Continuing with the subject from my last entry about women’s rights in the US and Iran…
There is a matriarchal society on a paradise island in the Arabian Sea off the Malabar Coast of southern India, called Lakshadweep. Women enjoy a lofty status on these islands. Property is passed from the mother to daughter and men can only be caretakers. Husbands are supposed to give a salary to their wives on a yearly basis, and if they fail to do that, the women can and do ask for divorces. I find it interesting that the islanders are Muslim, but the women are honored and in charge. Their manner of dress is simple and similar to the Muslims of Malabar coast.
I’d just be curious to visit a matriarchial society, even though it’s a very long and arduous journey to reach these 36 teeny islands off the coast of Kerala, India. The water is clear blue and the beaches sandy.
If you know of other matriarchial groups, send me a comment
Lenora's Italy Retreat blog | Lenora's Change Limiting Beliefs Website
Please join me in Italy where possibilities abound, to AWAKEN YOUR DREAMS and learn to live la dolce vita (the sweet life). In September we will spend 7 days in Italy with a group of like-minded women, to transform our lives in a workshop that I will lead where we will be adventurers on the inside and outside.
Lenora's Italy Retreat blog | Lenora's Change Limiting Beliefs Website
Feeling the holiday blues? Visit friends and family (that uplift you), or just step outside and breathe in some fresh air (even if it’s as cold as it is today) and take a walk (even just around the block). This is one simple step that will awaken your seratonin level and sizzle your level of happiness! In this first photo, my arms outspread, hiking in Boulder, Colorado with light coming up over the mountain trail and filling the sky. I felt blessed in the mountainous pine forest, but only after I saw the photo did I notice the angel filling the afternoon sky. My friend, Bob Meyer, is standing behind me. He and his wife, Helena, are avid hikers and owners of a natural skin care company, the Helena Meyer Company in Boulder. Fabulous skincare.
A few other friends I visited in Boulder include Russ and Millie Malloy and their boys, and Heather Squires and daughter, Lauren in photo. Heather used to babysit my daughter 20 years ago, and now Grace babysits for Heather’s daughter!
Loved my time in Boulder, and when not hiking or eating, I worked on my laptop at one of the zillions of coffee shops downtown. Enjoy….
Lenora's Italy Retreat blog | Lenora's Change Limiting Beliefs Website
I’m writing this entry from an old stone house on the grounds of a Trappistine Monastery. I am living with four other women writers (not the nuns) on a six day writing retreat lead by Rae Bird. Our days are filled with hours of writing and hiking on the 500 acres of exquisite rolling hillsides surrounded by cows and silence. I learned today that bulls are territorial of their cows, so don’t walk too close! He snorted and gave me a warning charge–enough to stop my heart and give me something exciting to write about.
In the evenings, we meet to read our entries to each other for feedback. It sounds so simple yet much needed by women.
I know a writing retreat may not be possible for everyone, but I think more happiness and clarity can be created by writing about our hopes and dreams, our doubts and fears. Writing or journaling can be like moving the 800 pound gorilla off our chest. Sometimes we just have things to say, but either no one is there to listen, or we don’t want anyone else to know what we’re thinking and feeling. In that way, writing is cathartic, but it can also be a means of collecting our family history.
I’m suggesting that each day be a mini-retreat when we begin writing our thoughts and memories, not necessarily for publication but just so that our unique history & stories are made permanent. Write about how you feel, who you’ve loved (and hated), your thoughts on politics, traveling, foods you love, children you raised or didn’t raise, how you spend your days.
Writing To Do List:
1.) Write every day, even for 5-10 minutes for a start. Set a timer, don’t stop writing no matter what, and don’t edit. Just listen to the voice inside and write.
2.) Create a memoir folder on your computer or in spiral notebooks as you collect your family history pieces.
3.) Form a writing group. Write and then read to each other.
4.) Read books that help you tell your soul’s story: I recommend Writing Down the Bones (about free writing) and Old Friend From Far Away (about writing memoir) by Natalie Goldberg. Writing from Life by Susan W. Albert will also give you a jumpstart in telling your stories.
5.) Read blogs about writing well, such as Write to Done
I’d love to hear any ideas that have helped you write.
Lenora's Italy Retreat blog | Lenora's Change Limiting Beliefs Website
Barbara and Helena have been dear friends of mine for over 30 years. In addition to sharing lots of laughter and adventures with them, I went to college with Barbara and traveled to Germany with Helena. I recently helped my daughter, who just graduated from college, move to Boulder. It so happens that Barbara and Helena live there, in addition to many other dear friends. So, I was thrilled to spend time with them once again. They are powerful women in tune with the force that surrounds us! And so is my daughter who took on a big challenge–followed her intuition and moved alone without a job to Colorado, and within a month is happily settled with a new job that she loves, and a beautiful rental house 2 blocks from 20 trailheads.
It wasn’t easy, but my daughter is a force to be reckoned with, and even though she’s short, she’s mighty. She proves the point Yoda made to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back when he complained that ‘it was too big.’
Luke: I can’t. It’s too big.
Yoda: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere. Yes, even between the land and the ship.
Do you feel the force around you? It’s there! How do you feel it?
Lenora's Italy Retreat blog | Lenora's Change Limiting Beliefs Website
Lenora's Italy Retreat blog | Lenora's Change Limiting Beliefs Website
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