I go through cycles with online dating, periods where I am more active and lengths of time when I'd rather be secluded. All of the single women I know - and I suspect this transcends gender and relationship status - know what it means to be confronted with unenlightened sexuality. Unsolicited propositions from men I don't know and the derogatory assumptions they make about me despite the clarity of my intent can be damaging no matter how I may brace myself, rework their words into humor, or dismiss the ignorance in their motives. I do not take my womanhood in stride, and no one should feel she has to. This is an affirmation for all men seeking companionship.
by Liz Richards (writer)
Honor yourself.
Lead with love and perceptivity.
Honor your sex.
Treat your body with love as you honor the joyful sensations it brings to you.
Honor balance.
Know that what you take will be given back by will or by natural order, and what you put into the world will determine your experience.
Honor your feminine.
Be soft and allow your intuition to lead you in grace.
Honor your masculine.
Use your power to inspire. Let your energy be present. Listen always.
Honor your loneliness.
Take time to cultivate solitude to affirm the person you are. Do not yield to insecurities and self-doubts, but do acknowledge them. Your psyche knows what you want and what you need. Do listen.
Honor reciprocity.
Only take what you can digest, only serve what you can offer. View interaction not as a game, this way you will lose as often as you win. Be prepared instead to take delight in each experience for what it is - a veneration and reverent integration of two selves.
Honor her.
Know that she has also gone through this process. She too has come out the other side of heartbreak and degradation time and again and she too has an equal capacity for cynicism and serenity. She too has known passion as well as she has known complacency, and she too has an intent worthy of respect. How you interact with her will influence the cycle.
Honor life.
Our emotion, our intellect, our communication, and our sexuality are intimately connected. If one is injured, all are weakened. Live from joy.
Do good. Be good. Celebrate the good in every interaction.
*Paintings in this post are by Georgia O'Keeffe. See the source for details and for more artwork.
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