March 8 is International Women’s Day: celebrate your inner Shakti

In my home country – women of all ages are honored with flowers, small gifts and early release from school and work (my earliest memory – a bar of fancy soap from my first little man in 3rd grade – Ilya=precious).

In my spiritual home (ancient tantric tradition) – the female principle is called

SHAKTI : it represents creative energy

She is never stationary, always moving, becoming, creating and changing. She is the force of change. She is change.

She is balanced by SHIVA – male principle representing space (=container). He is never changing, always stable, always quiet, always observing his Shakti’s creative process,  containing her movements in a safe space.

Some of us have that balance in embodied life. And some – seek it. Through change, of course.

Change is often given a negative connotation as shallow, temporary, something to transcend and overcome. But, in fact, change is necessary for continuity of Life – it IS life. The very Nature maintains it’s existence by continuously transitioning. And yet the word “transition”, when spoken in the same sentence with a person’s name, is usually accompanied by a somber look or, at the very least, a raised brow. Being in transition myself, I connect with new people, and most of them confess that they, too, are “in transition”.  And have been for some time…

“Transition” has come to mean:
– from married to single
– from corporate job to self-employment
– from busy Mom to empty nester
– from healthy to chronically ill
– from one gender to another
– from (X)sexual to (U)sexual
– from youth to old age
– from famous to “washed up”
– from life to death
– ahem… purgatory

“Transition” has come to mean something scary or difficult. Something undesirable. And with that stigma, here we are – struggling to welcome our own process of change, becoming, creating and recreating ourselves! Getting stuck because of that resistance in a perpetual limbo!

The truth is – NO ONE has it together. Even the most accomplished of them all. Everyone is in transition. Everyone is swept up in Shakti’s dance. Sometimes for years. For an entire life. And it’s OK. It’s natural. It’s healthy. Change is good. It’s OK to not have it together. That, too, will change. But, until it does – I want to embrace transitioning friends – and in my heart of hearts deeply celebrate their birthing pains. I want to wipe their tears and whisper in their ear: ‘don’t stop’.
I don’t want life on Earth to stop.

I hereby wish you a Happy International Women’s day! And I invite you to celebrate HER in you – celebrate your changing nature, the uncertain, unknown, unpredictable, moody, undesired and uncharted TRANSITION. She is the Beauty who keeps the word going round and round. Please, continue to continue…

As for Shiva… Is there an International Men’s Day ;)?