The New Paradigm

There isn't a woman alive who isn't, to some degree or another, heir(ess) to a demeaning millennia-old message. Until seconds ago on the clock of human history, we women were told we were not intelligent enough to be educated. Women did not have a head for figures, and could not operate in the financial world. Women could not live independently, or own businesses. Women could not enter, much less excel in, professional fields such as law, medicine, the clergy, academia or politics. We did not have the talent or the genius to rise to the top in the arts. Our instincts and opinions could not be trusted. We could not lead. And, in the US, we were told we certainly did not have the rational self-control, the capacity to hold a firm, wise hand on the tiller of the ship of state, to become president.

I am but one small female voice. I have only a handful of dear, patient readers. But may I stand up and say, in wake of these two sickening weeks, that this paradigm was probably never valid to begin with, and it is over. For me, it's over.

Here's a living example of the new paradigm.

I am not a big "crystals" person. I have my "new age" side, but I don't attribute any more power to crystals than to anything else. However, the other week, I happened to be in a shop that sells little chunks of colorful stones and crystals, and I was drawn to one called "labradorite." It is almost indescribable, like northern lights captured in stone. Of course a little chunk of it costs more than the others, and me being me, and balking at paying more than about $3 for anything, I did not buy one.

But I had a little income this week, and I went back to the store. There was a young woman behind the counter, and I said, "do you have a stone that would help when you are feeling traumatized by the events in the world?" Now here is what I love. She said something to the effect that, even though certain stones are said to have specific qualities, she never tells people what to buy. She recommends that a person go around the store, and find the stone that speaks to them, which they find beautiful from within them. I almost burst into tears. One woman to another, I was being told, you have the knowledge and the instincts to buy what is right for you right now. You use your power, Liz.

So I brought the bowl of labradorite pieces to the counter, and she emptied the contents out onto a piece of black velvet. I looked through them, each shimmering their own unique light, and picked the one that suited me. Respectfully, she looked at it too, and agreed that it was spectacular. I paid her $9 and something cents, and looked her in the eye and thanked her for her wisdom.

If one paradigm is "over," one must be starting. And for me, this is it.