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This small booklet contains a wealth of inspiration, wisdom, and guidance by notable women of our time. The interviews—originally published in my magazine Women’s Way—were collected in this booklet in 1995.
Below is a list of the interviewees:
Linda
Shierse Leonard: Creative
Madness
Linda Shierse Leonard is a nationally known Jungian
analyst and author of The Wounded Woman, On the Way to the Wedding, Witness
to the Fire, and the recently published, Meeting the Madwoman. She
is in the process of beginning her fifth book, About Reindeer Woman.
Christina
Grof: One Heroine’s
Journey
Christina Grof is the author of The Thirst
for Wholeness: Addiction, Attachment, and the Spiritual Path. Co-author,
with her husband Stan Grof, of several other books, she is also the founder
of the Spiritual Emergence Network. In the following heart-to-heart, woman-to-woman
interview, Christina shares her personal journey with the readers of Woman’s
Way.
Dave
Dellinger and Elizabeth Peterson: United
We Stand
“Once upon a time,” as the fairy
tales all begin, there was a man born to be president or, at least, a supreme
court judge. That is what Dave Dellinger’s mother and grandmother believed
he would be. But, as often happens, life did not turn out exactly the way it
was foreseen.
Kay
Adams: The Way of the Journal
Kathleen Adams MA, LPC is a clinical journal
therapist who teaches, writes and consults on the use of reflective writing
as a tool for personal growth, spiritual development and emotional healing.
Her first book, Journal to the Self (1990, Warner Books) is considered a classic
in the field. She is also the author of a journal therapy workbook, The Way
of the Journal (1993, Sidran Press) and the first journal book for men, Mightier
Than the Sword (1994, Warner Books). She is the founder and director of
The Center for Journal Therapy in Denver, Colorado.
Julia
Cameron: Passages—Discovering and Cultivating
the Inner Artist
Julia Cameron is the author of The Artist’s
Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Consider, what if: Everyone
is an artist? Being creative is a natural part of being human? Everyone spent
more time creating their own art, instead of passively experiencing it through
the mass media and consumerism? Being creative is a form of communion with the
Divine?
Salle
Merrill-Redfield: Living the Celestine Prophecy
The Celestine Prophesy
has been on the best seller list for many months and has been translated into
many languages. Salle Merrill-Redfield is married to the author, James Redfield.
She was very involved in the completion of the book and its publication. She
and James travel around the world giving talks and meditations based on the
nine insights presented in the book.
Megan
Garcia: Mother of the Grandmothers
Megan Garcia is the author of Grandmothers
– a collection of wisdom cards which depict artfully made dolls who speak
through images and words of our true nature, change, growth, and wholeness.
Here she openly and heartfully shares her story and the story of the dolls,
with the hope that you, the reader, may discover some pieces of your life puzzle.
Marion
Woodman: The inner Life
Marion Woodman is a Jungian analyst, who has
written several books. Among them are The Pregnant Virgin, Addiction to Perfection:
The Still Unravished Bride, The Ravaged Bridegroom, and Leaving Our Father's
House. She sees empowerment as a balance between a concentrated inner life
and a will to be active in the outer.
Kim Chernin: The Woman Who is Not Yet
Deena Metzger: Join the Underground
From the Introduction:
A revolution is happening. An inner revolution. Women are breaking the chains of an anachronistic system, an anachronistic way of being. This is a continuation of the feminism of past generations.
The initial phase of feminism necessarily focused on socio-political inequities,
the nitty gritty realities of our daily circumstances and attitudes that kept
us contained. Women worked hard to get the vote. In the second phase of feminism,
women worked for economic equality and equal opportunity. The work done by first
and second phase women has, and continues to be, essential in making important
steps to equality and overcoming discrimination. It has been literally ground
breaking work. Women have plowed the rocky and weed-infested gardens out of
which only stunted plants could grow. They have been clearing the fields of
unjust laws, social inequities, and prejudice.
There is still work to be done. The plowing is not complete, and weeding is
always needed. Although women have the vote in the United States and other western
countries, there are still inequities, economic and others. Due to the efforts
of many women, and some men, there has also been progress in equal opportunity.
Outer socio-political efforts have made a difference and are still needed to
bring conditions up to par. Women who have the luxury of reaping the harvest
of the work of past generations need to continue the work by helping women in
less fortunate circumstances take these steps. In India and other third world
countries, for example, females still live under inhumane conditions.
Sufficient progress in some countries has prepared the soil for some of us to
take an additional step, perhaps the third wave of feminism, in attending to
a different type of work—inner work. Seeds have been planted and many are
taking root and beginning to sprout. This is the revolution from within, within
our psyches, our bodies, our souls.
Carl Jung once said that to bring peace to the world, we are each responsible
for addressing the issues in our own unconscious. I don’t believe that
he was suggesting that we ignore the outer work, but that without doing the
inner work, we will bring distortions of our repressed anger and fear into the
outer work which will only perpetuate the problems.
Many women have been exploring the inner terrain. Not blaming men or society
for our problems, we are finding a truly feminine approach to being in the world.
Women are becoming aware of how we have interjected the attitudes of society.
We are also aware that the role models of past generations of women, although
having helped us to adapt and survive, now no longer support our healthy growth.
We are exploring how we can be affective in changing the situation by changing
ourselves, not buying into the distorted messages we are given.
These messages are rooted in a patriarchal paradigm that goes back to Adam and
Eve, and has us believe that our bodies and the earth are separate from spirit;
that humans are born in shame. These core beliefs are being challenged. Many
women are exploring and questioning the religious teachings in which we have
been raised. Women are examining the messages we received about our relationship
with God, the earth, sexuality, and spirituality. Many of us are discovering
that the status quo perspective is destructive to our nature, and with that
discovery are rediscovering an ancient spirituality. However, we are not simply
unearthing an old relic, we are recreating and embellishing on these ancient
knowings and making them relevant for ourselves and our times.
The feminine spiritual perspective that is evolving supports women in honoring
the earth, our bodies, and sexuality as sacred. The Goddess is an essential
element in this realm. We are not, however, interested in abstract disembodied
theories. We recognize that this spirit, the Goddess, is living in each of us.
Her knowing is our knowing. We are learning to listen to our inner voice, and
claim our own authority.
Women are no longer willing to carry the myth of the curse of Eve. We stand
unashamed, proud of our ability to make our own choices and take responsibility
for them. We are the bringers of life. We acknowledge that the bringing of life
indeed includes the bringing of death and we honor the beauty of this, including
the pain that it brings. The Garden of Eden is a place where we sacrifice our
knowing. In such a garden, we remain children. In the garden of earth, we participate
fully. We are organic gardeners. It is hard work. We do not expect the plants
to live forever. We respect the cycles of light and dark, summer and winter.
We trust that what dies will be reborn each season. We do not attempt to avoid
death. We live fully and strive for wholeness, not an abstract, idealistic,
illusionary, unachievable perfection that only perpetuates our low self-esteem
and shame by comparison.
In the garden of earth, women are exploring the symbolism in dreams, learning
and using massage and psychotherapy techniques, healing from abuse and addiction.
Women are declaring freedom by leaving relationships that are destructive. As
we make the statement in our lives that we are not victims, we take risks and
find a core of strength and wisdom we may not have known we had. We are learning
to trust our intuition, not ignore or denigrate our bodies, but appreciate and
attend to them more by following our natural rhythms and cycles.
Much of this work involves healing the body/mind split that religion has perpetuated.
We recognize spirit in matter, in nature, in our bodies. We honor the darkness
as well as the light. It requires integrity, strength, and courage to be authentic,
and not wear a false face. We celebrate our humanity! We learn to be present
in each moment. If we are experiencing fear or anger, we acknowledge the feelings
and find appropriate outlets for them. We communicate with respect, first with
ourselves, and then with others in our lives. We take appropriate action based
on our inner guidance. Although we may consult with others, we take responsibility
for our choices.
Many of us are taking active roles in medicine, government, and business. We
are trying to find our unique way of fulfilling these roles, struggling to find
an appropriate approach to the work that includes our feminine nature. We are
learning how to balance family responsibilities with our creative and career
responsibilities. We are redefining ourselves, and our relationship with men.
We are learning how to bring our feminine nature into all areas of our lives,
not trying to imitate men.
The women in this book share their struggles and victories to find their unique
way and help create new, healthier models of womanhood. They are pioneers in
the inner journey.
A sample interview:
It was one of those crazy Colorado spring days when anything
can happen: snow, rain, hail, or clear seventy-degree sunshine. While the sky
remained clear and blue, the wind was whipping through the juniper bushes, delicate
new daffodils, and our hair. It was even challenging the stability of cars.
With the foothills planted solidly behind us, Linda Leonard and I sat in the
sunshine on the enclosed patio of the restaurant, partially protected from the
wind.
WW: I would like to focus on creativity, the theme
for this issue. Your book, Witness to the Fire, took this as its main theme
and your recently published book, Meeting the Madwoman, focuses on the madness
that women face in our struggle for authentic identity and self-expression.
I know that you have explored this area extensively and have a lot of hard-earned
experience and insights that would be of use to our readers in facing these
same issues in their lives.
LL: I see four stages in the creative process,
which I talk about in Witness to the Fire. The first is surrender to the unknown.
So every time we are about to create, we have to give up all our old preconceptions
and open ourselves up to a void to allow the new to come in. This is a very
hard phase because we don’t know if anything will come. There is a lot
of anxiety that usually arises around that. Many of us stop here because we
do not want to go through that anxiety.
The second phase is the work and struggle phase. So after we have faced the
challenge of surrendering to the unknown and our fears of emptiness, a number
of ideas or inspirations arise. We have a sense of direction. At this stage
we have to work to give form to our inspiration in some way, through words,
dance, music, whatever our medium is. This takes a lot of sifting and sorting,
a lot of struggling to understand the meaning or pattern of what wants to be
born. This is another place where we give up. For a variety of logistical and
emotional reasons, we may be unable or unwilling to make the commitment of time
and energy to the inspiration.
After we get through the work and struggle phase, we come to the rest and regeneration
phase. During this stage we face the task of nourishing ourselves, gestating,
processing whatever has come up. A lot of us resist this phase because it may
be hard to let go of the doing process. We may get stuck here by becoming obsessive.
The last phase is the giving phase when we actually share our work with others.
It is the time to put our work out in the world. Many of us stop at this phase
for a variety of reasons. Often we resist putting our work out because of fear
of rejection.
WW: As you describe it above, it is possible to
give up at any stage of the process.
LL: Yes, giving up is one of the major obstacles
to the creative process; not giving up in the sense of surrender, but in the
sense of abandoning.
WW: Sometimes it’s hard to discern between
giving up and surrender. Can you describe the difference?
LL: The feeling of surrender is that you feel related
to something higher, something beyond yourself. When you are giving up, you
have lost the connection and support of the inspiration. Giving up is usually
tied to resentment and bitterness. Surrender may feel frightening, but it does
not have a clutching, controlling, grasping quality to it.
WW: Although the challenges both men and women
face in these stages are quite standard, would you say that women may have more
difficulty with these stages because of our socialization?
LL: Yes, I think many women have a particular problem
because for a long time women were not expected to put out creative work in
the world. This is one thing that is illustrated in the lives of women in Meeting
the Madwoman. In addition, when we have tried to put our creations out into
the world, we have been confronted with an expectation that they conform to
the patriarchal form of creativity. So if we are going to create from our authentic
self as a woman, some of what we have to say may fit in with the collective
mode, but a big part of it—especially what’s new for women—may
not.
Women have to brave the rejection and criticism of society. That’s where
the Madwoman comes in, either negatively/destructively or positively/ creatively.
If what a woman is doing does not conform to patriarchal expectations, then
she is often called mad or dismissed, ridiculed in some way and she has to be
able to get through that.
The Madwoman may come in destructively, if the woman becomes embittered, resentful,
abandons her creative project, or—as Camille Claudel did—even destroys
some of her creative work. However, if she uses her “madness” wisely
and skillfully, she may fight to get her work out in the world and not give
in to the patriarchal expectations.
WW: So that’s the question, how does one do
that?
LL: It is important to have faith in what we do.
With my first book, The Wounded Woman, which I put out in the seventies, I received
forty-two rejections. A lot of the rejections were because I wasn’t writing
in a traditional mode; I included my personal story. At that point, I could
have given up or I could have conformed. Some publishers wanted me to popularize
it in such a way that the depth would have been lost. Some wanted me to take
the personal part out. But I chose not to compromise and didn’t do those
things. Then, luckily through a synchronicity, an editor came to a lecture I
gave and was interested in publishing it. So sticking to our own authenticity
and not giving up is essential.
WW: This is the crux of the issue as I see it.
Since, unfortunately, so many women have been wounded in our self-esteem by
years of abuse or incest as children, having faith in ourselves is one of the
biggest challenges we face. In addition to our lack of self-esteem, we also
face the challenge of a socialization that does not encourage women to persevere.
Men are more socialized to have the fighting spirit (which may cause them other
problems); women are often called derogatory names for being persistent. So
how do we find the wherewithal to persist through adversity and not give up?
LL: Again this is where the Madwoman energy comes
in. It is very dangerous to remain in the victim role. The positive Madwoman
energy can help us get out of that. The reason I put so many biographies of
women in the book is because it helps to read about how other women work with
the struggle.
WW: Role models are very helpful in this process.
As a child the role models, adult women I came in contact with—including
teachers—did not serve me well and caused me many problems. Discovering
and learning about creative, non-traditional women through books and movies
has been very important to my healing. I remember discovering Anäis Nin
when I was nineteen and from there I kept looking and finding other inspiring
role models. Then I began finding some live, flesh-and-blood women—friends,
and mentors. What else do you recommend?
LL: It also helps to be in creative support groups
writing or painting, whatever your medium is.
WW: Yes, groups help since part of the victimization
we experience has been reinforced by isolation. And that is why your books and
the others are so important in helping us see that we are not alone. Seeing
that, and how somebody else made it through gives us support and encouragement.
LL: It is interesting that the initial response
back in the late seventies was not to let a woman tell her story, because then
all women will start telling their story. Then what will happen!
WW: In the beginning of Meeting the Madwoman you
say that the first step in transforming the destructive Madwoman energy to the
more creative is to accept and confront her and those dark voices inside. You
speak about “going to lunch with the Madwoman.”
LL: It is very important to acknowledge that energy,
face it and get to know it.
WW: Again, this is not an easy task. There is such
a powerful injunction against that, like with your book. Everything in society
is saying, “Don’t! Don’t let the Madwoman out. Don’t even
acknowledge that she exists!”
It seems to me that our suppression of the Madwoman archetype only serves to
increase violence in our culture. What would you say about the suppression of
the dark feminine, the dominating, hyper-vigilant control that attempts to suppress
the Madwoman—her anger, sexuality, chaos, change—which actually results
in the more violent, distorted expressions of this?
LL: That is exactly why it is so important to know
this Mad-woman energy; because if it is not known, then it will be pushed underground,
and it is most likely to come out in an explosively or implosively violent way.
On the other hand, if you get to know it, then you can start to make friends
with it and direct it in a positive way.
WW: So having lunch with the Madwoman means looking
at and owning these energies within. Perhaps, this is where the transformation
of the victim comes in. If we are able to get past our inappropriate blaming
of ourselves and others, we can move past denial and other defenses. When we
do, we often see how we project the Judge and controller onto ourselves. This
gives us back our power and we realize that there is something that we can do
in ourselves to change.
LL: That’s a very important point, because
our patriarchal society lends itself to a critical judgmental attitude in general.
The Judge is an inner archetype for everybody. In its destructive form, it stands
on high over many women (and men) and judges from above. It is out there operating
in the world. We run into it in many forms and situations regularly, and often
internalize it. We need to recognize when we are judging ourselves inappropriately
and how that interferes with the creative work that we need and want to do.
Therefore, it is very important to recognize that Judge when it comes up internally
or externally. On the other hand, it is necessary to make judgements, to learn
discriminating thinking, decision-making, etc. Judging has a role, not from
an outside hierarchal position, but from a place within the context of the creative
process.
WW: I’m thinking about all the books currently
on the market on creativity, like Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones,
Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, etc. They all suggest following
this pattern: to first put aside the Judge or the critic, what you call the
surrender stage; then, in the work/struggle stage as you call it, to bring in
judgement. (I prefer to call this type of judgement discernment, to emphasize
the difference between this process and the critical one that stifles and inhibits
the creative process.) Would you say that it is helpful to invite the Judge
in, just as you talk about inviting in the Madwoman, so we do not stifle either
the Madwoman or the Judge?
LL: Yes! The goal is to stop the war of their unhealthy
sides and try to wed their creative sides.
WW: So the trick is when we are coming out of the
victim stage not to become a victimizer.
LL: We have to come in to a place of balance. It
is a lifelong, step-by-step process. There is no easy route. It is an ongoing
cycle like the seasons in nature. It is the same in the creative process which
follows nature.
WW: Since we know it is so important to nourish
ourselves and get support in the creative process, could you say more about
how you nurture your creativity and how you have gotten support from friends
and family?
LL: It’s been a combination. When I did my
first book, The Wounded Woman, I was basically on my own, although I did have
friends and a writing support group that I went to. At that time I wasn’t
in a relationship, so I was really alone. My mother is a very practical woman
and not interested in my artistic side. But I have gotten a lot of support from
some authors that I love; like Rilke, Dostoevsky and Hermann Hesse and many
women poets. They have always been my friends.
While writing the last three books, I have been in a relationship and my partner
is extremely supportive of my creativity. He mainly supports me by challenging
me to do things. We do a lot together to nurture creativity. We go to the opera,
ballet and foreign films. We also spend a lot of time in nature. We take a lot
of wilderness trips and do a lot of travelling in third world countries. All
of this feeds the creative process.
I also do a lot of hiking with women friends. Hiking is my way of processing.
Once I get into a book, I do a lot of talking about it on my hikes. That is
really wonderful.
WW: What suggestions do you have for women wanting
to break through the obstacles to creativity.
LL: Discover what nourishes your creativity. This
is different for different people. For example, May Sarton nourishes her creative
process with gardening.
WW: Because of life style, financial restirctions,
family and work obligations, etc., many of us still find ourselves in situations
where time to devote to our creative process is a luxury. What do you suggest
to those who have limited time?
LL: One thing that I do is always have a small
notebook and pencil with me. Whenever I get an idea or intuition I have these
available to write it down. A tape recorder or sketch pad works too.
WW: You are suggesting that we really listen to
the inner voice, to allow those intuitions to come forth...
LL: ...and not just listen but record them in some
way because a lot of times intuitions come through and then disappear if you
don’t put them down.
WW: There is something about honoring the importance
of the subtle process of simply writing some of our thoughts. Often we ignore
these inner voices and don’t bring them into form because we don’t
believe they will amount to anything. We wonder, “why should I start, nothing
is going to happen with it anyway.” You are suggesting that just scribbling
down random thoughts is helpful and is valuable no matter what else happens
with it.
LL: Yes, it is very important to honor that “small”
process. It is not really a small process; it is a planting or seeding process.
I have thousands and thousands of scribbled pages for every book that I do,
corners of envelopes, pieces of napkins...
WW: like seeds, some grow some don’t... This
brings me back to the patriarchy, because the pre-dominant linear, rational,
goal-oriented attitude doesn’t support this aspect of creativity. The emphasis
placed on money and material success in our society overshadows the value of
this inner process.
LL: This is true, but we also need to recognize
the valuable aspect of the linear model. Making commitments and setting goals
is an essential component of the creative process. In fact, this is very, very
important. It is commitment that keeps us focused.
WW: So you can make a commitment to your creative
process?
LL: You can make a commitment to your creative
process and you can make a commitment to a particular work and you can make
a commitment to doing some creative thing every day.
WW: Commitment to me is an action, the way we demonstrate
that we value something.
LL: And a commitment means that you do not abandon
ship.
WW: My mind is skipping here from commitment to
value, to desire, and how sometimes we discount and denounce desire as unspiritual.
LL: Passion is a very important part of creativity.
We need to make a distinction between desire for fame or money which can work
against the creative process; in contrast to the passion for the process itself.
The creative process has a lot of passion and ecstatic moments. This is where
the Madwoman comes in again because she can touch her passion and instead of
squandering it, she can direct it in a positive way.
WW: In the book, you describe the word ‘mad’;
how we use it interchangably for three major concepts: mad as in anger and rage;
mad as in insane and crazy; and mad as in being wild, passionate, enthusiastic
and spiritually ecstatic.
LL: Sometimes people focus only on the negative
side of mad and they don’t want to look at the dark side of themselves;
they just want to look at the light side. Often, by ignoring the whole, they
miss the passionate ecstasy as well. People don’t realize that the darkness
and light are part of the whole mystery we are as human beings.
WW: Often the patriarchal religions and even current
“new age” spritiuality focuses on the light, an otherworldly spirituality
that doesn’t want to deal with the chaos of the creative process. I’m
thinking of ‘enantiodromia,’ the word Jung uses meaning: if you continue
in one direction you ultimately end up at the opposite end. In other words,
if you keep heading east you end up in the west and if you keep heading into
the light you wind up in the dark and vise versa.
LL: It’s a hard lesson and people resist it
because it is hard. I recently saw an interview with a woman artist who just
turned ninety. She spoke about enantiodromia and that even at her age, after
a very successful creative artistic career she still had to face the dark every
time she created and she just simply accepted that as part of the process. It
was very beautiful to see her natural acceptance of this.
WW: That is so beautiful and sounds like it is
the key to wholeness and creativity. One obstacle to this process is our fear
that darkness is evil and that if we go into it, we will find something bad.
I have found it helpful to distinquish between darkness and evil. So that when
I need to, I can go into the darkeness with less trepidation and Judgement.
The religious injunctions are so strong and set up a barrier to this process.
LL: Yes, this is what a lot of us have to work
through.
WW: You are saying we need to accept this and just
keeping going...
LL: Yes, just keep going and deal with whatever
you have to face as best you can. That is why I was so taken with Anna Akmatova,
the Russian poet I wrote about in Meeting the Madwoman. She is an inspiring
example of someone who stood through dark times in Russia. After the revolution,
the Soviets didn’t like her poems because they were personal. Her writing
was banned. But she decided that she needed to stay and bear witness to what
was happening in Russia. So she stayed and recorded what she saw in her poems
in her memory. Her women friends helped her by memorizing her poems.If she had
written it down she probably would have been killed. She persevered through
all that. She was called mad, and refers to herself in one poem as a crazed
Cassandra.
Her writings were allowed to be published during the last few years of her life.
So, she finally was recognized after a life-long struggle and she probably would
have been nominated for the Nobel prize if she had lived a little longer. She
influenced many younger Russian poets.
WW: She is an example of someone who found the
means to keep her spirit alive no matter what.
LL: She was fortunate to have a wonderful group
of women friends who together memorized her poems.
WW: I don’t think that there are any shortages
of inspiring figures, there’s Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum. They are there,
we just need to find them.
LL: It is a matter of connecting, but it is also
important to find the source within. So honoring ourselves is very important
in any moment of creativity and we have to remember that the silent moments
are sacred.
WW: You are saying that we need to remember that
silence can be very nurturing and doesn’t always mean that we have lost
our voice.
LL: Silence is a very important part of the creative
process. This is where the Recluse, as I call her, comes in. She is the one
who values solitude. She is a very important figure for women. She knows the
importance of being silent so she can hear the voices that need to come through.
Also she knows the importance of regeneration of spirit. Again, this is
where the Madwoman comes in because the woman who wants to be alone to do this
will often get stared at by people and seen as either a pitiful or a crazy figure.
She gets projections from the collective when really she is in an inner ecstasy
of creativity.
Rachel Carson, whom I mention in the book, is a wonderful example of this. She
was a revolutionary and a visionary. She exposed the issue of how pesticides
were killing animal and plant life. She was ridiculed for using emotional words
and put down in many, many ways. Even though she was introverted, not into publicity,
and even ill, she stood up and made the appearances she had to make in order
to further her cause.
WW: Here again you are highlighting another way
that women’s struggles are different from men’s. Since the creative
process, as you say, requires solitude and women are more often denigrated for
being alone. Until recently being alone hasn’t been a legitimate choice
for women. It is often assumed that when a woman is alone it is because she
is not wanted, it is rarely assumed that a woman would ever want to choose to
be alone.
LL: Yes, the projections that women alone get are
demeaning. It is important for us to recognize this and not take it on. Setting
aside alone time, sacred time and space and using it wisely is a choice that
we all have, even if it is just a few minutes here and there.
WW: In Madwoman you speak about identifying a pattern
that you are living unconsciously as the first step. How does one do that? It
sounds like a very difficult task to identify something that is unconscious.
LL: That is one reason why I wrote the book, Meeting
the Madwoman—to describe some of the patterns. If you can read about different
patterns then you might regognize them in yourself. Sometimes they come up in
dreams, in interactions with friends and partners, in literature, films... All
of these are ways to make unconscious patterns conscious.
WW: Just knowing that there are patterns helps.
LL: I think that an example of this is the Muse,
the one who is always inspiring other people. This a very wonderful quality,
but unfortunately the Muse often neglects her own creativity. Then bitterness
and resentment, maybe depression will crop up in her life and she will not know
why she feels this way. Psychosomatic symptoms or addictions may arise.
WW: You are suggesting looking at the places where
your life is not working and view them as road signs.
LL: Yes, and all of these patterns have secondary
gains, for example, the Muse gets a lot of adoration, and that hooks her into
staying on the pedestal.
WW: What would you like to say in conclusion?
LL: I think that it is very important to look within
at your inner and outer life. Take a look at yourself. Try to discover your
own authentic way and try to separate that out from the ways that have been
imposed on you, whether by culture, family, or materialistic desires that crowd
out what you really want to do. Find out who you are and what you value. Then
start expressing that in your life in whatever way you can.
WW: Just beginning to ask the questions, ‘who
am I?’ and ‘how can I embody that?’ is important...
LL: Yes, and it is important to continue to ask
them.
WW: ...asking ourselves in every situation, when
we are at work, in every conversation, etc. “am I being my authentic self
here, am I comfortable in that, what are the obstacles I am facing now in being
myself, and how can I move through them?”
LL: Right, in some situations you will be able
to be more yourself than in others. You can choose to be in situations that
you feel most comfortable being yourself in. Remember too that the creative
path is not a direct path; it’s a wandering path. It helps to realize that
and not expect linear consistency. It is also helpful to learn to say ‘no’
to the projections and expectations placed upon you that are not you. This is
where the Madwoman energy comes in. She helps us say ‘no’ and be able
to explore who we are because we are not a fixed identity. So find ways and
means to discover your authentic self as it is constantly unfolding and then
take appropriate risks to express that in your own unique way. Remember to find
the nourishment and support you need to keep going. Find the wherewithal—courage,
perseverance—to face your shadow, work on transforming the inner and outer
Judge and develop faith in yourself. Find ways to keep going. Finally, appreciate
the challenges life presents. This is the on-going process we are all engaged
in. Good luck.
The Woman’s Way interview with Linda Leonard was originally published in two parts, in Volume 1, Numbers 1 and 2, Summer and Fall 1993.
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