When did it all start, this pronouncement of this 8 letter word as a 4 letter one? When did feminism become profanity? 
Perhaps as far back as the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman? Penned by the 18th-century British writer, Mary Wollstonecraft, this text puts forth a seemingly basic concern: equal education and opportunity, and access to reproductive rights, for all. Interestingly, the tenants of feminism have remained virtually the same ever since. While the French were fighting their own countrymen for “liberty, equality, fraternity,” Wollstonecraft declared, “It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses, cares, and sorrows, into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion, that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that all the power they obtain, must be obtained by their charms and weakness.” Ah, if only the French had considered women on their political platform! For when we acknowledge the steady march of Kardashians across our senseless screens, we could mourn that nothing much has changed in two hundred years. The charm of nothingness abounds in our current culture.
Gratitude Walk
Today, after the 46.7 million travelers have arrived safely, held hands around tables big and small, bowed heads in reverence, scooped, sliced, poured, then devoured, we push back our chairs and declare our thanks for the abundance. Deepak Choprah suggests an idea worthy of our attention on Thanksgiving Day: Take a Gratitude Walk!
Take a Gratitude Walk
This is a particularly useful practice when you’re feeling down or filled with stress and worry. [Or very very well sated by your holiday meal! ] Set aside 20 minutes (or longer if you can) and walk in your neighborhood, through a park, around your office, or somewhere in nature.
As you walk, consider the many things for which you are grateful … nurturing relationships, material comforts, the body that allows you to experience the world, the mind that allows you to really understand yourself, and your essential spiritual nature. Breathe, pause, and be grateful for the air that is filling your lungs and making your life possible.
Pay attention to your senses—everything you’re seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and maybe even tasting—and see how many things you can find to feel grateful for. This is a powerful way to shift your mood and open to the flow of abundance that always surrounds you.
Sounds like a worthy activity today, and everyday. Wishing you and yours much love and joy during this holiday. And safe travels!
Compassionate Action
There has been an outpouring of tremendous world-wide empathy showered on France since the terrorist attack on Paris. On this sentiment it seems all people agree. Beyond that, we fall into a chasm of differences. Over where we should place our attention. Over borders and refugees and immigration and political policy. Over ideology and religion. There are hundreds upon hundreds of blogs stirring up hate, defining us separate from them, each new headline fueling the fire of terror. But none of those charged issues are my concern in this post. I just want to reflect on a more humane reaction. A reaction that elicits compassion. “Empathy is a gateway to compassion. It’s understanding how someone feels, and trying to imagine how that might feel for you — it’s a mode of relating. Compassion takes it further. It’s feeling what that person is feeling, holding it, accepting it, and taking some kind of action” (Chandler).
Nine Cent Girl 