A while back, I read a book called When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams. I chose it mostly because Anne Lamott described it as, “Brilliant, meditative, and full of surprises, wisdom, and wonder.”
I think it was the “wonder” that hooked me most. I am a fan of noticing and wondering.
And of Anne Lamott!
Anyway, the book had wandered home with a friend of mine, as books so often do.
Last Friday, it wandered back, along with Phoebe’s new eye medicine. As soon as I had it in my hands — It has a very sexy cover! — I knew exactly where it needed to go next. But first, I needed some page flipping.
And there it was. On page 100, Ms. Williams wrote:
Muriel Rukeyser asked the question “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.”
Just in case you’re where I was, recognizing the name but sketchy on the details, Wikipedia is happy for us to know that:
Muriel Rukeyser (December 15, 1913 – February 12, 1980) was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her “exact generation.”
Wikipedia will gladly tell you more about Kenneth Rexroth, too, but it’s almost time to feed the dogs and I’m on a roll.
Never mind for a moment that being the greatest poet of one’s “exact generation” sounds like a really cool business card to have, I read on, already knowing where we were headed.
Reproductive choice.
Birth control. Surgical pregnancy prevention. Abortion. The Supreme Court.
(Well, that last is my addition.)
A little more than 100 pages later, the book nears its conclusion with these words:
The world is already split open, and it is in our destiny to heal it, each in our own way, each in our own time, with the gifts that are ours.
If telling the exact truth of our lives — women’s lives — or painting that same truth, or quilting it, or baking it into a loaf of bread, or using that truth to run for Congress helps heal the splits in the world, I’m in.
And I’ve made a bit of a beginning.
The books are here.
The artwork, here.
And, very soon, more opportunities to join with me in workshops with the power to help us live into our own sacred assignments and to help out with the world splitting thing.
ps… in many places in the US, it’s about to be voting time for run-offs, which just might help heal the world, too.
pps… one of my granddaughters finished a race yesterday which included a 400 meter swim, a 20 km bike ride, and a 5 km run, in 1 hour and 35 min! She and her younger sister are counting on you, too!
ppps… if you haven’t already subscribed to this blog, please do. It’s the best way to keep up with the new stuff!
As I sift through the rubble of my/our current breakdown, in search of my/our next breakthrough, these are the words I needed to hear today:
Muriel Rukeyser asked the question
“What would happen if one woman
told the truth about her life?
The world would split open.”
The world is already split open,
and it is in our destiny to heal it,
each in our own way, each in our own time,
with the gifts that are ours.
Thank you
Thanks, dear Todd, for reading and hearing. And keep healing the world with the gifts that are yours. It matters, so much!!! Hugs, brother!