The Scarlet Paper
A Woman is a Dangerous Thing To Waste...
Friday, March 12, 2004

I read my horoscope as I do every week at www.freewillastrology.com and it had this to say about me:

You still have a chance to avoid that pyrrhic victory you're spiraling towards. For those of you without a dictionary nearby, a "pyrrhic victory" is defined as a costly triumph, useless advantage, or empty success. What's your best bet for avoiding it? First, start thinking of what your soul needs rather than what your ego craves. Second, forget about trying to provide balance to a distorted situation that's too fixed to be influenced. Third, become aware of how your focus on what you dislike is reinforcing what you dislike.

I started to think about my posting yesterday where I said that anyone with oppressive views wasn't welcome at my table. I hate to admit it, but I was wrong. I think when women find their voice, when they finally get the courage to speak up and not take the crap that is shoved down our throats every day on how we should behave, look, smell, and live our lives we start screaming. We refuse to have our voice suppressed any further. The thing that I realized was that after awhile you become what you hate most. As Rob from Free Will Astrology said, "what you dislike is reinforcing what you dislike." I became this angry person who refused to hear an opposing point of view because the stakes were too high. But the Religious Right could say the same thing, could they not? They could say the stakes are too high, our society is at stake, and under no circumstances am I willing to give up my religious belief to cater to a lifestyle someone CHOSE.

They, of course, have the right to think that way. They could refuse to hear me and not invite me to discuss my point of views on allowing gays and lesbians to marry. It wouldn't be right. (No pun intended) I wouldn't want to have someone shut me down and refuse to hear me. So, I am going to change my position. I am going to invite opposing viewpoints to my table. I am going to ask them why over and over again until I understand where the roots of their beliefs are. (I think its fear, but they could surprise me.) I am going to try to understand them. They may even surprise themselves and find they don't really know why they feel the way they do, they have been taught to feel a certain way and that's all they know. Maybe by saying it out loud they can become more aware of themselves and maybe exposure to my viewpoint might open their minds a bit.

As my horoscope said, "think of what your soul needs, not what your ego craves." Sure I would like to win the great debate, to have the power to tell someone that offends me to stick it where the sun doesn't shine and not bother me with their oppressive views. But what my soul needs is peace and understanding. My soul, and everyone else's I think, needs to start coming together with other souls and healing some of this pain. It's breaking us down, fighting all the time. That's what's tearing this society apart. Not gay marriage, but the fighting over gay marriage. The hatred and fear of those that don't conform.

We may never live in a fair and balanced society. Life ebbs and flows. I get that. I think that keeping an open heart and having good intentions by allowing a place for everyone to speak is a step in the right direction. And like Mohatma Ghandi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

posted at # 12:15 AM by Deanne

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About Me

"A woman is like a tea bag, you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."- Eleanor Roosevelt

"If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform 1 million realities."- Maya Angelou

"We can do no great things-only small things with great love."- Mother Teresa

"You must be the change you wish to see in this world."-Mohandas Gandhi

"Fear not those who argue but those who dodge." - Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

"People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant."- Helen Keller

"I am not afraid of the pen, or the scaffold, or the sword. I will tell the truth wherever I please." - Mother Jones

"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman."- Virginia Woolf

"They don't negotiate with terrorists, they invest in them!" - Randi Rhodes

"I won't be disillusioned because I was never illusioned." - Milton Mayer




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