Lounging in bed on a drizzly mid-May Saturday afternoon, listening to Sleepy Hollow on WXPN, which is a weekend easy wakeup show on a member-supported radio station based in Philly. It is a ritual I have enjoyed for many decades, likely since the 1980s. Got my cup of tea by my side, with the word LOVE scripted on the dollar store mug, in various fonts. I believe that whatever is in it absorbs the energy of that divine emotion. Today, I am drinking in love, sipping slowly, and savoring it.
In a few hours, I will be speaking (online) at The Conference on Contemporary Relationships, along with my friend Rodney Whittenberg. We will be presenting the film Angels and Saints-Eros and Awe, that he and fellow filmmaker, Vic Compher created, which “speaks boldly to ways in which traditional religions have too often promoted toxic feelings of shame, guilt and fear and propagated historic and harmful beliefs that “the Spirit is good” but “the body is bad”, indeed, leading to much psychological suffering and condemnation of most things sexual.” I have been on the support team for this documentary for more than a year and am convinced that if we overcame the schism between sexuality and spirituality, relationships would be healthier, holier, and ‘whole-lier’. The ways in which most people were taught to think about those two realms have been fragmenting.
Following the presentation, I will be headed to Doylestown for a community celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr. This Muslim holiday honors the culmination of the month-long dawn to dusk fasting of Ramadan. One thing that I love about the welcoming area where I live is that cultural and spiritual diversity are encouraged by many of the groups of which I am a part. Back in April, I attended the Hindu celebration of Holi and shared my experience with readers, wanting them to have a vicarious understanding of the colorful and playful holiday that calls “people together to celebrate spring, love, the releasing of resentments and the renewing of relationships.
If the weather holds out, tonight I will likely join some of the same folks at a sing-along bonfire at the home of friends. This gracefully aging hippie enjoys crooning the tunes from my formative years.
Tomorrow, I will meet up with, hopefully, a large crowd raising our voices in earnest protest at the imminent overturning of Roe v. Wade. I am adamantly pro-choice. There is a meme going around indicating that anyone who doesn’t have a uterus shouldn’t make decisions for those who do. My contention is that even those who have a uterus have no right to decide what others should do with theirs. In 1992, I had an ectopic pregnancy and by the time I got to the ER, my fallopian tube had ruptured and I could have hemorrhaged to death. I didn’t know I was pregnant at 6 weeks. Had Roe v. Wade not been in place at the time, my trauma could have been exacerbated with legal ramifications. Another thing that puzzles me is that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, doesn’t that also decimate HIPAA laws since it protects health care information? So much about this is appalling.
I attribute some of my musings to aging (or as a friend describes it- ripening), with more of my life behind me than ahead of me. I am more often silent and meditative, pausing before I speak. I am contemplative, wondering how what I do will impact the whole. I know that everything I do feeds the collective soup pot, so I am conscious of the ingredients I put in it. Does that make me ‘woke’? Maybe so. I know that I am unwilling to simply take up space and, instead, make the world a better place. With two grandchildren to love and help care for, I am even more acutely aware that what I do can plant the seeds for their healthy future.
Inspired by Phil Ochs, “I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here.”
“There’s no place in this world where I’ll belong, when I’m gone
And I won’t know the right from the wrong, when I’m gone
And you won’t find me singin’ on this song, when I’m gone
So I guess I’ll have to do it
I guess I’ll have to do it
Guess I’ll have to do it
While I’m here”
***
You Might Also Like These From The Good Men Project
Compliments Men Want to Hear More Often Relationships Aren’t Easy, But They’re Worth It The One Thing Men Want More Than Sex ..A Man’s Kiss Tells You Everything
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community. A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities. A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.—