FEMINISM (and TELLING THE TRUTH)
I am totally spent. It’s been a long day; already a long week. Though I had every intention of writing a new post – one I started a couple days ago – my energy is completely gone.
In a rare window of time I was turning the pages in Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally
Exhausted, but still inspired.
Saved. Thanks, Patti.
I’m relatively certain the same will be true for you.
In a recent interview with Mother Jones, Eve Ensler said: “There’s the violence that comes toward us, and there’s violence we do to ourselves—we’re picking up the magazines, we’re dieting, we’re getting the lipo. Why are women immobile? Because so many feel like they’re waiting for someone to say, ‘You’re good, you’re pretty, I give you permission.”
I want to be Eve Ensler when I grow up.
I’m going to Kim’s Wig Shop downtown tomorrow to get her black, shiny pageboy hair in wig form. I’m going to speak out and be energetic and articulate and have something important to say. I’m going to pay attention to what’s going on in the world as if the fate of the earth depends on me paying attention. I’m going to have a point of view and an opinion without waiting for other people to tell me what it is. I’m going to do the work that I know I need to do, that I must do, that I’ve been waiting my whole life to do, without waiting for an audience. I’m going to sit up straighter and I’m going to make people hear me. I’m going to ask a lot more questions, and I’m going to pay attention to the answers as if they really matter. I’m going to really, really listen to people when they tell me their stories. I’m going to raise my voice when it needs to be raised. I’m going to lend my voice to people who have none. I’m going to figure out how to be an effective advocate for others. I’m not going to care anymore whether people like me when I speak my truth. I’m never going to ask for permission again. As Eve Ensler said, “I am going to hold who I am in the face of anything.”
Thanks for inspiring Patti, Eve. And thanks for inspiring me, Patti. Can’t wait to talk to you in just a matter of hours!
I’ll get some sleep in the meantime.
If you’d like to hear my conversation with Patti Digh (and others – like Danielle LaPorte, Karen Maezen Miller, Dani Shapiro, Jen Louden, Katrina Kenison, and others) you should totally buy 7.7.7. It’s only $19 and ALL this goodness – and then some – is in a 77-page self-reflective guide, along with 7 MP3s of conversation with these incredible women.
One more note: I’m grateful to be linked-to at a new blog I’ve recently been exposed to – a space of amazing truth-telling (and faith and feminism): Betrayed Wives Club. Some of my words and then some powerful truth-telling quotes from my newsletter were included there today. ‘Hope you’ll click over, read, comment, and support!
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
“I’m not going to care anymore whether people like me when I speak my truth. I’m never going to ask for permission again.”
I love this whole piece from Eve Ensler you quoted – there was much that resonated with me, though these were the words that stood out to me in particular. I have long struggled with this, and learning to blog is helping me with it, as well as connecting with people like yourself who also inspire me – thank you.
I understand that feeling of exhausted but inspired. May you feel fully rested and rejuvenated very soon.
Blessings, Josie
.-= Josie @safetycomfort´s last blog ..Writer, heal thyself =-.
The words are powerful, aren’t they? And their impact? Unlimited. Powerful. Sacred. Scary. Restful. Inspiring.
Thanks, Josie.
Another book to put on my list. This one, from what I see here, is a MUST OWN book so I can paw through it all the time.
.-= Nicki´s last blog ..YES – Review of Life After Yes =-.
It’s a definite MUST OWN, Nicki. Enjoy!
Love Patti – her book is fabulous and I am adoring the words of wisdom she is sharing now on her blog for her daughter.
When I chaired a group for Planned Parenthood here in Boston we did an event that Eve Ensler came to. It was amazing. Meeting her was a huge highlight. She’s all that in life – and more.
xox
I keep coming back to the book – a page or two at a time – grateful for the wisdom and whimsy found within. Another sacred text…
And Eve Ensler? What need one say?!? How fabulous that you’ve been able to meet her, Lindsey. And I’m quite certain that when I finally meet you face to face I’ll say the same: “She’s all that in life – and more.”
Oh, how this rocks! I too want to be like Eve Ensler. And own this book. Thanks for this post, I feel I’m in that same exhausted but inspired place today. We all need some words like these in our lives.
xooxoox
No matter how tired, words like these SO encourage and strengthen, don’t they? I’m grateful – for Patti’s words, for Eve’s words, and for conversation for sure. All inspiring!
I so need this book! Wow!
“Why are women immobile? Because so many feel like they’re waiting for someone to say, ‘You’re good, you’re pretty, I give you permission.”
I have been waiting for that myself lately. I’ve had to have others tell me because I have doubted that I am good, that I am pretty. It annoys me when I get like that.
And there are the words in your post! Another reaffirmation so timely when I’ve needed it! Again! Thanks!
P.S. Hope you get some rest this weekend!
.-= Shawna Cevraini´s last blog ..The Art of Conversation =-.
You said, “I have been waiting for that myself lately.” What I read the first time through? “I have been waiting for myself lately.” (Left out the “that.”) And then my mind went to this: “I am the one I’ve been waiting for.”
All the pathways of my mind exposed here (those working and those not), but loving the meandering; the reality that we do wait – for others, for ourselves, for permission. And ultimately, we need not wait. All we need, we already have. We are intact. Good. Beautiful. Strong. Capable. Wise. Whole.
No more waiting.
Thank you, Shawna!
In her post on living large, Jeanie asks the question – whose permission do you need to step into the largeness of your life? http://www.jeaniemiley.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155:what-matters-mostthat-we-step-into-largeness-1&catid=41:home
Then Patti says – I’m never asking permission again!
My response to Jeanie’s question – and my amen to Patti’s statement is this:
Why is it that I feel like I NEED permission? Whose permission do I need? But
that is exactly what often holds me back – this feeling that I don’t have
permission. I have MY permission. To leap. And to fall sometimes. And to learn. And to
grow. To succeed and even to fail sometimes. I don’t NEED permission from
anyone else. — if I could just learn to integrate that line until it becomes a part of me and I
don’t have to struggle to remember it every time I take a step.
Easy to say, harder to live – but all of this energy out in the blogosphere compels me to try.
.-= Renae C´s last blog ..Gathering the Threads =-.
Went to Jeannie’s blog and read the post. Beautiful. Yes, far easier said than done; but also far more beautiful lived than imagined! I’m SO with you!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this, Ronna. In tandem with Kelly Diels’ post today, it contributed to some significant insights into what the work of my heart really is and how speaking my truth is the ultimate act of love.
.-= April´s last blog ..Speaking the Truth & The Work of My Heart =-.
I’m so glad, April…and to be in the mix with Kelly is always a thrill! Follow your heart, for sure!!!
thanks for sharing those words. exactly what i needed to hear…feel like i’m emerging from a cocoon and stepping into that next season of life, you know?
that’s DEF-initely a “must buy” book. looking forward to hearing the conversation.
peace:-)
ije: thanks for being here! The cocoon is a good place for a time, isn’t it; but when we’re ready to take flight? Breathtaking!!! Fly!