The following is the result of a prompt I received during a writing exercise…free-writing for 20 minutes without stopping. The prompt was “These are the times…”

These are the times…

These are the times that make men weak and Women strong. Women coming into their own-and each other-remembering strength and softness too-a willingness to reach out and remember connections of days and years and decades and centuries gone by-trampled-under and oppressed and undercover and hidden away for safety’s sake. Feared by men-Men eager to blame their own short-comings and failures on someone other than themselves-Fearful and fearsome-cruel and ruthless.

But that was then…these are the times to hold those memories lightly. To focus on what is before us in these days-in this moment. Once again, faced with shortcomings and failures of their own design, men, some men would shackle Women-would deny them, as if men have the right, the opportunity to decide for themselves as if their bodies were an object to be controlled by men. WTF? I do not think so. And so…

These are the times I was born to be here for, as so many are seeing beyond the veil, the veil of illusion is shredded and torn, no longer shielding our eyes from contentment or complicity in continued acts of separation and control. “Power over” is under foot as more people know there is another way, a more loving way to walk upon this planet, to be a partner in this dance of Life, and our Heart and Soul is yearning for this. Remembering the possibility -the past of connection. We are witnessing, we are feeling our hearts awakening and opening to love=in spite of the potential for pain. It is a sense, deep in my bones and the bones of others, a knowing, this is possible, this is why we are here. In these times, it is time to realize that Fear is an enemy to Love. Fear is an absence of Intuition and absence of Faith,an absence of Joy. Any heart that lives in fear is n able to open for fear it may be lost or someone may steal it from us, as if they really have that power.

In these times, it’s important to begin where we are-in the small step of eye contact at the grocery story, a slight smile to a stranger, a “good morning”-an acknowledgement of presence

​as Valarie Kaur says “You are the stranger I do not yet know”

These are the times, now is the time, to jump in with both feet-don’t wait for someone to do it for you. These are the times to be real and true to your heart-This is the time to put your foot down and admit, “This is important to me.” “This matters to me”. Even if, we don’t know what else to do after declaring ourselves, do it anyway and see what happens next-once we do, our hearts will open even more. Take a stand, make a stand. For these are the times, when standing silently by will be a bitter pill to swallow as the days go by-To say nothing, to stuff words down will gag you later as your tongue swells with the bitter gall of silence. These are the times when your voice may tremble alone, but when you raise it to join the others, it will grow stronger with each moment. These are the times we are living for, these are the times that are shaping our future, and the future of generations. These are the times when you decide how you will live your life… with your heart blazing open, or shriveled and lost in your silence?