Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Well-being in Women

For women in a state of well-being, a balance exists between the feminine and masculine aspects of our psyche that is not dictated by gender. Our feminine nature allows us to experience our creativity and intuition, and gives us our ability to nurture. Our masculine side enables us to manifest this inner creativity out in the world. In a place of psychological connectedness, we are able to accept all of who we are and function as wholly integrated beings.

Many of our mothers understood themselves solely within the context of their marriages and families. The birth of feminist movement gave us the opportunity to reclaim the masculine side of our nature. We learned to expand our awareness of ourselves beyond the context of marriage and family, and to rely more on our newly established professional identities. In struggling to break free of traditional gender roles in our effort for independence, many women become trapped. Our culture today has taught us to make different kinds of sacrifices in order to become successful. For many of us, this develops into a masculine one-sidedness causing us to view the gentle, nurturing qualities of our womanhood as weak and something to disown. Our “success” becomes determined by our professional achievements and may develop into the crux of our identity. When we allow either the masculine or feminine aspect of our nature to dominate us, our potential for inner growth and development becomes limited. Women learn to give up a part of their inner beings to prove themselves out in the world. Over time many women come to realize that something important in their life is missing. That which was once thought to bring meaning is no longer there.

If we allow ourselves to operate outside these established parameters, we may begin to explore our inner world at a deeper level. In the process of our own evolution and inner healing, the different components of our psyche become integrated. We learn to accept the masculine part of our nature as an aspect that complements and empowers our feminine essence. We come to know who we are in relationship to “being” as well as “doing.”

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