I’ve recently had a little break from writing blog posts, and despite committing to a weekly series on the rising feminine, I’ve decided that this is ok.
Rest is such a crucial - even if under-appreciated - gift that we can give ourselves.
However, before coming to this conclusion, I was in a state of stress because I hadn’t written a weekly blog post… I was berating myself and forcing myself to write something and get it out asap. My mind was in overdrive, and insisted that I must meet my weekly commitment at all costs - even though I was feeling pretty exhausted and depleted at the time.
But then I realised how silly this was. No one was going to die, nothing would fall apart and the world would not end if I missed a week – and in fact, this continual go, go, go and do, do, do model is the exact opposite of the philosophy of the rising feminine that I feel called to teach and write about.
Feminine energy is related to states such as being, feeling, flowing, the wisdom of the body, replenishment and receiving, while masculine energy is related to states such as doing, thinking, initiating, the intellect of the mind, taking action and giving.
And regardless of whether you identify as a woman, a man, non-binary, gender fluid, trans or something else entirely, everyone innately has feminine and masculine energy and qualities within them. Neither is better than the other and both are needed to be a healthy balanced person, and for the healthy functioning of society as a whole.
Unfortunately, under patriarchy however, feminine qualities and energies have been devalued and suppressed. This means that on both an individual and societal level, we have become unbalanced and lopsided – highly valuing our masculine sides and highly devaluing our feminine sides.
I could see this very dynamic playing out for me internally in my push and mental commitment to work (masculine) versus my body’s desire and need for rest and replenishment (feminine). Luckily in this instance, I was eventually able to let go of the mental chatter of my masculine mind of what I thought I had to do, and surrender to the quiet intuition of my feminine – which wisely does know when is a good time to act and when is a good time for rest.
Giving myself this much-needed rest allowed me to be rejuvenated, as well as write a much better and more authentic blog post anyway. So thank you feminine side!
While this is a very small example, I see this dynamic playing out every day for many people in all sorts of ways; the rising of the feminine is bringing with it a crucial rebalancing of feminine and masculine energies within us all. And learning about - or more accurately unlearning - our ingrained patriarchal ways of being and doing applies to almost everything. An over-saturation of masculine values, such as always needing to be doing something and/or always needing to be “on” and active in some way, dictate so much of our behaviours and decision making – and for the most part, we are largely unaware of it.
Our patriarchal-informed workplaces also reflect this, and ignore the reality of our natural human cycles. Often we are expected to be on 24/7, week after week, month after month – available to check emails at all times of the day, and work the same number of hours every day, every week, every month and every year.
This is just not natural nor healthy.
I’d like to be part of the development of new models of being and working in business that reflect a healthy balance of masculine and feminine energies. One way I feel I can do this is by intentionally designing and planning my business around a cyclic model of working and resting – accepting that there will times for working and times for resting, and that this will change week-to-week and month-to-month and even year-to-year. Plus teaching my masculine side not to get extremely frustrated and stressed when I can see my To Do list piling up!
So…. don’t be surprised if some weeks you don’t hear from me, as my feminine will be having a grand old restful time.
From my feminine side to yours, I wish you a restful and rejuvenating week!
If you like this blog post, you might also enjoy my book The Patriarchy Illusion: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Spiritual Feminism.