“We are here at a defining moment in history. A time in which the world as we know it is transforming into something far greater than we could ever imagine. We are moving out of a ‘survival-of-the-fittest’ mindset, in which control, competition and winning are king, and into a more integrated field grounded in collaboration, contribution, and one in which women are at the forefront…the leaders of the 21st Century.
As such, it’s time for us to shed our old skin, to break through our own self-imposed limitations and stretch beyond what’s safe or familiar. It’s time for us to create new mind-sets, new models, new methodologies, and consciously create our future.”
It was 10 years ago today that we went live with those words on the homepage of our website…a decade ago that WSA was born and along with it, a vision for a New World.
At the time we shared how the world as we knew it was transforming…how the constructs that make up society were expiring and that inevitably there would be a fundamental dismantling, not just of the speaking industry but of all industries, and government, and education, healthcare, the economy, the media, etc.
And so…here we are! Certainly, we could never have ever predicted that a global pandemic would strike and be the catalyst for such change. And yet…here we are. Indeed, we find ourselves in the midst of a massive, all-encompassing, global upheaval that has left not a single soul on this planet untouched.
But let us remember what has also come to pass since the time of our inception, when we also knew, in our hearts and in our souls, that simultaneously a new paradigm was emerging. In the face of our institutions and systems crumbling, we are being called to think differently, to see differently…to feel differently. We are waking up! Could it be that where we now stand is at the threshold of this New World? At the dawn of a new age in which a new consciousness is emerging for humanity?
As we find ourselves at this crossroads…remember, we get to choose whether to be sucked into the whirlwind or to be the calm in the eye of the storm…leading by example…with our hearts.
When we choose to stay focused on the higher purpose of the whole…when we choose to serve that, this is when we find our place and peace within the whole. It takes great courage to see what others around us may not yet see. The irony is, that we needn’t look much further than the face in the mirror to make the change (thank you MJ). For it is our individual awakening that organically leads to the collective awakening.
If you want to see a change in your family, your business, “the powers that be”…focus on your inner landscape. Somewhere along the path we were taught that our business and personal lives are separate, when really nothing could be farther from the truth. There is no separation. Wherever you go, there you are…whether sitting by yourself in meditation, joining your family at the dinner table, running a Board meeting, or some other role in your community or on the global stage. It’s all the same. Different stages to act out the same play. The issues that show up…all the same. And, they’re there for a soul/sole purpose…
As I tell the young people in my life (or my not-so-little-little-ones, as I affectionately call them), we are all born into this world with a core wound. We then live our lives, unconsciously bringing in or attracting people, experiences and opportunities to trigger that wound, stir the pot, so that we can then heal that wound. So, whether it’s a nasty comment from a demanding boss or threatened co-worker, a friend that hurts our feelings or a lover that breaks our heart…each one is here for the same purpose…to be our teacher, our mirror…to show us a part of ourselves that perhaps we have forgotten; to forgive, accept and ultimately embrace those parts of ourselves that have been shut down, shunned or dismissed.
When WSA took a stand ten years ago in a commitment that, “all women are empowered to express themselves, to use their voice to powerfully inspire others, thus causing transformation in the lives of their clients, their companies, their countries and the world,” I see now that perhaps this is what we were actually talking about. When we declared that, “now more than ever the world needs you”…that was for sure true back then, but never before has it been ever truer than right now!
Whatever may have been shaken up in 2020, however your world may have been rocked, on a personal or global level, I say, that it was all for the purpose of waking us up…for activating our deepest, darkest fears, so that we could begin to heal at the deepest level.
We each have a voice within us, that at some point (most likely in early childhood), was suppressed for some reason. Maybe we were told to shut up by our 2nd grade teacher, or told by a parent that our voice didn’t matter or that it wasn’t appropriate to speak. Whichever moment/s that may have triggered that core wound from which we have lived our lives out of, we now find ourselves in a time when all those stories finally get to be put to rest. It is at this time, that we are being asked, if not required, to look into the mirror, face our fears, limiting beliefs, self-sabotaging behaviors, so that we may complete those karmic cycles and once and for all heal those wounds. Why? So that we may be set free. So that we may set ourselves free from the shackles (self-imposed and otherwise) that have bound us. To liberate us from negative self-talk, dysfunctional behaviors, unhealthy relationships so that we may step into and become the sovereign beings that we were born to be.
And when we do this…even if we move the needle just one little notch, each time we interrupt an old pattern, stand up for ourselves or another, choose to use our voice to guide or inspire when perhaps we feel confronted or scared…it is in these moments, that not only do we begin to heal our personal wounds, but we also begin to heal the collective wound. Our lives, in other words, are the micro of the macro. Much like how the butterfly effect or the hundredth monkey effect work, when we “take a look at ourselves and make a change,” the world around us also changes. And this my dear sisters and brothers, is how we make the world a better place.
So…you may look upon this past year as the year that broke us but see, wasn’t that the point? To break us out of our slumber…to awaken us and break us free from the invisible chains that have kept us in our cave or hiding in some capacity? To break open our hearts so that we may find a deeper love and greater compassion for ourselves and one another? Could this not be the greatest gift that humanity has ever received?
So, you see…we find ourselves, right here, right now having stepped foot onto new shores. We are the change makers…the bridge builders…the way showers…here to lead others, by example or perhaps by the hand, into a new world.
It is up to us to lead…but not from the old model. No longer are we required per se to make grand gestures or speak from the biggest stages in order to get our message heard. For it is in the seemingly small gestures, simply in living by example, by being a demonstration of patience, kindness and understanding with ourselves and others, by being willing to forgive because we know these are the teaching moments we unconsciously brought into our lives so that we could heal. It is in being the butterfly, who by flapping its wings creates a ripple effect that is felt throughout the Universe.
So…what does this new world look like? Feel like? Sound like? That is for us to say. It is for us, as sovereign beings, to create the world we wish to see. Therefore, you tell me…what does this new world look like?
***************
Liora Mendeloff,
Co-Founder and Strategic Advisor
Women Speakers Association