Womanifesto!

I'm not finished yet, but seeing as today is International Women's Day, I thought that I would share what I've written in my Womanifesto so far. Also, in an effort to promote community, I invite you to participate by adding input/suggestions. All of you (both my fantastically amazing and beautiful girlfriends and you men who uplift women and treat us with respect and equality - all of you who have already influenced my life in profoundly significant ways) are welcome to respond.

[Working on the title of this Womanifesto]
A rule book for life and for what I believe to be the TRUTH about/for myself and all women, EVEN on the days when I blindly work at doubting who I am and who I want to BE.

1. Dance. Do it. Daily. Even if only in spirit. Seriously. It'll make you feel good. Heart. Body and Soul.

2. Spot color is essential. Have it in your journal, in your life, and all over who you are. LIFE HAS TO BE colorful, especially in all of that gloriously pure white space, especially in the margins.

3. Be spiritual, both ethereal and earthy. Connect with the things that you can't see, but also remember the passions that nourish your body through your firmly planted soles. Commune with that which humanity has called different names - the great I Am. Commune through music, in conversation, in meditation. Use your art (even if your art is only spot color today). Hold out your arms to that which cannot be held, and at the same time STOMP, STOMP, STOMP(!) that gorgeous duende* out of the earth and into your body. Feel both (the airy and the grounded) at once. There is where you'll find communitas and the liminality that goes with becoming who you are.

4. Remember to BREATHE. Be mindful about it. This is your existence. Breathe it in! Fill yourself with it! Frustrate Dionysus. Make him jealous of all of the life you're living.

5. Listen! Listen to your body, to your internal rhythm. Listen to your instinct. Listen to your friends, especially your girlfriends. Listen and HEAR. Listen more than you speak - but NOT more than you dance -You only get this existence. Listen to Ella Fitzgerald, to Joan Jett, and to Nelly Furtado. Listen to Emily Dickenson and the sad, sad song of Sylvia Plath or Kate Chopin, but also listen to Dorothy Parker, Lily Tomlin, and Amy Sedaris. Listen to Condoleezza Rice and to the mother of any soldier. Listen to Emma Goldman. Maya Angelou. Listen more than you think. Listen to your mother.

6. Be on the same pro-feminine team - the one that wants equality - politically, economically, and socially. [I need more here for sure, and possibly each of the three needs it's own defining category]

7. PARTICIPATE in Life. Be Necessary.

That's what I've got so far - a work in progress.
Probably always so..

*duende as in "tener duende" means "having duende", is a rarely explained concept in Spanish art, particularly flamenco, having to do with emotion, expression and authenticity. In fact, "Tener duende" can be loosely translated as "having Soul".