbs until now … never enough to satisfy my hunger; just barely enough to keep me alive and seeking.

I want to pay homage to the events of the past year - but first I have to recognize how these moments of true Beauty & oneness are at SUCH a juxtaposition with the condition of women globally. So much so that at times, I have felt confused, selfish, undeserving, and guilty. 

This week it sunk in what an untrue and destructive notion that is. 

We can’t all drop our lives - our families, our jobs, our community obligations - to heroically jump in and save those “less fortunate.” We can, however, find ways to be in true, lasting SOLIDARITY. 

Resistance comes in many forms. 

Physical, mental, spiritual.

Besides protesting, besides the marches and the sit-ins and the boycotts - there’s got to be constructive ways of resisting. Opposition is a beautiful thing. Staying neutral and impassive has it’s place. 

Methods that create instead of destroy, though … I think that’s my arena. 

Growing a garden, sharing or trading with your neighbors. Babysitting collectives. Compassion for others. These are all Resistance. Resisting the urge, the encouragement, the pressure to hate, to distance, to simply “tolerate.”

And singing. 

Singing for those who have been silenced. Those who have been taken too early. Those who don’t have voices we can understand. And singing for our selves. Our own cells. 

When you change how your heart is literally and physically vibrating (think: regulate, from anxiety to calm) you EMANATE that out INTO THE WORLD.

This is what is meant by, BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE.

It starts withIN.

 When your news feed, your social circles, and your work are all bombarded with the cruelties of the world, it feels impossible to keep your own inner peace. It seems selfish when you do find it. But it isn’t. It isn’t. I promise.

It’s the greatest weapon (or so I imagine) because it doesn’t actually hurt anyone. It’s the end-all. “Water will always find a way through.” Gentle perseverance. Quietly enduring. Holding steadfast. Staring death in the face.

Women do this so well. But not alone.

I can’t think of a more powerful thing than women connecting, uniting, and standing together. (And have you noticed how people find this so threatening?!) 

Can you imagine a line of women, arms woven, up against an army? 

I can. 

And they will. The moment will come when we are needed, when we will unite, hand in hand, physically or energetically. 

It will come when we’ve truly had enough. 

It will come at the right moment. 

We’re here now, for a reason. 

I don’t think that reason is to look away - to keep scrolling, to fill our heads with 100 hours of Netflix in a week, to keep fighting our sisters and neighbors over petty insignificant sh!t. 

It’s grander than that. It really is. And it starts with me, and you. Women … we’re only feeling powerless and weak because we’re not standing together. 

I invite you. Join in the conversation, join me, join hands, find your people, find your cause, find the boundary you refuse to be crossed, and STAND. THE. F. UP.

We can change the world. We can. 

—

Mad gratitude to the women in last night’s “Sister, Mother” Circle who reflected on these ideas with me. The words above are my own but are inspired by sooo many.

More times than not, I show up a mess - inwardly, outwardly, just a wreck. Or so I feel. Life seems so much harder when you’re going at it “alone.” But when we gather, those daily struggles melt away, and I feel confident, centered, collected - like I can truly be a force for real, lasting change.

When I say “alone,” I put it in quotes, because firstly, we’re never alone, and secondly, many of us have supporting partners, parents, siblings, friends, or neighbors. But when you’re isolated during the days, when you don’t see friends very often, when you don’t take time for yourself, etc etc, it feels LONELY, even in a sea of people. 

It honestly doesn’t take much to feel so connected - a few hours of quality conversation and simple touches (kiss on the cheek, hand on your elbow, a long hug). Or, for me (and maybe you), a few hours once a month to gather in a Circle with other women.

I am so grateful, and my cup is full. 

And I’ve decided to let it spill all over the place now. 

Let somebody try to stop me. 

<3 N