Monday, March 7, 2011

Making the World a Better Place

Painting by Heather Plett

On her blog, Sophia Leadership, our friend Heather Plett asks these questions

How can we change the World for Women, and How can Women Change the World?

These are Really Big Questions.

As I see it, the Simple Answer is this:  Rabbits.

Well, not specifically Rabbits.  But I think the answer to this question is something a Tiny Rabbit can teach us.  Or a Cat.  

The Answer that Rabbits and Cats and well,  pretty much all Religions and Philosophies (and I mean Eastern AND Western Religions) want us to know is that what changes the world is BIG LOVE. 

BIG LOVE!!!!

(and I am not referencing the TV show about Mormons.  Elizabeth and Blueberry wanted me to Clarify.  That is a different Big Love.  And it's not one that Rabbits are opposed to, but that's a story for another day, obviously.)

We tend to think of Compassion as The Thing.  Like, we can see when someone has had a hard time, right? We can rationalize behaviors, we can see where people are coming from, we can even Understand and Empathize.  As women, I think we tend to try to do that a lot, even if it's just superficially so we can avoid conflict.

But the HARDER thing to do, and I think something that Women have a bit of a corner on, is LOVING ANYWAY. 

Even if we don't Understand. 

Even if we can't Rationalize or Figure It Out. 

Having Compassion is Great.  Wonderful!  But, as Rabbits see it, Compassion is only a small part of LOVE itself.  The Greater Part of Love is just The Love Itself.  Not the Understanding.  Not the Empathy or the Sympathy or the Compassion, but the act of letting go of getting something for ourselves and giving into Just Giving. 

Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love.  I think that's what will Change the World for Women and How Women Can Change the World.

The Chick is also writing about this issue, and I think our posts compliment each other really well.  I guess that makes sense.  She has some great suggestions that are really concrete about how you can BIG LOVE other women.  But we need to remember that this BIG LOVE concept extends not only to other Women, but also to.... Men.  And... to Ourselves.

If we can't BIG LOVE everyone, then it's not going to work.  Changing the World is for Everyone.  We have to let go of expectations that others are trying to harm us or drag us down.  No one can drag you down except yourself.  Not really.

Well, a Rabbit can drag you down with a Simple Stare, but again, that's another story altogether.

6 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Is there nothing that rabbits do not know?

Marcy Hall said...

That's a fair question, Debra. But I think we all know the answer.

Heather Plett said...

Maddy is trying to convince us to buy her a turtle for her birthday, but I'm thinking maybe we need a RABBIT. :-)

Thank you so much for this. BIG LOVE indeed. Big, bold, daring, unconditional love.

I am honoured that you spent some time engaging with my big question!

Unknown said...

Rhight On Dudette

Yvonne said...

What a lovely and also wise post!

Rebecca said...

The answer to every question is always LOVE! Good thing that we have Rabbits and Marcy to remind us!!