Courage

Whether the way be dark or light 
My soul shall sing as I journey on,

    As sweetly sing in the deeps of night

         As it sang in the burst of the golden dawn.

    Nothing can crush me, or silence me long,

         Though the heart be bowed, yet the soul will rise,

    Higher and higher on wings of song,

         Till it swims like the lark in a sea of skies.

    Though youth may fade, and love grow cold,

         And friends prove false, and best hopes blight,

    Yet the sun will wade in waves of gold,

         And the stars in glory will shine at night.

    Though all earth's joys from my life are missed,

         And I of the whole world stand bereft,

    Yet dawns will be purple and amethyst,

         And I cannot be sad while the seas are left.

    For I am a part of the mighty whole;

         I belong to the system of life and death.

    I am under the law of a Great Central,

         And strong with the courage of love and faith.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Prayer of Women

O spirit that broods upon the hills
And moves upon the face of the deep,
And is heard in the wind,
Save us from the desire of men's eyes,
And the cruel lust of them.
Save us from the springing of the cruel seed
In that narrow house which is as the grave
For darkness and loneliness . . .
That women carry with them with shame, and weariness,
   and long pain,
Only for the laughter of man's heart,
And for the joy that triumphs therein,
And the sport that is in his heart,
Wherewith he mocketh us,
Wherewith he playeth with us,
Wherewith he trampleth upon us . . .
Us, who conceive and bear him;
Us, who bring him forth;
Who feed him in the womb, and at the breast, and
   at the knee:
Whom he calleth mother and wife,
And mother again of his children and his children's
   children.
Ah, hour of the hours,
When he looks at our hair and sees it is grey;
And at our eyes and sees they are dim;
And at our lips straightened out with long pain;
And at our breasts, fallen and seared as a barren hill;
And at our hands, worn with toil !
Ah, hour of the hours,
When, seeing, he seeth all the bitter ruin and wreck of us--
All save the violated womb that curses him --
All save the heart that forbeareth . . . for pity --
All save the living brain that condemneth him --
All save the spirit that shall not mate with him --
All save the soul he shall never see
Till he be orfe with it, and equal;
He who hath the bridle, but guideth not;
He who hath the whip, yet is driven;
He who as a shepherd calleth upon us,
But is himself a lost sheep, crying among the hills!
O Spirit, and the Nine Angels who watch us,
And Thou, white Christ, and Mary Mother of Sorrow,
Heal us of the wrong of man:
We whose breasts are weary with milk,
Cry, cry to Thee, O Compassionate!

Fiona Macleod 

Quote of the Day

We are effectively destroying ourselves by violence masquerading as love.

R.D. Laing

Quote of the Day

"It's hard to look for the light when you're lost in darkness."

 Anonymous

International Women's Day: March 8 Repost

For over 100 years International Women’s Day has been celebrated annually on March 8 to honor women’s achievements and inspire women ; it is a day to reflect on the progress the world has made in advancing women’s rights, the work of the suffragettes, and to remind us what work still remains to be done to promote economic, social and political equality.  Many parts of the world hold events and conferences on this day.

It was in 1908 that 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding  improvements in poor working conditions, shorter hours, better pay and voting rights resulting in the formation of the first American Women's union.  Then, in 1909 this strike was commemorated by the socialist party of America, and, finally, in 1910 at the socialist meeting in Copenhagen, it was voted that there should be a day to mark and support universal suffrage for women. Hence, in 1911 International Women’s Day was marked for the first time with groups of women and men demanding not only the right for women to vote but also women’s rights to work and to undertake vocational training.

On March 8, we also  light a candle and  honor those women who lost their lives throughout the years such as the 140 women garment workers who died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City where the lack of health and safety measures and locked factory exits forced the young immigrant women to jump from factory windows to their deaths to escape the flames.

Quote of the Day

Someday
we'll forget the hurt... the reason we cried...and the one who brought
the pain... We will finally realize that the secret of being free is not
revenge... but letting things unfold in their own ways and time..After
all, what matters is not the FIRST... but the LAST chapter of our lives
which shows how well we run the race..So smile, laugh, forgive, believe
and LOVE over and over again..‌
Unknown

We Are the Music-Makers

We are the music-makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams.

World-losers and world-forsakers,

Upon whom the pale moon gleams;

Yet we are the movers and shakers,

Of the world forever, it seems.

With wonderful deathless ditties

We build up the world's great cities,

And out of a fabulous story

We fashion an empire's glory:

One man with a dream, at pleasure,

Shall go forth and conquer a crown;

And three with a new song's measure

Can trample an empire down.

We, in the ages lying

In the buried past of the earth,

Built Nineveh with our sighing,

And Babel itself with our mirth;

And o'erthrew them with prophesying

To the old of the new world's worth;

For each age is a dream that is dying,

Or one that is coming to birth.

Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy

Quote of the Day

No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer. Your life, because of who you are, has meaning.

Barbara de Angelis