HomeHomeJanuary 2001
Happy New Year! We made it to the "official" new millennium! Here in Minnesota, we're digging out from one of the snowiest winters in recent memory. We've also been reminiscing about events from the past year, and wondering what this new year will hold. It's a natural time for reflection.
January is named after the Roman god, Janus, who had two faces, one on each side of his head--he was able to look both forward and backward! He was known as the god of transitions, and presided over the progression from past to future.
We seem to be at an interesting new beginning, as one Presidential era slowly fades away and a new one is about to begin. What will our collective American future hold? Are we headed for a serious economic downturn, as some of the pundits predict and some of the warning signs indicate? We want to continue with the good life for as long as we can, yet we seem to forget that our economy, like nature itself, cycles through good years and bad years.
However, along with the uncertainties of the "new economy," the accelerated of change in the Information Age is another source of stress. Can we keep up financially, intellectually, and emotionally with all this change? We Americans work hard enough as it is; how can we cope with the many challenges we face?
And what about our own personal hopes and dreams in this changing world? Women are the caregivers of the world, and our energies are constantly being pulled in different directions--among work, family, and friends, to name a few. We tend to be so hard on ourselves for not being "perfect" or having perfect bodies, spouses, children, friends, pets, homes or jobs. How can we accomplish everything we need to do? There isn't enough time!
One way is to consciously carve out some "alone" time for ourselves. This can be a terrifying paradox to an American. We are so busy doing, that we often miss the joy of just "being". Going within to examine our own thoughts, beliefs, and values can be disturbing. Yet, in the silence, we discover our true natures. The end result can be ultimately rewarding.
Joan Anderson, author of A Year By The Sea: Thoughts of An Unfinished Woman, had had enough of her "caregiver" role, and left her old life (and her husband) behind for one year to get back in touch with herself. She reclaimed her life, her sense of self, and her marriage too. In her book, she writes about lessons learned from nature:
"Just beneath where I sit is a remarkable site: a perfectly drawn circle in the smooth sand, created by one blade of swaying beach grass being moved by the wind. It is just as if someone had taken a draftsman's compass to draw a radius. Fledgling beach grass is a marvel. I can only imagine how difficult it was for it to become so deeply rooted, so much of its growth hidden, a survivor of storms, shifting sands, and wild seas. Perhaps this is meant to be a sign for me, maybe even of the marriage in which I have come full circle, engaging my senses like so many tufts of beach grass to bring me to the center of myself. I feel as still and sure as the axis of a wheel, both in and out of relationship, wishing no longer to meddle with the workings of fate but to remain in the hub while the elements do the work.
Powerful messages are available in a place where strife is more common than peace, where impermanence reigns and all that lives is subject to change and erasure. I feel a kinship with this environment as I, too, have made change my friend."Unfortunately, not all of us have the luxury to chose to live at the beach for a year. Sometimes our "time off" is forced upon us by outside circumstances. Former academic Don Snyder wrote a brutally honest account of his search for employment and meaning after the painful experience of being laid off. In The Cliff Walk: A Job Lost and A Life Found, he reflects on his life late one night as he watches his young daughter:
"When I looked down at her again, she was sleeping. To the west that June night, beyond the shadows of our trees and barn there were lights on in a few of the houses across the valley. Small pinpricks of light in the darkness. A modern man on the make knows little about his neighbors, and I had barely memorized their names in the different places where we had lived, but tonight I felt a peculiar sympathy with the people around me. How small we all are in the darkness in the dead of night, I thought. And how ferocious our urge to light our way. Sometimes we don't even know the weight of what we're carrying ourselves in our need to claim and reclaim our own lives. I looked at my daughter and hoped that in her life as a woman she would find moments like this one, moments of being, when what was right next to her was enough to keep her from asking for more. I hoped that she would not be carried off by the desires that had carried me from place to place, never satisfied, always waiting for life to match our expectations."
Life doesn't always match our expectations, but that doesn't make our journeys less meaningful or poignant. It doesn't make our worth as humans any less if the outer circumstances of our lives don't perfectly match the rich potential within us. The answers aren't always "out there" in our material possessions. We just have to come to terms with our lives as they are--right here, right now--in the present moment.
In A Return to Love, author Marianne Williamson says:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."So, in the new year, let's resolve to be kind to ourselves by carving out some quality time. And let's have some fun along the way. We don't have to be perfect at all times, we just need to enjoy the ride a bit more.
Teresa
Here are some interesting tidbits for January:
Newsweek has done story on Oprah, who is changing the world by listening to women's hopes and dreams. Her O magazine continues to be popular, featuring articles with titles such as "Are You Listening to Your Life? True Stories of Transformation."
Mode magazine is an interesting read because the models in the features look like "real" women--with women-sized breasts, and hips and curves, unlike the unrealistic images of women that we're accustomed to seeing in the movies, and on television. The January issue asks us to "Free Your Mind....Love Your Body".
This month, Marie Claire takes a bold new step in asking its readers to join their "Peace on Earth" campaign.If you have the time and energy or finances to donate to your favorite causes, the following resources may be helpful:
Helping.org is an excellent place to start. And Charity America also offers access to volunteer networks on their site.
The National Charities Information Bureau's mission is to "promote informed giving and to enable more contributors to make sound giving decisions." The NCIB believes that donors need accurate information about the charitable organizations that solicit their support. This organization states that "well-informed givers will ask questions and make judgments that will lead to an improved level of performance by charitable organizations." They also offer tips on giving.
Better Business Bureau offers a Philanthropic Advisory Service on their site.
The Council on Foundations supports foundations by "promoting knowledge, growth and action in philanthropy."
The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is the national repository of data on the nonprofit sector in the United States. Its mission is to "develop and disseminate high-quality data on nonprofit organizations and their activities for use in research on the relationships between the nonprofit sector, government, the commercial sector, and the broader civil society."
In late 1999, the Christian Science Monitor tracked the 50 largest charities in the United States.
Charity Watch is an "independent organization dedicated to assisting those who have made the decision to give of themselves through charitable contributions." It offers info on how to read an organization's annual report.
The Center for the Study of Philanthropy, Graduate School and University Center at the City University of New York has a wealth of information on the topic, including a special section on women.Teresa
tcallies@hotmail.com
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