A New Years Toast

I am deeply aware of the omens, the symbolism in the world especially around the New Year.

The first image that came to me on January 1st was the swearing in of the New President of Brazil Dilma Rouseff, the ex Marxist Guerrilla, imprisoned and tortured for years, now the President of one of the largest countries and economies in the world. I thought to myself this is going to be a good year for women in their prime. I'm glad I'm one.

There are more women than ever in powerful positions in the world and I am thrilled at their success and pray it continue and multiply. The largest demographic in the world today are women 50 - 75 years old. We are the missing chapter in this ever unfolding story. Women of our age have been largely ignored throughout history, dismissed, invisible, unimportant. Of late we have been branded with menopausal angst or ennui, empty nest syndrome, sometimes losing our 20+ year marriages, children leave home, go off to college. and we are often epitomized as abandoned, sexless, unattractive, old. Yet, in fact we are in our creative and very political prime.

Though I am not endorsing the likes of Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorna, Sarah Palin, Lisa Murkowski, Hillary. I must say they are dynamic, endlessly energetic, smart, crafty women. It could be the time of our lives. And for the sake of humanity, it better be. We have all heard of The trio of "maiden, mother, crone", the three stages of a woman's life, but there is another side to it.

The queen; the one who is past mother and not yet crone. She is phoenix rising. She is Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Julia Guillard, Prime Minister of Australia. She is Christina Kirchner. She is Laura Chinchilla, president of Costa Rica She is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Angela Merkel of Germany. She is Oprah. She is Amy Goodman. She is Vandana Shiva, Wangari Mathai and Benjamin. She is me. She is you. ,

So, here's to the queen. God save the queen. Smart, fearless, savvy, experienced.

I'm reading the autobiography of the Grandmother of Punk, 62 year old, Patti Smith's, Just Kids. It chronicles her time in New York in the 60's and 70's and her relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. There is a brilliant quote that seems significant in this way. That the priest humbled in the face of god turned spells into prayers.

In these times it is appropriate for us to return to the casting of spells, the bending and shaping of things in order to preserve them. Calling on our ancient wisdom, or earthy connection to plants, animals and minerals. We can do this individually, collectively, silently or audibly. We will use the laws of nature and attraction to address the common good. The way things are going, in the end women, will rule the world.

We are at a pivot point and It is the feminine who will be our salvation. Our survival instincts are shouting in our faces. It is not a matter of choice, we have come to that fork in the road that is our final destination. As women, mothers, queens, having brought life through our bodies we have an innate compassion for the living and the sustenance there of. With our eyes wide open we see and feel what is going on. Our decisions are based on the safety and survival of our children. What we need is power to make those decisions. It seems that power is at hand.

Men have raped and pillaged this earth and are no longer in control. The weather and the elements are in charge now. We all know it. We don't need a scientist to interpret constant floods, quakes, freak hurricanes. Five thousand birds fell from the sky on new years eve. 100,000 fish died along the Arkansas River. Our path is obvious, It is time for us to rise in power and nurse this aching, dying world back to life. Because this future is dangling precariously before our eyes and though hindsight is 20/20 we can and must see clearly now. Here's to that vision substantiated by a past that requires us to pay a toll in order to cross safely into our future. It is something we do over every bridge. So raise a glass and here's a toast to 2011

Here's to the birds
Here's to the fish in the rivers and seas
here's to the frogs
here's to the bees
Here's to the bears and the wolves and the trees
Here's to the sloth
Here's to the ape
Here's to the chimp
Here's to the whales, and the great manatees
Here's to the dolphins, the crab and the shrimp
Here's to the plankton, the turtles, and the rest
Here's to the reef, the mountain the nest
Here's to the earth, fire water and air
Here's to the people who act like they care.
To all the world a happy healthy new year.