OUR INVISIBLE SELF

Invisibility? What does it mean to each of us? In contemplating this, I realize that we think we live in a real world because we can see, smell, touch, feel, and hear.  However, there is an invisible self within each of us. During my contemplation, I was reminded of the old radio show (and I know this dates me) where the announcer would say, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Only the Shadow knows." Of course, this referred to the show's hero Lamont Cranston. It came to me that each of us has a shadow self inside, or an invisible self.

     Instead of saying, "who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men," perhaps this can be re-phrased with who knows what guilt lurks in the hearts of men and women. Instead of using guilt and evil, we can substitute fear, anger, jealousy, rage, resentment, failure and other non-productive beliefs and attitudes.

     Beliefs lurk in the invisible or shadow self. One of the most notorious beliefs in many religions is that God is outside of an individual and judging every move a person makes. This belief has created another belief that a person needs a priest,a  pope,a  preacher, a pastor or whatever moniker serves as the only one who can interpret what 'the God' wants people to do. This belief has created judgment, bigotry, prejudices, hatred and war. A great teacher appeared about 2000 years ago and gave a different message that has been twisted and ignored. His great message is found in Matthew, chapter 5 and even this has been misinterpreted in some circles.

     Stemming from these beliefs is the belief that women are not as intelligent as men are and this belief has permeated almost all societies in the world. Only recently, three teen-age girls in Pakistan were buried alive because they ran away so they could marry the men they wanted. It was a tribal custom and these men stoutly defend their right to do this insane action. This happened because of a belief harbored in their invisible self. The suppression and prejudices against women is one of the greatest travesties of all time.

     Beliefs can be insidious such as failure. This belief can feed shame and guilt to the shadow self. I have come to recognize and know that there is no such thing as failure. A supposed failure is only an experience and it can propel one to strive to do greater. If we do not change our belief that failure is bad, then it will remain that way. If we look upon it as an opportunity to be greater and see the wisdom from it, then we have released a burden.

     Beliefs can be seductive such as the belief in money. Money is represented by coins, pieces of paper, credit cards and debt. Have you ever seen real money, or is it intangible and something represents it? There are still people in this world who barter and do quite well by it. They exchange a tangible item for another tangible item or for labor. Most of the world has become ensnared in the invisible world of money or finances.

     Beliefs are invisible and have tangible results because of the frequency they carry. Our hidden thoughts carry a frequency and, these frequencies go out into the quantum soup similar to throwing a pebble into a pool of water and the frequency returns with an experience to match. Do you ever wonder why people think they are victims? It all has to do with their hidden thoughts and beliefs. This also includes emotions, which carry frequencies. What you think, you get back in one form or another to match the frequency.

     This is why I was in agreement with Masaru Emoto's experiments with water.  By taking polluted water and freezing it, he was able to photograph the shape of ice crystals. When he placed the polluted water in a bottle and labeled it with the words of love or gratitude—or both, the form of the crystals became beautiful and the water free of pollution. Wouldn't it perhaps change the world we live in by giving love and gratitude to our self? It is something to think about.

     The words love and gratitude carry a very high frequency and when we send them out from our hidden self, miracles can happen. We touch others and perhaps it makes a difference in them. The act of blessing our food is an ancient ritual because it changes the frequency of the food to be nourishment for the body.

     We think about taking care of our physical body, but too often we allow our thoughts to run amok or we suppress our hurts and emotions. My journey of coming to this understanding has taken many years and in my book Awakening the Genie Within, which gives the reader a broader insight on letting go of old outworn beliefs. It is time to come out of the closet of hidden non-productive beliefs, emotions, experiences and bury them in the graveyard of the past. Life is a wonder and is to be cherished. Peace is born within the mind.

Comment on the Magdalene Books

It is always rewarding to have someone send a comment or a review of my books. Here is one I just received today 7/28/2011.

"At the moment, I'm re-reading your wonderful, spiritual, loving Magdalene books for the 3rd time!! I take them with me where ever I go. At home, they are placed in a position of honor in my bookshelf."
~ Jo Dean

A REASON TO CELEBRATE EASTER

A REASON TO CELEBRATE EASTER

Easter reminds me of green and beautiful colors along with jelly beans, chocolate rabbits and eggs. My memory of childhood Easters is having an Easter basket filled with green fake grass. I was told that if I went to sleep the night before that the Easter Rabbit would come and leave beautiful eggs. My siblings and me would get our baskets ready the evening before and when we woke up the next morning we could hardly wait to pick up our baskets and rush outside to see who could find the most eggs. Sadly, I was not the winner – or so it is as I remembered. It wasn't until I was in the third grade that I learned that the hard-boiled eggs colored on the outside had been decorated by my mother and my sister who was five years old than me.

In connection with those childhood Easter memories is a large egg that my mother had for years. It was a hollow egg made of some kind of sugar and decorated in white and lavender. It was her treasure and we could only look at it. Over the years this treasure disintegrated.

For Easter, we children always had new shoes, a new dress and a new hat. These were our summer church-going clothes. My younger brother had a new suit and new shoes. My memories of going to church on Easter are vague and perhaps I shut them out because I didn't want to be reminded that Jesus died on a cross and on the third day rose from the dead. It really didn't make sense to me, and how could he have died for my sins. What sins could I possibly have? I could barely wait until I could go home and begin eating all my candy as well as some of the hard-boiled eggs.

I don't think I questioned why a rabbit would would bring colored eggs only on Easter. As an adult I did question and sought the origin of Easter. Oh what a delicious surprise when I learned it was a celebration that outdated the crucifixion of Jesus. My views of Christianity were at a low ebb and I laughed with glee when I learned the early Church fathers had hijacked Easter to entice the Pagans to become Christians.

Easter began as an ancient Pagan celebration. One of the names attributed to this day of renewal is Eostre or Eastre, whose meaning is spring. The Pagans honored and revered the Earth and their celebrations evolved into including rabbits and eggs. Why rabbits? Rabbits, or hares are known to be prolific fertility creators. Eggs are also revered for fertility. Therefore, over the age the two merged with the rabbit or hare leaving eggs to be found in a nest in nature. Later, the eggs would evolve into beautiful decorated eggs.

Easter is a celebration of the beginning of spring and the re-emergence of the new leaves and flowers. It is a time for planting our gardens and to observe the life that comes from the seeds.

There is a reason for every season. Easter is a celebration of laughter and joy because there is new life. We can renew the life within us by seeing things as they are and to let go of our prejudices and judgments. It is a time for us to shed our worn-out beliefs – our worries, and to change our minds into something greater. It is a time to celebrate who we are and what we have accomplished. It is a time to create new opportunities and to live life fully aware of who we are. Join me in celebrating life and especially our own.

Retrograde Versus Progress

Unfortunately here in the United States we have a mindset that is endeavoring to move women's rights back into medieval times. I am appalled at the mentality of men in power. A case in point is North Carolina's current bill SB31 which will make holistic healers felons and be sent to prison. In other words, only licensed AMA physicians and those who push the pharmaceutical drugs will be allowed to practice. This is a travesty and especially for women who make up the majority of holistic medicine. It is a fact that more people die from mainstream doctors and medications than from holistic practioners and herbal use. We, as a country are in retrograde.

Another aspect of retrograde is the U.S. representatives wanting to do away with Planned Parenthood and thus we have an impasse with the U.S. budget. I won't go into the qualities of having Planned Parenthood as one can Google it and learn about how it helps women and men to make wise choices. By doing away with Planned Parenthood, abortion would be outlawed. What most people do not understand is that a fetus may not want to be born to a woman who does not want it. In other words, the spirit of the fetus also has choices. It has up to a year after birth to decide to stay or die. An aborted fetus always has eternal life and will come again to someone who wants it. Why is there is such an anti-abortion mentality? Is this so that these babies can be brought up to be in the military and then get killed? It just does not make sense. These same men in the seat of power have a history of promiscious sex and of course, few of them would support a child born out of wedlock. Oh, the hipocrisy of it all!

If ones sifts through the mindset of those who are pursuing shoving women back into the dark ages, one will find that there is a fear-based mindset that women are smarter than men. These type of men who can be bought by the pharmaceutical companies and other corporate world entities, enjoy the power they can wield and to hell with women.

It is time for women to become vocal. It almost happened in the sixties, however the challenge is that women did it to themselves because they could not as a collective agree. One has only to read Roseanne Barr's book, "Roseannearchy" to understand how the women's movement fell part. One of the most obvious culprit was Phyllis Schlafly. She was a lawyer, had about 8 children and became the Republican's darling. She was also well paid for her speaking tours. She helped to shut down the Equal Rights Amendment. Here is one of her quotes: "ERA means abortion funding, means homosexual privileges, means whatever else." The Republicans have now created a clone of Schlafly and that is Sarah Palin. What an afront to women!

Right now, I am on my soapbox. When I was growing up in Texas, there was an old saying that I abhor. "Keep the women, barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen." I am also against Christianity as it is practiced today by the majority who think they are Christians. I am a retired minister of Divine Science and know the Bible. It is interesting how men who profess to be Christians mis-interpret the teachings of Jesus. All one has to do is read Matthew, Chapter 5. This is the Sermon on the Mount and read about doing to others as you would have them to do to you as well as 'love your neighbors' as yourself.' This is said to be the greatest sermon ever said. And yet, it is tarnished by those in the pulpits.

Being a mother of three sons, I am not anti-male. I have three beautiful adult sons and I am proud of their accomplishments. Their father was a career military man who spent 2 tours in Vietnam – a war that ushered in the use of drugs into this country. It was a fight over the 'Golden Triangle' – the largest opium producing and heroin production in the world until in this century Afghanistan moved to the top of the list. Drug the population and gain control and now we are ruled by Corporate World. However, all is not lost.

We as individuals can only take care of ourselves and for those who have small children, teach them the Sermon on the Mount. It is also to let go of our fears, our prejudices, and to mentally step back and see things as they are, but not follow the crowd. In the midst of change of chaos we can individually be honorable people. There are major earth changes already in motion and we can ride the waves by creating our own individual lives for the future. We are indeed, the future.

The Art of Questing

Each of us is on a quest in life seeking or searching for something we want. It may be a change in our circumstances – or it could be something we want to add to our life. Our quest from time to time can be for something material or it can be that intangible or essence we sense is missing within. There is also the quest seeking our spiritual self. The following is what I have learned and experienced. We are each different and to compare our successes, our lives, or our accomplishments to another is an obstacle to finding out what we are and the reason for our quest.

Shakespeare, in his play As You Like It, wrote All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; and one man (woman) in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.

The stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are about one or more knights going on a quest for the Holy Grail. These are of legend, and what was the Holy Grail they were seeking?

In 1937, Hal Foster at the request of Randolph Hearst created Prince Valiant, a syndicated adventure strip. This is set in the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and this adventure strip is still in existence today with the good having virtues and the bad having flaws.

There is also the story of Don Quixote, a supposedly comedy/satire by Miguel Cervantes. It speaks to many people—each with her or his own interpretation and sadly, there are those who think Don Quixote was mentally ill or insane. However, most of society thinks that when one thinks or behaves in a different way than what is socially accepted or not acceptable to family members that they are weird.

We also have a method of the American Indians called the Vision Quest where the quester goes out into the wilderness and contemplates for days until a vision is received and the quester is seeking spiritual empowerment and a guardian spirit in most cases.

A quest can be for a myriad of things. For many the first stages are to seek a satisfying relationship with a member of the opposite sex and in some cases, it is with one of the same sex. This relationship may be exactly what the quester has been seeking and for those who finds that their relationship has soured, they continue with their quest to seek another who will fulfill his or her needs. On the other hand, one can remain in an unhappy relationship that becomes bitter and play the role of the victim.

Others seek material things and think that all they need is a new house, a new car, a new wardrobe, a facelift or a nose job and perhaps a new job. There may come a time when the house is old or too small and there must be a new house. The same goes for an automobile and the wardrobe. The facelift or nose job may make the individual feel better about her or his looks, but it does not satisfy that unnamed need within and dissatisfaction sets in. The new job may be just great in the beginning and again it may not be. This is not to say that these are bad things. These could all be steps in questing. Nicholas Roerich, a famous artist and writer in the early part of the last century – 1924-1925, went to India, Tibet and the Himalayas and had this to say in his book Altai Mountain, Himalaya - Every obstacle must be the birth of possibilities.

There is the side effect and that is one can become anesthetized with television, entertainment, sports and other sidelines and the handicap is that one forgets to quest unless it is for material things.

There is another form of questing and this is alchemy, which comes from the Arabian phrase al-kima and its origin from the Egyptian Coptic kehm. There are many forms of alchemy, one being turning base metals into gold. There is also the alchemy of Nature that changes a seed into a plant or a tree. The alchemy I am writing about is the alchemy of the human mind. Physically we change over the years as we physically grow. Our maturation is nourished by our thoughts, our beliefs, our words and our actions.

In the alchemy of changing base lead into gold, there are stages. Books and stories are about this and there have been seekers over the hundreds of years who have strived to interpret the alchemical texts to change lead into gold – a metal. There are supposedly seven stages such as lead, iron, tin, mercury as well as sulfur, copper, silver and finally gold.

However, there is also another form of alchemy and this is what I am writing about. I can only share my experiences and my knowledge. Everything is according to interpretation and what I am writing about is personal transformation or personal evolution.

Most of us do not know what we are questing for. We only know there is a dissatisfaction or a longing for something unseen and unknown. For me it began with a prickle--a sense that there had to be more to life than what I was experiencing. It was very subtle in one sense. When I was forty a thought flitted through my mind, by the time you are fifty your life will be changed. Frankly, I did not know what that meant and let it go. Off and on for the next ten years, the thought would return and I still did not know what it meant.

My mother died in 1976 and when I reflected on her life, I came to my realization that her life appeared to be unfulfilled and I did not want my life to be that way. My children were of the age where they were leaving home and some would say I was experiencing the ‘empty nest’ syndrome. Perhaps, however there was a yearning within me to have more satisfaction with life. I was married and had a well-paying job, lived in a beautiful house and drove a late model automobile. My relationship with my husband was one of superficiality because there was no depth. There had never been any real communication on a deep personal level.

I began searching for some meaning to my life. A friend loaned me a book that talked about the intimacy of a relationship and it moved me tremendously. It was a Friday evening and I attempted to share with my husband the yearning I had for intimacy that we had never shared. He looked at me and asked, “Do you want a divorce?” I immediately said, “Yes” and that was the end of that marriage. This was my unexpected propulsion. When we parted, I never looked back.

The prickle followed by the propulsion was the beginning of my Quest for personal transformation although I did not call it at that time. I only knew that I felt propelled to seek something more in my life. I was seeking and questioning.

My childhood had been one being at the mercy of a verbally and psychological abusive father and a mother who also was the subject of his abuse. In retrospect, I learned something very important and that was to pretend. Pretend can be two sides of a coin. On the one side, we put forth a face that everything is just peaches and cream when beneath the veneer the foundation is of another sort.

The other side of pretend is what some people call a dream. This can lead to some wonderful changes in our lives. As a small little girl I played the make-believe game with others, which was actually pretending to be someone other than who I was. The idea of traveling the world began a dream. I began pouring over travel brochures while dreaming I was traveling. I call this practice. The next step utilized patience. I did not begin thinking that it would never happen and soon the dream slipped into a subconscious state and germinated. When I was age 23, a chance reading of a small article in a newspaper stating there were recruiters for the U.S. State Department interviewing for clerical help in the Foreign Service. Those selected would work in embassies and consulates around the world. This was an opportunity and I grabbed it. I went to work in the Foreign Service branch of the U.S. State Department and my first posting was the embassy in Paris followed by the embassy in Tokyo.

This was a major change for me and I accepted it wholeheartedly. Being born in Texas and growing up there during the time of segregation, I experienced that along with the bigotry and prejudice of my father. When I left Texas, I was what one might call a greenhorn and very naïve. Paris was my uncommon education and gave me the beginnings of my quest.

Shakespeare wrote that the world is a stage and we are the players on it. In our questing, we have choices. We can never change, or we can quest to seek something unknown. We may play many different roles. I have been a college student, a code clerk, a wife, mother, government worker, holistic center program director, minister and now a writer-author. From each of these roles, I gained experience and wisdom.

What I have learned about the art of questing is first there must be a propulsion—an urge or a dream to have or to experience something. The second stage is to pretend—plan--some call this 'make-believe.' The third stage is to live life with passion and not to let go of one's plan or dream. It may sit in the back of the closet of our mind and that is okay because it is incubating. The fourth stage is to persist in doing what you enjoy and the fifth stage is to participate in whatever brings you happiness. The sixth stage is to never give up. It is to have patience. The seventh stage is the manifestation of the dream and gives praise or gratitude. What happens after we have moved through the seven stages of questing? Begin another quest. It is a never-ending journey.

THE EFFECTS OF POWER AND MONEY

What does money and power have to do with revolutions happening all over the world? Everything because having money empowers most of the world population. It has been this way for eons. We are living in the end of times – but not the end of the world. The end of times is the end to tyranny and enslavement. Even in tough times, we have the power to prosper during these times.

First, a little bit of the scenario – a prelude leading up to these turbulent times. It is as though a Master Planner whose name I do not know, except from hearsay created a Master Plan a few hundred years ago. The United States has not known the wars such as Europe and the Far East have known. We have only had two wars on home turf such as the Revolutionary War and the Civil War unless we want to add the Indian Wars. All other wars have been on other turfs. In a way, we have become insulated and the insulation is coming off now.

WWII was the springboard for major changes and this country became a world power with its secret intelligence agencies that have grown like weeds. A Washington Post investigation article states, "The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work." This is a far cry from our spy agencies prior to WWII such as the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) and the Central Intelligence Agency (
C.I.A.) . The article also stated that there were approximately 934 intelligence (spy) agencies in the U.S. government.

Who do they report to? The head of their agency and it goes up the chain of command. President Eisenhower warned in his farewell speech when he left the presidency to be aware of the industrial/defense complex. "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

It was after WWII that the pharmaceutical companies, arms manufacturers and the influx of drugs such as cocaine became large in this country. The use of television began the big marketing business and it programmed the minds of the viewers and consumers. People became addicted to drugs prescribed by physicians and to the illegal drugs. Others were addicted to sports, NASCAR, and thriller movies. These enhance the programming of minds.

There are spy agencies in the corporate world and in a recent article titled, "Why Monsanto Wins," regarding genetically modified foods (GMO) that the FDA approves of is because they plant a spy in the FDA as an employee or a scientist. We have become a spy world.

The Republican Party is showing its ugly head and thrust of power now that the House of Representatives has a Republican majority. If they have their way, we will be thrust back into the dark ages before WWII. An employee will possibly have no benefits and work six days a week. I know. My first job salary was $17 a week and I worked six days a week with no benefits. This was after WWII. The Governor of Wisconsin is using the power to break the unions for power. I applaud the Democrats who fled the state so they would not have to vote, hoping there would be a dialogue, and this goes for Indiana. What are the Republicans going to do when there is almost no incentive for the working person? Are they attempting to kill them off little by little?

Yes, we are seeing the ugly side of power with a capital "P" and M". Power and Money. On the other side, we do have some who have become wealthy and one is Warren Buffett. There is an article about the billionaire (or trillionaire) Warren Buffett. "In an upbeat annual letter to the shareholders of his investment firm, Mr Buffett said he was itching to make more large acquisitions." It goes on to say that he sees an 'upbeat' economy coming. He is a self-made man. In reading his biography, Buffet began as a child buying and selling Coca Cola, chewing gum and magazines. He is noted for his philanthropy and has said that when he dies, he will leave most of his fortune to notable organizations. Someone else who parlayed his talents is Bill Gates. He is also well-known for his philanthropy. There is an old saying, "Give and it shall be given to you." Unfortunately, the majority of corporate world is known for its greed.

Last year a paper was published in the Psychological Science journal. "These effects speak to the power of money, even as a symbol, to change perceptions of very real feelings." This is a quote from University of Minnesota marketing professor and study co-author Kathleen Vohs as reported by msnbc.com. In the paper, there is a reference to emotions having a big effect on money and that when we see money, it can release the endorphins that make us feel better. Why do we women like to shop when we are depressed? Why, we are spending money.

With so many unemployed people in this country as well as in other countries, it is up to us to change our attitudes and develop a taste for having money. Dr. Joseph Murphy, the author of the book, "The Power of the Subconscious Mind," writes: "Poverty is a Mental Disease." He goes on to write: "Knowledge of the power of your subconscious mind is the means to the royal road to riches of all kinds—spiritual, mental or financial. The student of the laws of mind believes and knows definitely that regardless of economic situations, stock market fluctuation, depression, strikes, war, other circumstances, that she/he will always be amply supplied, regardless of what form money takes."

This means that by changing your mind that you change your world. There is a side effect to this. There are beliefs and attitudes that must be done away with such as fear and doubt. Over the years Christianity has conditioned people to think 'money is the root of all evil.' That is a misconception. If you allow these thoughts and emotions to enter your mind, you are taking a step backwards. It takes courage and tenacity to move from 'can't have it,' to 'I can have what I want.' Other emotions and attitudes that hold us back are, greed, jealousy, envy, not forgiving, hatred and disbelief. Yes, anyone can become wealthy. It is the giving that brings happiness and contentment.

Some people cut out pictures of gold and money and put them on a card. Daily they look at this money. The major key to having what you want is your imagination. Everyone has imagination, some have not used it. If you can bring up an image of your bedroom, your kitchen, your house, then you have imagination. This is why pictures are important to look at. It is also important to write down a statement of what you want and be specific. Speak it out loud as often as you can. Look at them as often as you can to instill in your subconscious mind that this is what you want and what you will have.

The story of Cynthia Stafford is one everyone should read about. She was a single mother with five children and she used the methods of Dr. Murphy and in four months she won $112 million from the California Mega-million Lottery. She saw herself winning and the amount she wrote down when she first began focusing on money was $112 million. She had a purpose – an intent. Here is what she has to say, "If you want to do good for others, start now," she says. "Don't wait for the perfect time, because it doesn't exist. Don't wait until you have a certain amount of money in the bank, because giving back is not all about money. You can always give of yourself, your time, your services, your energy, and your talents." If you want to know about her, I suggest you Google her.

Change is not to be feared. Change is growth. Change is evolution. Plant a seed of a desire and nurture it. It will sprout. This is what using the power of the mind can do. Use it wisely and be a giver.

From My Soapbox

March is the designated month to honor women and they should be and not just the month of March or Mother's day, but every day. We are indeed slowly making our way to having equal rights. At the present time, we appear to be moving backwards now that the Republicans are in office. Sometimes I wonder where their brains are or if we now have a recession in the intelligence of the people in this party. At one time I was considered a Republican and I will admit I had a one-sided view on many things. However, the Watergate scandal of Richard Nixon cracked my cosmic egg and I began to see another view of the world. I bless him and his cronies for the evolution of my mind.

I really can't blame it all on the Republicans as we also have a few pea-headed Democrats. The House just pass a bill to ban Planned Parenthood. Women are the ones who suffer from this as well as the potential of banning abortions. As I recall, medical funds for abortion are becoming very limited. I have often wondered how there can be such limited pea-headed brains and this is both men and women who think that an abortion kills a living fetus and is a crime. Have they every considered that there is no difference between aborting a fetus and raising children only to have them go into the military and be killed or maimed for life? Somehow, there is an imbalance in this crippled thinking.

Speaking of crippled thinking. The following is pretty scary. "Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits. Her proposed VA budget cuts would account for $4.5 billion of the savings included in the plan, posted on her official House of Representatives website." And this from a woman. Shame on her! Having been married to a career military man for 23 years who spent 2 tours in Vietnam, I can tell you that being affected by the Agent Orange does not produce health. He died with the side-effects.

I often think of the geat women who fought for women's rights to vote. Women such as Elizbeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott who were the first to approach this. It took Alice Paul, who with other women picketed the White House, "In 1913, Paul led a march of eight thousand participants on President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration day. (Half a million spectators watched; two hundred were injured in the violence that broke out.) During Wilson's second inaugural in 1917, Paul led a march around the White House." President Woodrow Wilson ordered her to be taken to jail where she and other women were subjected to many indignities and brutal treatment. Finally in 1920 the 19th Amendment was passed giving women the right to vote. Unfortunately the Equal Rights Amendment for women has not been passed. It only needs three states to ratify it.

Women who are in politics should be grateful to the women who have gone before them and yet, today we have such women as Sarah Palin who reflects the mindlessness of women. How have we women regressed instead of moving forward?

One woman who should be honored is Marie Curie. She was the first woman to be given a Nobel Prize. First in 1903 for physics and the second time in 1911 in the field of chemistry. From 1903 – 2009, there have only been 41 or 42 women who received Nobel Prizes and the largest number are in Literature and Peace. I don't think it is due to the lack of a woman's ability. One woman who should have been recognized for a Nobel Prize was Rosalind Franklin. James Watson and Francis Crick are credited for discovering DNA and were awarded Nobel Prizes. What most people do not know is that they used Franklin's papers on her discovery of DNA as their basis. The rest is history.

It is up to each individual woman to take a look at her life and decide what kind of a woman does she want to be. Knowledge is power. We do not have to be mental wizards, but we do need to determine our own lives and not allow the political arena to determine what we can and cannot do. It is time to take our power back and to use our voices. Bigotry and prejudices should have no room in our lives. We are here to evolve.

Am I too hard on the men? Perhaps. However, I have three sons who have determined their own lives and I am proud of them. I practically raised them alone because their father was away so much. I also cut the apron strings to allow them to determine the course of their own life.

As we move into the month of March, join me in being a voice for women's rights – each in our own way. Honor those women who have gone before us and choose a future that you want. It is time we move out of oppression and suppression, however it is an individual choice.