The Feminine Dream

Please feel free to visit the website   to view the essay and the images. I would welcome the opportunity to share the hi-def image and poetry with you as you begin the piece. We welcome insightful and respectful comments as well as full critiques. There is always something for us to think about. We hope you agree.

~

I am only a dreamer, and this is my dream

To live my life as I see fit
the freedom to live and learn, to love and grow
without coercion, without restriction

Never to hurt another with hate or violence
expecting nothing more or less in return
to offer help, when I am able
to accept the same, when there is need

To take the time and see the good in all
to make an effort to reject the bad wherever it appears
to embrace life with all of its challenges
and acknowledge that we all carry our own burdens
and suffer our own demons

A life of love and compassion, empathy and understanding
the right to follow my own path, and create my own destiny
and for all others, the freedom to do the same

I am only a dreamer, and that is my dream


~ ki ~

THE FEMININE DREAM

It is just something that keeps popping up in my head at times. It is both disturbing and confusing. We are told that women are the stronger sex but reality decries that. Their vanity, their emotion, their victimhood. Why in the world do you wish to be a victim? It does not define strength, it exhibits weakness. You may believe some kind of pseudo-strength from political victimization, but it results in the opposite. You do not display strength and integrity. You derive no respect or admiration. There will be only sympathy and some pity.

It is ironic that you have more in common with your fellow MAN than you may realize. Men have been historically abused at every level of society. They have been manipulated and coerced. They have been underpaid and overworked, and they are treated unfairly. They have been used and exploited, just like women. But men do not play the victim card. They do not lament that the world is against all men. They do not start a movement for MANISM. They bitch and moan. They can be pathetic and ineffectual. They suffer in silence. Some fight back. Some are successful.

Some play the game. You cannot change the game unless you play the game. When women learn to play the game they will find . . . . Equality. Then we will have the same number of people directing the dance, but half of them will be women. And nothing will change. The masses will continue to be the masses, and controlled in direct proportion to their strengths and weaknesses. Little if anything will actually change. Gender will remain irrelevant.

Please do not misunderstand. Try to see this from another perspective. One of historical reality. One of truth. Try to be objective. While it IS true that men have controlled the world in the past, there is a need to make a point. It has NEVER been ALL men. It has been a very few. The vast majority have suffered the same frustrations and humiliations, the same disrespect and domination. It would do your cause well to recognize and acknowledge that these people are in fact allies, and not the enemy.

They have wanted forever what you want today. Make no mistake about it. Your adversary is not the businessman and not a man at all. Your antagonist is the individual with a lust for power, and control, and wealth, with no compunction on the use of any means to achieve their ends, and the irony is that, while women may someday rule the land, they will rule with the same iron fist, and the same lust, that your enemy exhibits today.

Is this not evident by the virulent hatred portrayed by the protests and demonstrations we see in the streets as we speak? Are those same women going to magically become benign and compassionate once power is firmly in their grasp? If you are truly the stronger and smarter sex, you must realize that this is a truth that cannot be dismissed. Women are not from Venus. They are human beings, and susceptible to the same vices and virtues as us all. They exhibit love, and they can certainly display hatred. How can you ever think it can be otherwise?

So do you think will there be a 'renaissance' when women gain power and control? You have not been paying attention. They already hold millions of jobs, especially in government and education. They have been running families for millennia. Things are not changing. It is ironic that they think that 'women' will change the world. They bemoan the fact that they are treated differently, and they immediately reverse the inequalities the second they obtain the power to do so. They become that which they define as oppressive and destructive. They become misandrists, and when was the last time you ever heard that word? Feminism is the epitome of racism, with a twist. They don't even realize that they are, and that is the irony and the tragedy.

We really have to stop thinking in terms of gender, and race, and religion. The problem is that there are way too many people of poor character and integrity in all of these groups, across the board. Stop being a woman and be a person. Stop being black and be a human being. Be an American. Don't be a Jew or a Christian, or a Muslim. Be a child, not of god, but a child of love. A person who believes in all those good things we talk about, that we really need. Love and compassion, tolerance and empathy. Goodwill towards your fellow man (or woman). We truly and passionately need to appreciate and value those that display and practice those virtues and qualities that we value the most. And we need to look past their gender, and race and whatever other labels are placed upon them. We need to look into their hearts and their souls.

To find decent people, irrespective of their political affiliations or simply how much wealth they create or even how much they pay in taxes. We need to identify the individuals who possess that character and integrity that is fundamental to resolving the issues that plague us today, and has been making our short time or this earth a hell, when we could have been creating a heaven, right here. It is so possible and relatively easy, and yet we are so self-destructive we do not even see the forest for the trees. And it always starts, and ultimately ends, with you as the primary player in this game. Do not expect, and wait, or hope, or pray for someone else to start the change. It starts with you. And me. Become that person we are all looking for.

With each person that becomes that which we desire, there is one less individual that will need to be convinced, and brought on board. It really is that simple. Not easy mind you. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But simple? Yes, it is. Become that person. Display that character and integrity to the world. Wear your beliefs as a badge of honor. Support those that agree and reject those that are uninterested or incapable of making those changes for themselves. Help those that ask for assistance, and do not enable those that exhibit that which is counterproductive to the goals of peace and equality.

Be the person that we want everyone else to be. Be the person that you should be. And if you are a woman? That’s cool. If you wear a slightly, or even drastically, different color skin than my own? I passionately and unequivocally do NOT care. If my neighbors, and my co-workers, and strangers on the street were those decent people I long for, I could be quite content. I could have a conversation, devoid of prejudice and hatred and distrust. We could, in the end, even agree to disagree. But a true conversation ultimately brings knowledge and understanding, in some small way, to both or all of the participants. It brings growth and progress. What we have today is self-destructive and contributes nothing to the human experience except pain and suffering, and prolongs that discomfort indefinitely. Alas, it may be something that we are simply incapable of achieving as a species, and can only attempt as individuals. It is intellectually the simplest thing in the world. Emotionally it is next to impossible. More is the pity.

I would like to think that someday all of this could be a part of a new and enlightened reality. But it cannot be done alone. It will require many others to consider this as a viable alternative as well. They must be willing to think, and to act. To have the courage to understand, that what we do today is simply not working. We solve nothing and only foment that fear and hatred that diminishes the joy of life. We need to craft a new and improved paradigm. I truly believe that fundamentally we all want the same thing. We do not need to take a knee. We need to stand up and be counted. We need to work towards a better tomorrow. If not you, and not I, then who? There is no one else.

I envision a world where we all live and share, each to the degree we decide for ourselves. No expectations of others, except to allow us the freedom and choice to do so. Devoid of coercion and manipulation. Mutual agreement for mutual benefit. Charity to the degree we are capable, without judgment or condemnation. The discussion to change when necessary. Enact change when possible. Acceptance when we cannot. But all the time thinking. All the time caring. All the time growing. All minds in agreement on at least one thing. Living in peace.

I am only a dreamer. THAT is my dream.

You can catch the essay on my website:

The Feminine Dream  

Lone Cypress Workshop  

The Conversation