Chickee - Conversations with the Goddess: notable women

"In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman."

~~ Margaret Thatcher

What do you think, dear BraveHearts?

Xena, the warrior princess, was popular in the 1990s as a portrayal of an unusually brave woman. But we read of truly brave women every day, through Brave Heart members' blog posts.

The BraveHeart woman doesn't need to know how to wear armor and wield a sword in battle.

"You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you," said actress Mary Tyler Moore. The BraveHeart woman is a person who is willing to take risks, however uncomfortable, to lead an authentic life.

Ursula Le Guin once said that her readers thought she must have a very unusual life because her fertile imagination produced strange and voluminous fantasy writings. In response she remarked that to be a productive author who was also mother to three children, she actually had to lead a very routine life.

Yet she has also been quoted as saying, "The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next."

A woman of contradictions? Or a woman who wisely avoids a foolish consistency in her point of view? What do you think, dear BraveHearts?


As of 2010, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, three collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include a volume of poetry, Incredible Good Fortune, the novel Lavinia, and an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

“Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.” ~~ Sandra Carey


You’ve heard the saying that knowledge is power? It’s one kind of power. Wisdom is another kind of power.

All of us can and do acquire a great deal of knowledge fairly early in life, but for most of us wisdom is gained more slowly. That’s because wisdom comes through the teachings of our life experience. Life experience must evolve over time; it cannot be forced. I think wisdom comes as a distillation from life experience, whereas knowledge comes as a cumulative and well-considered body of learning.

Wisdom gives us our unique perspective on life. We say that a person is wise when we see that s/he has evolved a life with a unique shape and signature, a life in which internal power is congruent with how that person shows up in the world.

When knowledge and wisdom combine in balance, there lies power.

Do you think there’s a difference between knowledge and wisdom, dear BraveHearts? I’m waiting to hear what you think!


Please look at my upcoming blog series, beginning next Monday. I'll be writing about the archetype of Hestia, ancient Greek goddess of hearth and home.

Chickee Atalla, author of the soon-to-be-released Conversations with the Goddess: Encounter at Petra, Place of Power,
at www.conversationswiththegoddess.net

"At present, we insist that a woman be treated just the same as a man. Are we sure we want to be treated as most men are in our society? Or do both sexes deserve something better?" ~~Kay Keeshan Hamod

Starting with the dictum that boy newborns should be wrapped in a blue blanket -- never a pink one -- I felt confronted after my first son's birth with issues that boys face in their development.

Prior to his birth I'd only thought about cultural messages to women. But as my two sons grew from infants to toddlers I was observing the subtle and not so subtle cues from my sons' cultural environment about what it meant to grow into a man. I didn't like what I saw. For one thing, I wanted my sons to stay in touch with their feelings and know that it was okay to express them.

I wouldn't say my efforts were in vain, but the pressures for boys to stuff down their emotions just like any other midwestern male were huge.

What do you think the "something better" for both sexes could be, dear BraveHearts?

"Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age." ~ Gloria Steinem

How many of you are a Radical Older Woman, dear BraveHearts?


Chickee Atalla, author of the recently published Conversations with the Goddess: Encounter at Petra, Place of Power

www.conversationswiththegoddess.net

I have especially good news to share today about myself. I’m one of 10 women featured in online WISE magazine’s contest for WOMEN IN SPIRITUAL EXCELLENCE.

The editors of WISE say, “Everyone has a story that is worth telling; unfortunately we can only feature 10. Place your vote for the story you think should be featured in the next issue of WISE."

I know I have a marvelous story because I’ve told it in my book, Conversations with the Goddess: Encounter at Petra, Place of Power.

Chickee Dorothy Atalla, author

Conversations with the Goddess
Facebook Conversations
GoddessSpeaks on Twitter

Collette, the French novelist, flaunted what appeared to be outrageous behavior compared to the mores of her society and times. Lke Emily Dickenson, subject of the previous Living with Intensity blog post, Collette had a drive to wring intensity from every moment of life -- but by traveling a very different path in life from that of Dickenson. "You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm," she remarked.


©Chickee Dorothy Atalla, author
Conversations with the Goddess
Facebook Conversations
GoddessSpeaks on Twitter

"Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together," wrote Anais Nin. She understood the root connection between dreams that inspire us and taking action on those dreams, so that we become "inspiration in action," for she knew how to create for herself a braveheart woman's life.

Anais recorded her life in her diaries, revealing its richness and depth. She was a master of perception, able to show how complex the tapestry of everyday life and relationships really is. She inspired others to live with intensity of perception. In the process of writing she left us many apt observations about the connection between inspiration and action, such as this quotation:

"Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living."



©Chickee Dorothy Atalla, author
Conversations with the Goddess
Facebook Conversations
GoddessSpeaks on Twitter

I love to watch BraveHeart Women's TV programs, which passionately feature the theme of feminine energy and its essential role in changing life on our planet. So when I came across these visionary words of Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), they arrested my attention:

"The woman is not needed to do man’s work. She is not needed to think man’s thoughts…. Her mission is not to enhance the masculine, but to express the feminine; hers is not to preserve a man-made world, but to create a human world by the infusion of the feminine element into all of its activities." ~Margaret Sanger

Margaret became well-known as the nurse who passionately advocated birth control as a means by which a woman could exercise control over her life and health. In Sanger's practice she saw women who were willing to take desperate measures - such as throwing themselves down from the height of a stair case to abort a pregnancy -- all because they'd had more children than they could handle.

Chickee Atalla, author of Conversations with the Goddess: Encounter at Petra, Place of Power

©Chickee Dorothy Atalla, author
Conversations with the Goddess
Facebook Conversations
GoddessSpeaks on Twitter

New Wings monotype / collage 23 X 31



I thought I heard my name
I was entangled in a false sustainability
I was so accustomed to it that it felt like home to me
I was impassioned but my wings were clipped
by my own self imposed limitations
I thought I was flying but I was really swimming in place

I thought I heard my name
I kept swimming because the landscape of work,
accomplishment, and perseverance were familiar to me
I was making myself love what I no longer loved,
the effort was exhausting
Someone said "The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness."

I thought I heard my name
The door to my heart home was flung wide open and
standing there with new wings to offer me was the
Beloved of my Soul calling my name and saying
"What took you so long? I have been calling you for ages."
"Here, you might need these."

~~Denise Kester


This painting and its accompanying poem were created by a friend, artist Denise Kester, whom I first met at the Jean Houston Mystery School. Denise also teaches art workshops at her studio in Ashland, Oregon. Her website is www.drawingonthedream.com.

Chickee Atalla, author
Conversations with the Goddess
Facebook Conversations
GoddessSpeaks on Twitter

Like a mountain whirlwind punishing the oak trees, love shattered my heart. ~~Sappho, c. 610-535 B.C.E.



Chickee Atalla, author
Conversations with the Goddess
Facebook Conversations
GoddessSpeaks on Twitter