If You Want to Change the World, Love a Woman

If you want to change the world… love a woman-really love her.
Find the one who calls to your soul, who doesn’t make sense.
Throw away your check list and put your ear to her heart and listen.
Hear the names, the prayers, the songs of every living thing-
every winged one, every furry and scaled one,
every underground and underwater one, every green and flowering one,
every not yet born and dying one…
Hear their melancholy praises back to the One who gave them life.
If you haven’t heard your own name yet, you haven’t listened long enough.
If your eyes aren’t filled with tears, if you aren’t bowing at her feet,
you haven’t ever grieved having almost lost her.

If you want to change the world… love a woman-one woman
beyond yourself, beyond desire and reason,
beyond your male preferences for youth, beauty and variety
and all your superficial concepts of freedom.
We have given ourselves so many choices
we have forgotten that true liberation
comes from standing in the middle of the soul’s fire
and burning through our resistance to Love.
There is only one Goddess.
Look into Her eyes and see-really see
if she is the one to bring the axe to your head.
If not, walk away. Right now.
Don’t waste time “trying.”
Know that your decision has nothing to do with her
because ultimately it’s not with who,
but when we choose to surrender.

If you want to change the world… love a woman.
Love her for life-beyond your fear of death,
beyond your fear of being manipulated
by the Mother inside your head.
Don’t tell her you’re willing to die for her.
Say you’re willing to LIVE with her,
plant trees with her and watch them grow.
Be her hero by telling her how beautiful she is in her vulnerable majesty,
by helping her to remember every day that she IS Goddess
through your adoration and devotion.

If you want to change the world… love a woman
in all her faces, through all her seasons
and she will heal you of your schizophrenia-
your double-mindedness and half-heartedness
which keeps your Spirit and body separate-
which keeps you alone and always looking outside your Self
for something to make your life worth living.
There will always be another woman.
Soon the new shiny one will become the old dull one
and you’ll grow restless again, trading in women like cars,
trading in the Goddess for the latest object of your desire.
Man doesn’t need any more choices.
What man needs is Woman, the Way of the Feminine,
of Patience and Compassion, non-seeking, non-doing,
of breathing in one place and sinking deep intertwining roots
strong enough to hold the Earth together
while she shakes off the cement and steel from her skin.

If you want to change the world… love a woman, just one woman .
Love and protect her as if she is the last holy vessel.
Love her through her fear of abandonment
which she has been holding for all of humanity.
No, the wound is not hers to heal alone.
No, she is not weak in her codependence.

If you want to change the world… love a woman
all the way through
until she believes you,
until her instincts, her visions, her voice, her art, her passion,
her wildness have returned to her-
until she is a force of love more powerful
than all the political media demons who seek to devalue and destroy her.

If you want to change the world,
lay down your causes, your guns and protest signs.
Lay down your inner war, your righteous anger
and love a woman…
beyond all of your striving for greatness,
beyond your tenacious quest for enlightenment.
The holy grail stands before you
if you would only take her in your arms
and let go of searching for something beyond this intimacy.

What if peace is a dream which can only be re-membered
through the heart of Woman?
What if a man’s love for Woman, the Way of the Feminine
is the key to opening Her heart?

If you want to change the world…love a woman
to the depths of your shadow,
to the highest reaches of your Being,
back to the Garden where you first met her,
to the gateway of the rainbow realm
where you walk through together as Light as One,
to the point of no return,
to the ends and the beginning of a new Earth.

~Lisa Citore

What a beautiful poem. It's a good reminder that femininity has an important place in today's society and that we should all strive to achieve a healthy balance of feminine and masculine qualities in our lives. Some might disagree with me on this, but I believe that the new wave of American feminism seeks to eradicate (or at least downplay) more "feminine" qualities (that includes being sensitive, intuitive, cooperative, soft, graceful, and motherly) in favor of more "masculine" ones (being assertive, strong, rational, logical, dominant, and a provider). Why not strive to achieve both feminine and masculine qualities in our lives? 

Perhaps it's the separation that makes some people uncomfortable, because they don't like classifying certain traits as inherently "feminine" or "masculine" (or don't think that they should be classified that way anyway), and I get that. However, I would also posit that this discomfort is a byproduct of American feminism, which encourages us to value one set of qualities over another, thus making "feminine" qualities seem less appealing or a sign of weakness. This poem reminds us that our feminine side has a lot to offer. The line "love a woman" can be interpreted literally, or we can think of it metaphorically, as a call to embrace the feminine power within all of us and to trust our emotions and intuitions as much as we trust the more logical and rational parts of ourselves.

If you'd like to learn more about the author of this poem, Lisa Citore, you can visit her website here. She's also written the counterpart to this poem, "If You Want to Change the World, Love a Man" which is available here.

Summer Stir-Fry With Red Curry Sauce

Ah, summer.  The season of bell peppers, vine-ripened tomatoes, summer squash, eggplants, basil…the list goes on. For me, nothing beats summer produce. The summer harvest is so versatile and makes meals that are amazingly refreshing. It’s as if mother nature said “Hey, we know you don’t want to be standing in front of a hot oven right now, so here, have some foods that are better eaten raw or cold anyway!” Besides all of the wonderful salads you can throw together with this produce, there are also some tasty stir-fries you can make when you are in the mood for something quick and easy (since it never gets very hot here in the summertime, we really don’t mind using our stove most days, but this might not be the best recipe for those battling 90+ degrees…)

As I was pondering what to make for dinner tonight, I remembered that I had a bottle of Thai Red Curry sauce from Trader Joe’s sitting in my pantry and a fridge full of summer veggies from our CSA box last week, so here’s what we put together (this recipe is super flexible depending on what you have on hand, so don’t hesitate to play around with the amounts and ingredients):

Summer Stir-Fry with Thai Red Curry Sauce

Ingredients

·      3-5 summer squashes (depending on size), chopped

·      1 small or medium-sized eggplant, chopped

·      ½ yellow onion, chopped

·      3 garlic cloves, minced

·      1 or 2 bell peppers

·      a few tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)

·      Pre-made bottle of Thai Red Curry sauce (you can find it at Trader Joe’s, or you can use the Thai Kitchen paste that they sell at most grocery stores, or you make your own curry sauce: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Thai-Red-Curry-Paste-109465)

·      2-4 tablespoons of fresh cilantro or basil

Sauté the above veggies in the oil over medium heat until tender (10-15 minutes), covering the plan occasionally to steam them. When they’re done, add the curry sauce and serve over rice. Top with chopped cilantro or basil. Tofu or chicken would work well with this recipe as well. Enjoy!

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