Yes. As in #likeagirl. The Always Superbowl commercial. And yet, so much more. (No? Check it out here.)
Did it move you? Did it motivate you? Did you take wonder at the space that a girl moves through in this world on her way to womanhood? Oh, yes. I did. Not so much wonder. Firm understanding is the feeling and tenor of my heart in response to its message.
No wonder. I was the girl who did things my way. I was the ardent investigator ever since I can remember. I discussed it all. Argued, too (some of you nodding, I know…). And felt a pertinent desire to demonstrate the futility of stereotypes always.
When I was very young, I spent the summers with my grandparents in Los Angeles. My grandparents are really my other parents. I am eternally grateful for their bottomless fount of love and adventure. They were raised in the thirties and forties, though. So they have a way about them. My brother was sent out to play after lunch and I did dishes. My grandfather mentioned once that he would like another grandson to carry on the Matthews name. I told him he had me. He explained to me that I would get married and change my name.
At the age of seven, I informed him that a name change wasn’t in my plans. And my children would carry the name Matthews, too. (And truly, my son is a Matthews Brant. It says so right on his birth certificate.) I actually tried to change my name entirely at one point. To Olivia. Because Newton-John was that rad. And I arm wrestled every boy in 7th grade just to show them that what they were told wasn’t always true. I enjoyed the way their faces would change as they shifted their belief system. I rebelled against authority regularly.
I didn’t like boxes. It is part of my bliss to blow them up.
So, everyone was a little surprised when I applied to military school at the age of 14.
My changing body became another strength for me. I could move between all worlds. Mesmerize with my hips and shatter perception with my inappropriate marching cadences and first place squad drill competitions. Select my own boyfriend. Fail to be impressed with a first Sergeant. Hold Circles in my dorm room. Be controversial not to be controversial. I was controversial because I was truthful. Confusion often ensued.
I was working it all out. Don’t tell me what I can’t do. It only gives me ideas.
I was radically feminine. Because I am feminine. And I have been told I am too feminine, just like you. And I have also been told I am not feminine enough. And sometimes, I believed it. Until I realized that being feminine is all I ever can be. Because the Adi Shakti chose me to dance as. And if she wants to arm wrestle and drink beer and play poker, well then, that is what she will do. And if she wants to be a mama and bake cookies and receive the bliss of her life in soft receptivity, then she is going to be that, also. If she likes lipstick today and racing cars tomorrow (or both at the same time), I don’t argue. Because I have no argument with that which I am.
So, please, let’s drop the pretenses. This is the age of Aquarius. It isn’t about the Return of the Matriarchy. It is about the raucous chaos of the Feminine meeting the Masculine and becoming One, softening into the androgyny of higher Consciousness. So, let’s all play our part. If She wants to dance as your life, relax and surrender to her exploration and expression. And if He will know you as the Divinity of the Masculine throwing it down, then let it be. Know one else but you is really going to know what is going on underneath the covers.
Let’s explore it all.
#likeagirl #likeaboy #AstheOne
I once had a Buddhist tell me that I embodied the apex of the Divine Feminine and would be born a man in my next life and be liberated. Now, I don’t know what that sounds like to you. But to me, that kind of sounds like he would like to arm wrestle with a girl.
Dogma be damned. Let’s burn some boxes.