Women of 2011, I beseech you, read this now. You need this article. You need this article that you are probably reading on your Blackberry, or iPhone or super cool laptop, whilst sitting on a squashed tube, or at home, nursing your numb feet that have been squished into overpriced shoes. You falsely believe you are a Power Woman. That you, with your well paid job in the media or some such, with your designer handbag and ability to quote Audrey Hepburn without blinking, are the epitome of what the modern woman should be. That you’ve broken the glass ceiling, that you’re powering forward in the urban abyss towards success.
Except your heels are so high that you’ve forgotten what it feels like to stand barefoot on the grass. You’ve forgotten how to play on the swings, to push yourself higher and higher until you feel like you can fly. Your life has been crudites and salmon for so long that you don’t remember just how good a jam sandwich tastes.
But lucky for you, it’s not only Women’s Day on the 8th of March, but the Spring Equinox, the pagan holiday of Oestara on the 20th. So really, it’s the month of the Goddess.
Which means taking a little breathing time, a little peace and quiet inside your mind to remember what’s important. This is, if you like, a big slap in the face called ‘PRIORITISE!
Oestara/Eostre is about spring coming, it’s about baby bunnies and lambies frolicking all over the place. It’s about falling in love whilst dancing wildly around a maypole, about the cycle continuing and ending. Ending not exactly bad habits, but things that aren’t of any help anymore. About getting in touch with your hippie self, picnics with friends, being outside, and not only waiting for the brilliant things that spring offers, but embracing them with open arms.
My advice to you, Urban Girl? Try something new, something that isn’t about style or being impressive or increasing productivity. This is about remembering we live in a world that has amazing natural beauty. So do some recycling, buy organic, go veggie for a week, do something to say a big, fat ‘thank you’ to Mother Nature for finally bringing back the sunshine. Ditch the Jimmy Choos for a week, and the world will thank you.
