I guess I would feel better if it had of been "International Feminine Energy Day" instead of "Woman's" Day. That's what I feel we should honor and celebrate. And that type of energy can be every bit as evident in males of the species as females. In fact, maybe if we could recognize that all of us have aspects that are both feminine and masculine, we could find the balance in the middle.
A lot of people feel that some of the shifting and adjustment going on in the universe lately is a switching over to a more feminine energy atmosphere. There is a belief that we are becoming, or perhaps struggling to become, more nurturing, less competitive, more collectively concerned, and cooperatively focused, than driven by power elites as we move into the Aquarius Age. Lucia Rene writes about this in her book, Unplugging the Patriarchy. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-unplugging-patriarchy.html
As Rene writes, this doesn't really have to be about a "tug of war", but I think a lot of times we turn it into that and create some fear, discomfort, and perhaps unnecessary, angst. I guess to some extent I think declaring a day to be International Women's Day sets up the idea that there must be an opposing team. And when that opposing team feels threatened they start to pull in the opposite direction and before you know it we have committees, movements, protests, and ... wars. That doesn't seem to be highlighting the positive feminine energy aspect to me. In fact, that feels a bit like "matching the other side".
I've watched a lot of tug-of-war matches. In my part of the world, this is a highly competitive game that is actually played by grown-ups (sort of!) during farming exhibitions. Usually all participants are wearing plaid shirts and Kodiak boots. The teams are distinguishable by the color of plaid they are wearing (red, blue, or green are the most common). They pull on a huge thick rope across a line drawn in the mud. It's typically played in the same arena where the cows, bulls, and horses are showed, worked and displayed earlier in the day. Usually someone goes out with a shovel in-between events and cleans up the manure- but not always. Maybe you're starting to get the picture?
The thing is that both sides are just pulling against each other and a line drawn in the sand. There is no real price, there is not real "thing" to be controlled, it's just a pull until one side is quite literally "brought to their knees" at which point the other team is declared the winner. Hmmm...
There is one person on each team that is called the "anchor" position. This person is often the biggest or heaviest person. They take the position at the end of the rope for their side. They usually wrap that rope around their waist and just "plant" themselves at the end of the line to be fairly immovable. When their side starts to get an advantage, they turn and run or drag in the opposite direction from the way the team is being pulled attempting to add momentum and pull the other team over the line.
Perhaps we had some pretty strong anchors that needed to be dislodged or shaken off their feet. I recognize the fact that a lot of pioneering women did a lot of dragging and pulling to shake things up so feminine energy would be even recognized let alone valued. I realize there are parts of the world where the anchors still need to be dislodged. But once that anchor has been pulled up, I'm not sure we have to keep dragging everyone through the mud.
There are a lot of strategies that can be employed to play tug of war. It isn't always just about brute strength. Sometimes the game is won by intelligence, manipulation, and crafty deception. You can let the other team think they are gaining advantage by letting up a bit on your pull. The other side gets confident and stops puling quite so hard. That's when you jerk the rope a bit and go with everything you've got and take the other side off balance. I wonder if masculine energy is starting to feel that off-balance feeling these days? Sometimes if you exert equal effort and then quite suddenly let go, the other side falls backward- flat on their butts because they have been bracing against you. This can help you win the game, or it can give you a "potato masher scar". I've learned that the hard way. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.com/2010/12/letting-go-vs-giving-up-lessons-learned.html Sometimes letting go, gives you everything you wanted.
The thing about playing tug-of-war is that it's done on a horizontal playing field. There can be no height advantage to either team or it's not fair. It's much easier to pull someone downhill than it is to pull them up.
The thing is that if you have a height advantage, you can use the same rope to pull that other team up to your level. Hmm....
Maybe we should take a look at the ground we're standing on. Maybe feminine energy has a bit of a height advantage because of shifting forces, attention, collective consciousness, and the efforts and struggles of past wars. Maybe, instead of dragging masculine energy through the mud, we should use the rope of feminine intelligence, nurturing, caring and creativity to pull up on the rope up so everyone can be on an equal and higher level. Maybe when we get to the top of that hill we can find that's it soft and grassy instead of dark and muddy. Maybe we can leave the cow patties behind.
Once we get the other team up there, we might find that we can use their strength and intelligence in equal , balanced, ways. If we let go of the rope once we all have our feet on the ground, we might realize there's nothing left to tug about.
I'm not suggesting we don't have gender issues in parts of the world. What I am suggesting is that we might be better focused by using feminine energy to pull people up rather than tugging against something. I'm suggesting we use the emerging collective, nurturing energy and pull that to us so we can bring everyone to a softer, more aesthetically pleasing place. I'm suggesting we might be able to look past gender and just see people as people if we really tapped into feminine energy and Wise Woman, grounded wisdom.
Just being female doesn't mean you are displaying feminine energy any more than being male means you are displaying male energy. We aren't on opposing teams unless we draw that line in the mud. We all have both types of energy at our disposal and once we can all find the balance, I believe we'll be in a better place. I don't believe it's about pulling another team to their knees or dragging them through the mud. It's about lifting the other team up, celebrating their attributes, and acknowledging how their energy contributes to us achieving our goals.
So I guess I'd like it to be declared, "International Energy Day". What I would like to celebrate is all forms of energy; feminine, masculine, seen, unseen, human, and nature, in no level of order or hierarchy. Maybe if we took out the idea of there being teams, we could just celebrate the ability to make the world a better place and we wouldn't have to pick a side. Maybe we could just celebrate balance and find that in doing so we could bring that into manifestation. Maybe we could "let go" before that rope gets so frayed and weak in the middle that both teams fall flat on their butts in the dirt.
Your post is spot on. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I very much enjoyed reading it.
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