I had a profound realization the other week I really want to share with you…
After seeing my friend Maria’s recent presentation of The Heroine’s Journey (Maureen Murdock’s female interpretation of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey), I had the pleasantly surprising realization that I have been emerging into a phase of healing my relationship with the masculine and integrating it more into a balanced relationship with my feminine.
First of all, what do I mean by “masculine” and “feminine”?
We all have the energy of both masculine and feminine traits living within us. It’s not about gender or sexuality, it’s about the energy you call upon.
The energy of the masculine is focused, like an arrow zeroing in on its target. It needs purpose to thrive. It is the tree rooted into the earth, unwavering and strong.
The energy of the feminine embraces the flow of life and creative energy. It thrives on play and beauty and letting go to receive. It is the wild wind that blows through the branches of the tree of the masculine.
Embracing both energies brings balance.
We live in a society that tends to overvalue the traits of the masculine, creating the imbalance that so many of us feel in the world today.
When we overvalue masculinity, we spend most of our time working and have a hard time resting or spontaneously connecting with others. We spend less time in nature or expressing our creative selves.
Denying the feminine in our lives leaves us longing for something more – more creative, more nourishing, and more wild.
Soon after my realization about my place in The Heroine’s Journey, I got out my watercolors and painted this!
Back in 2013, I knew I needed to quit my corporate job (which was in a very masculine dominant environment – the norm for most work environments), and I immediately dove into a two years of intense devotion to self-care, creative expression, working with goddess archetypes, and deepening my connection to mother nature as a way to reconnect to my inner feminine.
It was beautiful and deep work.
And then a few months ago, I started to feel something shift within me. Totally unexpected.
I found myself coming back to more intense, singularly focused (masculine) activities with a balanced mindset. Instead of fearing or judging the masculine, I was embracing it again.
I’ve been pushing my physical edge by lifting heavy weights at CrossFit and tapping back with determined intensity at SoulCycle several days a week.
I’ve been creating work hours where I’m super “on” with my businesses and noticing the quality of my output increasing thanks to my Productivity Planner and working in an amazing community of ambitious, creative women at my local coworking space.
…all while still maintaining my commitment to taking care of myself through creative expression, circling with women regularly, nourishing my body, and being the counter-balance of energy to my man.
In other words, the feminine is still thriving within me – alongside my masculine.
And that feels powerful.
I texted my friend the other day that I felt like a powerful sorceress. The integration of the many parts of myself feels expansive and whole.
And I know I have the tools now to rebalance at any time.
What about you? Where do you think you are on your own Heroine’s Journey based on my watercolor image above? I’d love to know. Leave a comment below!