Roger B. Burt's Blog, page 44

Peace Through Empowerment of Women

Why have we failed to notice the empowerment movement?

Achieving Partnership

The empowerment of women worldwide is an underreported process of unprecedented importance. To the degree that its import is recognized, we see highly beneficial effects on relationships, families, communities and countries. While our attention is drawn to such things as what may be the beginning of a hundred years war in the Middle East and the absurdity and shame of our national politics, we may be missing the da...

Empowerment and Partnership

The empowerment of women across the globe brings us the potential for the creation of true partnership between men and women. It may also bring us a transformation of the future of humankind. The empowerment is real and I put it in a mythic context in a speculative fiction trilogy. The first book has been published. The Kindle version and the paperback of Gaia’s Majesty: Discovery – An Unbearable Choice is available on Amazon. Please join in for commentary, revelations and explorations on m...

The New World With Women

My plan was to hold new posts until the first of the year, but tonight on the Stephen Colbert Show, I saw an affirmation of something important that is happening. Tonight Samantha Power was on with Stephen. In case you don’t know, she is our ambassador to the United Nations.

She came out in a dress thatwhat I would call split skirt. That meant in places it was quite short (but I have to say tasteful). She had long hair and was wearing boots. Her presentation was anything butsevere. She then...

Alternatives to Reality

Do you believe in alternative realities?

Fertile Imaginations

Of course we are clever and imaginative creatures. We have the capacity to deal with things other than reality. We have imaginations and can explore alternatives. Such an ability is useful not just in what we call creative endeavors. It serves us in hard sciences as well because we think of things not yet established as fact or even functional.

Literature of various kinds are telling. For example we tell stories about ghosts and...

Reality – Who Needs It?

Wonderment

Our birth is a cruel process. It was cozy in there. Nurturance in all forms was assured and it was nice and warm. No wonder we complain at birth. But, of course, we have to wonder what this place is that we suddenly landed in. There were these strange moving objects doing things to us and making what we came to know were noises which meant speech. It was time to adjust to a new reality although we didn’t know what to call it or even that it had a name.

Preparing for the World

Wha...

The Meaning of Uprising

Commitment to Partnership

The work of Carl Jung and the meaning of myth had a significant role in my creation of the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy. Book 1 Gaia’s Majesty: Discovery – An Unbearable Choice has now been published and is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. It is clear in these works how deeply I feel about the empowerment of women and that it leads to wonderful partnerships benefiting us all. The cloak of the book is woven in myth but the underlying reality speaks to the essence of our existence.

There are often layers of meaning concerning events which creep up on us. It is almost surely true about what is happening with women in the world.

The Dawn of a Final Essential Struggle

There is a new day dawning for women and it is involving considerable struggle because men are not yielding easily. The story is detailed in Sally Armstrong’s book Uprising: A New Age Is Dawning for Every Mother’s Daughter. There are cultural restraints, resistance of all kinds and so many men are clearly opposed to having women gain equality. Their opposition is often cloaked in expressions of concern and statements about the vulnerability of women and their supposed needs. The bottom line, however, is opposition which may simply be a matter of yielding power.

In the United States we saw women’s suffrage but the time of greatest demands came in the 1960s. There is a whole detailed history leading to women rising to the degree apparent now. And what is particularly interesting is that the changes are coming across the world.

Enhancing the Potential of Our Species

One contention is that it is not just a matter of events or possibilities but that there is an inherent demand in regard to women coming of age and power. Humankind has reached a point where major changes must occur. We have been wasting the full potential of half our people and we need women to join us at every level. And as they join us the birth rate declines. Gone are the days when we simply needed more people to claim more land. We need fewer people to build a sustainable life style and to protect our treasured home, Earth.

Are We Looking at Enhancement or Survival

In that form of thinking we have the possibility that from a survival standpoint of our species it is time and essential that women join men in equality and full partnership. Only in time will men appreciate the full benefits.

Lessons from Paris

Gaia’s Majesty: Discovery now available at Amazon.com

 

The Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy has a number of roots. One of them was mythology and the meaning which it so often conveys about who we are and who we might become. There were also other themes and messages including the empowerment of women, the inevitability of struggle and the value of stewardship. Recent events display flows in human life which are instructive and important. We can learn from them.

Celebrating Life and Courage

Last night in Paris the city was alive with activity. Couples and families were visiting the memorial sites for the victims of the recent terrorist attacks. They placed flowers and lit candles. And nearby were the young playing music and dancing in the streets. The cafes and restaurants were overflowing.

France has experienced terror and is not terrorized. They are fighting back with raids and arrests, remembrances and celebration of life. America can learn from the French. It would appear that we are living in fear. Petty politicians are preying on fear as they use the recent events for personal political gain. Their manipulations and words invoke racism and ethnic prejudice. We are reminded of our internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Remembering Our Heritage

I am embarrassed for America. We are better than this. A nation of immigrants who believe in freedom should understand about compassion and facing down tyranny of whatever form whether it is by terrorists or manipulative politicians. Certainly we need vigilance but the fear and political invocation of prejudice is merely furthering the agenda of the terrorists.

Friends in Paris sent us this: #cometoparis

Are We Seeing a Denouement?

 

In symbolic form the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy poses a fundamental possibility. Can it be that the worldwide empowerment of women indicates that humankind has reached a denouement in our development?

A Succession Is Possible

And now comes the carnage in Paris where despicable animals, without morals, attacked. They value only their own power and death. In fact, they do not honor or represent Islam. The occurrence of such a movement often indicates tensions which occur in history between the bassest instincts and a coming succession which empowers and elevates a people. In this instance those people are humanity—collectively.

The ISIS, so-called, “caliphate” demonstrates the lowest form of our worst animal instincts. We are more than that and, in time, will dismiss these nihilists from the human stage.

Universal Forces

In the trilogy I clarify two universal forces. One is the Mysterium which is the marvelous, enrapturing quality of women when they bewitch us, bringing us into a passionate partnership and the creation of new life. It is creative and fulfilling. Another universal force is the Maelstrom which is the destructive force closer to men. It is truly destructive but has a creative side seen in the appearance of new planets and suns when galaxies collide along with the creation of stardust as suns explode which shapes new beginnings such as ourselves.

I see the arrival of ISIS, with all its horror, as a possible signal of a coming denouement. Surely humanity will not honor them and, in time, they will pass from the human stage. And if the Mysterium remains as the central force and women are empowered to bring true partnership between men and women then humanity may rise to a new level.

Fostering a Creation

Perhaps I am being overly romantic and hopeful but it appears in human history that great conflict often precedes and indicates denouement before the arrival of a new era. We can do more than hope. We can work for its creation as do the Tethyans in Gaia’s Majesty: Discovery.

ET

Vive La France. Nous aimons les gens Français.

Solidarité!

#cuspofreality,#womenrising,#empowermentofwomen,#gaia,#gaia’smajesty,

#gaia’smajestydiscovery,#anunbearablechoice,#gaia’smajestychallenge,

#thechosenrise,#gaia’smajestytransformation,#lifeforcesrevealed

The Empowerment of Women

 

How Can This Be? – Women Rising?

A Monumental Upwelling

I’ve struggled with how to begin this post. Did we see this coming? In some ways we did but now that it’s here we aren’t sure how the process will be fulfilled. And I must confess that I am not at all clear how I became so engaged in support of feminism.

My family of origin was not exactly a hotbed of feminism. My father was a renowned surgeon and my mother was the surgeon’s wife. She tended their social life and their two sons of which I was the younger. Nothing particularly forward leaning there.

Looking back I suppose my support of women came forward gradually. I was always the tallest kid in my class. I was a stick with no balance which meant I was terrible at sports. Sports did not engage me. I remember the day when I was watching two boys arguing with each other at home plate. Why it was that important escaped me. I thought we were passing time by playing a game. I folded my mitt under my arm and went home for good.

Piecing It Together

When I was a preschooler and in elementary school my best friend was Arlene. I always saw girls as friends and liked how they treated each other. And then, of course, came adolescence and a whole new wonderful relationship element opened. But the friendship element and respect remained.

College was when my feminism really began to flower. That time in Ann Arbor opened a new world. Tom Hayden, one of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society, was in my class and the protests of the coming reform movement were beginning. And the girls were definitely a part of it. And they were very much present in my graduate school class.

I am clear about one thing, it all came together when I took a job in the inner city of Baltimore in the 1960s. As one of the first people hired for the community mental health program I found there wasn’t much in the way of activity. I was shown to an office and found there was nothing to do. I went next door to talk to a newly hired social worker. She was a black woman who became my mentor. We went out into the streets of inner city Baltimore poverty. I tell that story in my book Whatever Happened to Community Mental Health which is available on Amazon. Roz was a guiding force but among the new hires were young psychiatric nurses who were assertive and determined. Our staff formed an activist core and women were very much a part of it. I believe this solidified my core of dedication to women rising.

Where do you stand on this issue?

#cuspofreality,#womenrising,#empowermentofwomen,#gaia,#gaia’smajesty,

#gaia’smajestydiscovery,#anunbearablechoice,#gaia’smajestychallenge,

#thechosenrise,#gaia’smajestytransformation,#lifeforcesrevealed

Expressiveness in Men and Women

 

How are your feelings manifested?

For most of my writing on the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy the story and the characters seemed to flow out of my brain. Well, let me correct that since I did do an outline and did take cues from Dara Marks’ arc. But often I felt on autopilot. Looking back it seems though that my right brain was dominant with a little assist from the left.

I wondered where my characterization of Avery, my lead female protagonist, came from. And I also had to look at how I characterized her guy, Beck. What I saw was that it came directly out of my work with couples in therapy of various kinds.

Recognizing Origins

Avery came out as a bright, dedicated woman but she could seem immature at times particularly when she was under stress. Of yes, having your life suddenly bombed and strafed and finding out you were part of an almost mythological body of humanity is stressful.

Certainly I wanted her to be interesting and to show emotions as she was swept out to sea as it were. But in working with couples I saw a characteristic difference overall between men and women. Women were more expressive of their emotions and the men seemed to be feeling less. Of course, what I learned over time was that they weren’t feeling less but merely showing it less. And, in fact, there is actually research supporting that observation. When physiological indicators are measured it becomes clear men are feeling just as strongly as women but contain it, often without tears.

So I was giving Avery free rein to show the emotional states she had to be having and Beck was more studied at least on the surface. The fact that she had a range of feelings, including some which might seem immature, was indicative of strength and not weakness. And the fact that Beck seemed more studied didn’t mean he cared less.

Our Truths Displayed Broadly

What was conveyed was human truth and we see it in places such as corporate or organizational meetings where women may be more volatile and, yes, emotional. When it occurs, the men often take it as a sign of weakness. Got it wrong guys. In fact, their own lack of expressiveness may be getting in the way of their homing in on the issue at hand. In some ways, with appropriate structure, laying out what we feel forthrightly helps us assess the matter at hand. Then we can move on to do the focused work needed.

The lesson is that, in writing, we might be less judgmental and more accepting of the flow which occurs. It displays how we are as people and the diversity we bring to our interactions. I’m sure Avery and Beck loved each other just that much more because of what they brought to the emotional table.

Where do you stand on the emotional landscape?

#cuspofreality,#womenrising,#empowermentofwomen,#gaia,#gaia’smajesty,

#gaia’smajestydiscovery,#anunbearablechoice,#gaia’smajestychallenge,

#thechosenrise,#gaia’smajestytransformation,#lifeforcesrevealed