I’ve been thinking a lot about why I am — and we are — so dearly afraid of loosing our lips and saying what’s so. On the surface, I think we all fear being shamed or rejected for sticking out our neck to speak up.
But if we dig deeper, I think the real fear is being hurt or even killed for our truth.
Most of what I’m up to and reading and thinking about this month — which I’m excited to share with you below — is about truth. Yours, mine, ours. Finding it. Telling it, speaking it, and advocating for it. Saying no to the self-betrayal that staying silent often is.
Says Audre Lorde, a realization that shores up my soul:
“I was going to die, if not sooner, then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you.”
“Because the machine will try to grind us into dust anyway, whether or not we speak. We can sit in out corners mute forever while our sisters and ourselves are wasted, while our children are distorted and destroyed, while our earth is poisoned, we can sit in our safe corners as mute as bottles, and still we will be no less afraid.”
{“The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” by Audre Lorde}
Emerging Women
Thursday-Sunday, October 5-8, 2017
Denver, CO
If you can’t get your actual butt there to this powerful, immersive conference with headliners like bell hooks, Elizabeth Gilbert, Esther Perel, Alicia Garza, Sera Beak, (and me!), consider joining (free) by livestream.
The talk and workshop I get to present at EW will really test my theory, which is that when I say something so unsayable in its controversy, or so repulsive in what it reveals about me, that the direct opposite of my worst fears comes true. Instead of being roasted or flayed, I hear — along with a long exhale — “thank you.” Instead of turning away from me, people sidle up to and snug in with their own truth.
Mama Truth Show
The Feminine Genius of Motherhood
I don’t usually get to talk too much in interviews about the strange and wondrous ride of motherhood, let alone admit to some things that might get me kicked out of the Sacred Mom’s Club, or even crow about other things that were really hard won and I’m super proud of myself for.
I learn so much about truth-telling from my friend Amy Ahlers. Everyone needs a big scoop of Amy in their life, especially around, as she says, “the messiness and magic of motherhood.”
The Jen Mavros Show
Feminine Genius
Jen is just lovely. Her mission, which I love, is “to Love Humanity Forward.” We discuss the messy and the beautiful pieces of life, our humanity and our divinity, our bodies and our sensuality.
At one point, we tip our hats to Neale Donald Walsch (remember Conversations with God?) for popularizing the meme that you can talk to the Divine directly, sans middleman, which I take a bit further (maybe too far??) with all this Feminine Genius bizniss. Turns out my podcast episode is Episode #26, the second one after Neale Donald Walsch’s!
Listen to this audio clip to whet your appetite before you join for the whole burrito:
The Art of Receiving
Masterclass series
You are going to love Anahita Joon (if you don’t already), and our rich conversation about how most women (me and Anahita included!) can go our whole lives with a nagging feeling that something is missing — which is kinda true!
We get so caught up in giving, trying to be perfect, and never asking for help that we become unable to receive the gifts that are meant for us (and that we’ve been working our tails off for). The truth is, when we keep the doors to receiving slammed shut, lives go unchanged and destinies go unmet. Receiving used to make me squirm and deflect, and I’ve been repeatedly amazed at what doors it opens when I do too.
EMBODIED with Jenna Ward
Turning On Your Feminine Genius in Business
Jenna and I do some intrepid exploring into what it means to be an embodied woman in our bodies, bedrooms & biz. How the heck to let our bodies lead? Cultivate the power of pleasure? Enter the full spectrum of ourselves? Love our shames and shadows as much as our leaps and light?
Jenna confirms once again for me that Aussies are awesome.
To your loose and lucid truth,
