Today is International Women's Day ~ My Thoughts + How to Plug In!

Beauty is more than skin deep, and an issue that impacts us all as human beings.  We long to be seen as the beautiful creations we are.  We ought to be treating one another in ways that celebrate each human being's unique beauty.  This world is filled with beautiful people who treat others and are treated by others in truly ugly ways, which is why we need days like International Women's Day.

My contribution to the conversation is a short piece on feminism, which I hope you will read.  Additionally, I encourage you to take part of International Women's Day today, March 8th via links at the bottom of the post!  

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As a self-proclaimed feminist, I embrace today and the message about the importance of gender equality.  I do not understand feminism to be something that is anti-men/ anti-male.  Rather, for me, feminism is the desire to see the end of oppression within human relationships.

I understand patriarchal ways in which society functions to be equally detrimental for women and men.  As a brief example, demands upon men to be the "bread-winners" holds them to standards that are, by and large, completely unreasonable in today's economy.  The expectation that men always go to work can stifle the desires of those fathers who want to be stay-at-home-dads!  

The fact that women across the board are paid less than their male counterparts is inherently problematic.  Especially in our US society where one of the ways in which a human being's worth is determined is by the size of their paycheck, our economy declares that women are less valuable than men.  This is one of many variables that create situations in which women are marginalized in our capitalist economy.  Pair the reality of women with the reality of persons of color and we end up with a situation in which those who are the most vulnerable in our society are women of color.  Even within women's struggle for equality, our struggle is not equal.  It is imperative that women continue to lift one another up, even across political, socio-economic and racial boundaries.  It is only together that we can continue the dialogue.  Action requires communication.  Both require mutual understanding and a willingness to work together toward a mutual goal.  I hope that today is a day in which the complexities of the struggle for equality are lifted to the surface just as the need for equality itself is highlighted across the world.

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I've included lots of logos and links to various ways to connect with today's celebration!  May today be beautiful for you!

Today we celebrate the role of women in our international communities while reminding ourselves and the rest of the world of the need for equality!

#MakeItHappen

#PaintItPurple

PLUS, Tune in for an Amazing Presentation by Emma Watson as part of Celebrating International Womene's Day for a HeForShe and Gender Equality Conversation Live on Facebook!

I hope that you've found a way to plug in, participate, and be inspired to #MakeItHappen; we all need to work toward a greater awareness of gender equality!

Joining with 1000 Voices for Compassion: One Simple Way to Embody Compassion

I am so excited about the opportunity to join with other bloggers to write about compassion today!

For me, compassion begins as something intangible, a slippery thought that draws me beyond my normal mode of operating, and invites me to consider the creatures around me in a new, kinder, and more gentle way.

It is very important to me that those moments of compassion become embodied in some way.  Whether compassion takes the form of kind words to another, giving myself the time and space to relax in a bubble bath, or simply smiling with understanding at the father calming a crying baby in the grocery store, I want to be a living expression of compassion in the world.

Hubby and I moved from a suburb of Atlanta to a suburb of Chicago in 2008.  I had never seen homelessness in such stark, harsh reality before reaching Evanston, IL.  There were usually one or two men of various ages who waited outside my local Jewel-Osco to ask for food, money, basically anything others were willing and able to spare.  

I remember the first of many times I shared what I could spare with one particular gentleman.  I rarely carry cash on me, and so I had intended to get him something from my cash back option at the checkout line.  But, after my long trek through the store, I completely forgot.  I felt horribly.  So, I frantically dug about in my parcels, and pulled out several oranges.  His ability to ask and willingness to express genuine gratitude astonished me.  I remember him commenting on how helpful they would be fighting off sickness in the oncoming winter.

Through our years of graduate school, and early marriage, Hubby and I have been reliant on the compassion of family and friends more than once.  After surviving an apartment fire in which we lost everything, I clearly remember what it is to go to sleep in a foreign bed with nothing more to my name than the clothes on my back.  In the financially tight moments since that apartment fire, I am eternally grateful that I have never had to know the coldness of sleeping on concrete, the hunger of not knowing where my next meal is coming from, nor the harshness of untreated mental illness.

I'm writing about compassion and homelessness, because I believe that it is an invitation to move beyond our society's judgement that we ought to "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps."  I believe that it isn't even about generosity.  It is about knowing what I can spare and what I cannot spare.  John the Baptist had a simple, yet practical, teaching about love: if you have two coats give one to someone who does not have a coat.  

I still rarely carry cash.  I'm a graduate student on a tight budget, and I would definitely give away more than we could afford if I carried cash in my pocket.  However, I saw a YouTube video HowTo about Backpacks for the Homeless, and I was inspired.  So, I carry little kits with me in the car so that when someone asks, I can offer what I do have to spare!

I keep one kit in the car at a time.  After I give one away, its time to make another.  Every kit is a little different based on what extras I have on hand when its time to make a new one. 

This kit Includes:

- Lotion, Shampoo, Conditioner, Bath & Face Soaps: from a recent hotel stay.

- Washcloth: purchased as a bundled pack of 10 from Target for $3.

- Toiletries Bag: purchased from the $1 Spot at Target.

- Paper and Pen: from a recent hotel stay.

- InTouch Magazine: encouraging reading material.

- Quaker Chewy Dipps: took a few from a box I bought for Hubby's lunches.

Total Out of Pocket Cost: ~$5

I give out of my home what I can spare for someone who does not have a home.  This is one way I embody the compassion I want and need to be more present in the world around me.  I hope that this contribution to the 1000 Voices for Compassion helps to inspire you to consider how compassion is a part of your every day life!

What does compassion mean to you?  How do you embody it in your life?  When are you most in need of compassion from others or from yourself?