Richmond,VA

Merry meet Friends!
Michelle here, bringing lots of love and light!

"Don't try to prove to everybody that the reason why you can't is that nobody could.  It's no excuse.  You can break the tradition by being the first person to make it happen!" ~ Israelmore Ayivor, Daily Drive 365

"It's quite a scary path to walk, when you have no one's past experience to lean on, or learn from.  It's all new and uncharted.  But nothing is finished unless it is started." ~ Innoceent Mwatsikesimbe, Reality Check: A Collection of Poems

"Great things often come from actions and decision taken by others, that are deemed wild, stupid or unreasonable at the time, but later prove to be very useful."  ~Innocent Mwatsikesimbe, The Reason

"Don't be a prisoner of the past, become a pioneer of the future." ~ Farshad Asi 


I'm still watching murder mysteries.  The latest is the Murdoch Mysteries set in Victorian-era Toronto.  Detective Murdoch was raised by Catholic nuns and is in a state of conflict between his religious upbringing and his scientific mind.  The forensic pathologist is a woman.  He admires her and is falling in love with her.  Her view of life is more open minded than his. Her name is Dr. Ogden.  She is from a wealthy family, has traveled extensively, is intelligent and bold.  She has chosen a career that most women in that era would not have chosen.  I admire that.

In one episode a doctor who has a facility for gifted people, made a statement about women.  He said, "Miss Pringle possesses an extraordinary brain for a woman.  Men have a brain capacity of up to 19% larger.  Women's brains are not designed for complex thought, their reproductive organs sapping energy from any further development."  Detective Murdoch asked if that had been proven, to which the doctor replied, there have been naysayers.  I said, "You think?"  Detective Murdoch doesn't buy into this theory because of Dr. Ogden.

There have always been women pioneers.  Women who forged ahead with their thoughts and ideas;  women who were thought to be crazy because of their ideas.  Some were even burned at the stake as witches, all because they knew certain herbs and plants could heal or kill; or because they intuitively knew things.  A term that was used to describe women's behavior was called "Female Hysteria" "Female hysteria was a once-common diagnosis, reserved exclusively for women, which is today no longer recognized by medical authorities as a medical disorder.  It's diagnosis and treatment were routine for many hundreds of years in Western Europe." (Wikipedia)    A woman having sexual thoughts, orgasms and engaging in masturbation were signs.  

Thank God/Goddess/All That Is, that this is no longer true!  Some may still believe it but it's not a diagnosis anymore.  No, what we most commonly hear now is:"It's that time of the month.".  Yes, it is true that women are highly sensitive at that time and rightly so.  It is a time when women receive dreams and visions if they pay attention. This is why women went into The Red Tent during biblical times.  It was in order for the women to come together to nurture one another and be free of the demands of society; a practice which would do well today.  Women are empathetic during their menses and can pick up on the vibrations of others.  This may be a reason for the off balance women feel at this time.  

We have all felt indignation about something, and some do something about it.  Those people,women and men, are considered pioneers if nothing had been done in the past.  I believe had I lived in what we call pioneer days, I would have gone in the covered wagon to new lands and new adventures.  I may be considered a pioneer in certain things that I have done but I haven't pioneered any sort of movement.  I have not acted on any indignation other than to speak to whomever would listen.  I am on a soapbox about women's issues though.  There have been many women activists who have inspired others to do the work they wish to do.  Here are a few:

Kishida Toshiko: Japan, 1863-1901, Writer and Activist
  "If it is true that  men are better than women because they are stronger, why aren't our sumo wrestlers in the government?" 

Carrie Chapman Catt: United Stataes, 1859-1947, President, National American Woman Suffrage Association
  "To the wrongs that need resistance, To the right that needs assistance, To the future in the distance, Give yourselves."

Rosa Parks: United States, 1913-2005, "First Lady of Civil Rights"
  "Each person must live their lives as a model for others."

Mother Teresa: Republic of Macedonia, 1919-1997, Missionaries of Charity
  "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."

Arundhati Roy: India, 1930 - , Author and Political Activist
   "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.  On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."


Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Liberia, 1938- , Africa's "Iron Lady", first female head of state
  "If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough."

Be inspired to go out and change the world, if only your world!

Until next Sunday, 
Merry part and merry meet again,
Blessed be,
Gypsi Mama Michelle