As we continued with our Fall changes theme, we used much of this last month to discuss our experience of the womanhood stage of living.
We shared about and examined our experiences of living as a woman in the world today. In the dialog, it began to emerge for us, that there are two distinct phases of womanhood we experience.
There is an early womanhood phase which seems to be rooted in surviving and trying to figure it out. Learning to live on our own and how to be ourselves. This is distinct from who our family, community or societal structure says we are or should be. During this early phase of womanhood, we are creators working to build personhood, career and family.
Following this early phase (loosely our 20's and 30's), is another phase. A phase that isn't yet "elder-hood" and is after the typical motherhood years. We discussed how this phase has become possible by way of the many rights women have gained in recent history (the last 70yrs or so), as well as the fact that we now live well into our 80's and 90's.
This middle womanhood phase is rooted in our desire to be a contributor in the larger society. It is marked by our hard won know how and willingness to thrive not just survive.
Goddess Practice
Your Inquiry
Discover the phases of womanhood for yourself. We all take different paths, discover yours and the impact it has had. Here are some questions to get you started ...
- When did you experience your transition from girlhood to womanhood?
- How did this experience help formulate what kind of person you know yourself to be?
- What where the key experiences that made up your early womanhood? How did these experience focus and shape your life?
- Can you see a time of life that was about surviving? How was that?
- How about thriving, what does a life lived in service and thriving look different?
We encourage you to engage in these questions with the other women in your life. In dialog, we experience and learn much more than we can on our own.
