yule shopping

OHMYGODDESS!!! i actually shopped today and found most everything i needed. Now a lot of things i ordered offline.. like the cutest fingerless gloves, some animal totems and a cougar claw necklace and a few cool suncatchers...
But this is the year of PRACTICAL!!!! To remind yall, I have 9 kids..so this year is the year of SOCKS and underwear and shirts and pants. And so off to the new target i went and found ALL i needed,,, including a nice coat for one child.

I truly hate shopping..i usually shop by going in and getting what i need and out in record time..but i dont like wandering around aimlessly looking and looking.
this will be our first year in our new house (we moved here in Feb), it will be the 3rd year we have celebrated the Yule Season and the first year i am actually allowing a Yule Tree. But it has to be a Living tree that i can plant later.
I am searching for some really cool yule traditions and rituals, and ideas to celebrate winter solstice.

Truly Samhain is my fav celebration..but yule is fun too!!

susan enan

I LOVE her voice... and the song Bring on the wonder.
her myspace is:
susan enan

I love her very folksy type sound..

World March of Women Declaration - 25th November 2007 – The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

In our Women’s Global Charter for Humanity we, activists of the World March of Women, affirm the world that we are building. A world where, “all human beings live free of all forms of violence. No human being is the property of another. No person may be held in slavery, forced to marry, subjected to forced labour, trafficked, sexually exploited.”

On 25th November 2007 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – we are mobilised around the world to reassert the values of the Charter: freedom, peace, justice, solidarity and equality.

Rent

I love this Movie because of its honest perspective of human life. Life sucks sometimes, sucky choices, sucky consequences and sucky reality. But people can make the best of life and this is what this movies means to me...

i wanted to post some lyrics..

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure,
measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In
inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of love.


525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan. 525,600 minutes - how can you measure
the life of a woman or man?

In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried. In bridges he burned, or the way that she died.

It’s time now to sing out, tho the story never ends let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends.

Remember the love! Remember the love! Remember
the love! Measure in love. Seasons of love! Seasons of love.

---------


The Heart May Freeze Or It Can burn
The Pain Will Ease If I Can Learn
There Is no future
There Is no past
I Live this Moment As My Last
There's Only Us
There's Only This
Forget.Regret. Or Life Is Yours To Miss
No Other Road
No Other Way
No Day But Today
There's Only Yes
Only Tonight
We Must Let Go
To Know What is Alright
No Other Course
No Other Way
No Day But Today

I Cant control
My destiny
I Trust My Soul
My only goal
is just to be

There' only Now
There's Only Here
Give in To Love
Or Life in Fear
No Other Path
No Other Way
No Day But Today

Videos

what words these ladies can speak.. how powerful they are..how awesome it is to hear women speak of their reality and their passion.
And sometimes to rawness is what is so changing to me.

thoughts

I see this blog sorta coming together..in a meandering kind of way. I wanted to present LOTS of women, lots of voices, lots of amazing words and events of surprising courage.
I am asked do i agree with all on my blog...and my response is..do i need to? does it matter? Are these women less interesting if i dont?
No woman needs me to agree with their words and their actions... only believe in them. To walk alongside of them and just be there. Each of us has our own path... we all have experiences we agree to and we must have those in our life this time... So for me to tell any woman what she is doing or saying is Wrong...is WRONG.
How do i know anothers heart? or their deepest desires? How do i know anothers journey and the things that must be for her to Be HER??? How do i know that a glorious consequence is just waiting but first she must walk on fire....trudge through despair.....be alone in the middle of the night... lose sight of her self...... have a heart broken into a million pieces and her soul crying out for help??
I have been all these places....and thought how can it get better? WHY must i have this happen to me???
And then the universe spoke...and i knew.
this is my path..my journey...i am who i am because of my life.

What an awesome video!! Im gonna do it all someday!!!

holidays

I have such mixed feelings about this November celebration... the religious group that thanksgiving is created for were intolerant people. Murdered Native Americans and burned those Wicked witches!!
Since many of those horrid witches were midwives i take offense to that!!!
Even now we have the patriarchal system treating midwives with disdain and cruelty and if possible they would still burn them..instead they put them in jail whenever possible.
I have a hard time celebrating Thanksgiving with that thought in mind... but kids want turkey and lots of food so i get to rant and rail on about the murdering religious goons for awhile..and then we come together, bless the goddess for the food and for time to share it..and ENJOY!!!!

The full moon is on Saturday and i have met a friend who is interested in the same things i am..i am Delighted and she is close to my age!!! Mainly that means we have went throught a lot of things in life already, older kids. ex-husbands, religious background and wanting a more woman centered life... i know the Goddess has answered my desire for such a friend!!!

Namaste to all..and have a blessed day tomorrow in the Name of the Goddess

Feminism

What is feminism exactly?
to me it always been about womyn...centering life around womyn, refusing to see man as the model.
To filter everything through a womyns perspective. To be strong and honest and willing to say what needs to be said. Not to see men as THE ones in charge nor allow them to be in charge over my decisions or actions.
It is argued that to be a feminist one must be a lesbian.
I dont think sexual orientation is a criteria in being a feminist. I thought it was about BEING a womyn...and not our relationships. Being Strong, opinionated,loving,caring,kick-ass, defending the belief that womyn CAN be whatever they want to be or do what they want to. I thought it was about womyn centered choices, perspectives,attitudes,longings,motivations, ideas, words and about loving OURSELVES.
Why does who we sleep with MATTER? Does a feminist who is heterosexual need to BECOME lesbian to be taken seriously? To be allowed to enter into conversations about change in our world? to defend the rights of others including lesbians or not, to live their own lives as they want to? Why do i need to BE something i am NOT to satisfy someones elses idea of RIGHT?????
HOLD up..that sounds like patriarchy and i REJECT that..and I am ME. I refuse to become anything other than me. And i refuse to ask or demand someone become what they are not.
I adore womyn,,, i think they are strong and wonderful and perfectly made..i love their openness, their vulnerability, their emotions and their uppityness...their conversations and their hugs.
I have close womyn friends who i could hug all day because their love makes me know that i am loved back for my being a womyn also.

Uppity womyn are AWESOME!!!

Friendships

As women, we want close friendships with other women. I know for me as i get older, I want to build a community of women who will go through the ups and downs of life. Women to go into the crone age together and be powerfully uppity and strong. Energy that for years went into raising children can now go into being a presence in our community.
Sadly many friendships dont withstand time and changes. Women also go through midlife changes that can be transformations or crisis. In transformation, we morph into Who we are meant to be..in crisis we dont change because we are afraid of those around us who will judge. We are afraid we will not recognize ourselves and we will lose ourselves.
During a recent midlfe event, I figured out WHO i am...and where i want to go. Though i made plenty of mistakes, i dont consider them wrong..i consider them part of life.
Life is ever changing, ever moving forward and ever fluid. To mindfully be a part if life is hard to know how to do.

Having some time to relax...

in between births is nice but then i find myself looking at blogs and websites about birth, and women and feminism and loving every minute of it.
But some of the birth videos make me angry that women can be treated to disrespectfully and callously by a medical system that thinks women birth "down there".
Why are women allowing men ANY sayso in their health care? Why allow a male OB to decide what is best for your body? They can so quickly justify using the knife in one way or the others and often its done before a woman can consent.
The older i get, the more aware i am becoming of the world of women..and what that means to me. As my children get older and need me less, I can see myself becoming more devoted to feminist issues.
As a midwife, I already involve myself in many ways... but there is more to be done.