Last night I had
the privilege to be part of a Goddess Gathering in Topanga Canyon, Los
Angeles. The drive through windy roads,
the smell of fresh air, and ascent up a Christmas-lit staircase twenty-five
feet to the front door was enough to light my magic match & make me want to
move in ~
We nourished
ourselves with potluck food, we sat on cushions in a circle by candlelight,
breathing through our chakras, sharing what we were letting go of &
bringing into our lives, sharing the successes, celebrations, & joys, &
stating our next intentions.
We also watched
the trailer to a stunningly gorgeous film, Things We Don’t Talk About. If you haven’t seen this trailer yet, check
it out here. It will make you cry, it will make you want
to celebrate & gather together all women dear to you. If you’ve read Anita Diamant’s book The RedTent, this is essentially what the documentary is about: women coming together to share, celebrate,
& heal.
I arrived at the
event with books & business cards in hand.
I was there to network, to promote my books & business, to network
around housing in LA, etc.
What I found was
I kept filling my plate at the potluck table.
More kale salad, one more raw chocolate, & blue corn chips with
organic cheese. What was I trying to
nourish? In all the excitement of moving
out to California & finding/ creating my way, I have been so in the
masculine. Business owner, driver across
the country, & back & forth from San Francisco/ Santa Cruz to L.A. Figuring out where my next paycheck is coming
from, longing for a lover/ love. Longing
for someone to just hold me/ heal me/ to unpack my burden & breathe.
Yes, I am a feminist. I believe women are people too, and we all
have human rights as citizens of this planet.
This is what feminism, at its heart, is to me. & Yes, I enjoy being a business owner. I enjoy the freedom of being a single,
unencumbered woman, free to travel, to have love affairs, to do as I choose, to
be in charge, to be a leader & a player in creating our world, to be in the
conversation about business & marketing, to be and do whatever &
however I choose. However, I am also
ready to receive. I am ready to receive
love, I am ready to receive money, I am ready to receive home, and I continue
to be ready to receive gracious, powerful, healthy, creative, phenomenal
community.
Last night was a
gift, and I am glad I set down my bags, took off my jacket, and sat down,
breathing, sharing, being vulnerable, and listening. We all need this. No matter who we are.
Debra Jill Mazer
is a magna cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, with a B.A. in Sociology
& Women’s Studies. Using her degree
to become a hippie New Age healer & Raw Food Chef, Debra currently offers a
6-month Holistic Health Coaching Program (your first session is free!!). Author of Open-Eyed Heart-Wide Haggadah, for a
transformative Passover, artist, dancer, singer, and more, Debra is based in a
beautiful community in Santa Cruz, CA, and is currently housesitting in LA,
where she will be working the Tadasana Festival, volunteering at AgapeRevelation Conference, and then heading onwards to the kitchen of Epic Eden HotSprings Retreat (phenomenal!!!! & a few spaces left ~ May 2-6, 2012) in
Arizona.
