Honoring The Masculine

As I was falling asleep last night, constructing a very different blog post than the one you are currently reading, this thought popped into my head: "but what about the men??"….Which got me thinking in a totally opposite direction.  Now, I don't know what portion of my readership is represented by the masculine part of the population, but I know there are a few out there.  (Hello Men!  So happy you are here!)  I am aware that I talk a lot about feminine energy, the moon, women circles, and lady issues.  This is because it is the soul path I am on right now…the path to reclaiming and creating a more intimate relationship to my divine wild feminine being.  If you were to ask me who my target market is in my healing practice, women are the overriding gender.  

But I still love my men too.

So, in case there was any question, this post is to let the men know that I haven't forgotten about you.

There's some negative connotations to using the word "feminist" (and as you probably know by now, I proudly consider myself a feminist).  I'm not a bra-burning (I actually adore wearing a bra!), man-basher.  While I am against the oppression of hierarchical patriarchy and devaluing the feminine (a topic for another post!), I value and respect masculine energy and spirituality.  I believe each of us has the beautiful capacity to hold a balance of masculine and feminine within our being.  

My work in the world may be geared towards women most of the time, but I am also here to love up and support men.  Whatever gender you identify with and whatever your predominant energy is, I am here to hold space for you.  We are in this together and we need each other if we want to heal the world.  

A long while ago, I read a beautiful piece on the healing power of the masculine by Danielle LaPorte that really moved me (read her full post here).  She says, "Fierce.  Proud.  Soft.  The Masculine needs all three elements to rise.  If the Masculine has confidence without tenderness, it can turn to arrogance.  And then there's no real invitation for The Feminine to show up.  And all softness with no fierceness, well that doesn't give The Feminine a very safe resting place to unfold - and what The Feminine really, really wants to do, is unfold."

I have been blessed with some fierce, proud, tender men in my life.  Some have come and gone.  Some are sticking around for a good long time.   I want to acknowledge that I wouldn't be where I am today or who I am today without my men and without a good dose of masculine energy.  I see you.  I honor you.  I remember you.  I am grateful for you.  I value your friendship, your kinship, your love, your insights, your gifts, your strength.  I hold space for your shadows, your emotions, your vulnerability, and your fears.  Thank you for the lessons you've taught me and the support you've given me.  By giving witness to your masculinity, it also creates space to honor my own masculine energy, which often gets the shaft.  So thank you also for that.  And thank you for the the resting place so that I may unfold.  

So to the men who have crossed my path during the journey and to those who I am yet to meet… I love you.  Here's to you!  I send you gratitude and light as you travel throughout the rivers of this life.  (And thank you for being here, even when I wax poetic about cycles, and moons, and woman-things!)