Italy, International Women's Day and Divine Feminine and Masculine

Happy International Women's Day! 

Many years ago now I had my first experience with international women’s day. My best friend and I were traveling abroad in Rome Italy. After another glorious day of sightseeing we stopped at a café to eat a light lunch. It seemed as though we had been eating our way through Rome since we’d arrived earlier in the previous month of February so we decided it would be best to have salads and proteins that day. We would save the carbs for later in the week. After a delicious and satisfying lunch we decided to continue our walk towards the Spanish Steps. If you have never been to Italy, it is one of the tourist sites to see, very beautiful architecture, sculpture and artwork surrounds you. I loved everything about my visit to Rome that year… feelings so profound that I will never be able to put them into words.

I remember as we walked we stopped on a busy street corner to crossover. I noticed on the other side of the street a line of men standing as it’s too greet all of the people walking towards them when the light changed. These men held in their arms dozens and dozens of yellow roses. 

As I starred rather intently, in front of me to see what they would do, I poked my best friend in the arm and said, “what is happening?” The men began to hand out roses to people in front of us. Once we finally made it across to the other corner of the street we stood there confused. Puzzled we looked around to take in what was happening. I felt like I had stepped into an energy field of love. It was really amazing. I soon realized that they were handing out yellow roses to the women.

A couple of Italian men met our long and baffled gazes and quickly approached us and said “Felice Festa Della Donna!” and handed us both a yellow rose. Kim and I both looked at each other and translated out loud and very slowly….Happy…Party…Of The…Women? We giggled, still sort of bewildered as we took the roses. “What is this for?” I said to Kim. One of the men answered back in English and explained that it was a national holiday in Italy specifically to honor women. I thought to myself…’you mean other than their birthday…or mother’s day?’ I had never heard of such a holiday in all my life and I was nearly 30. 

I threw my head back and just smiled, laughed, and looked at the sun that seemed to tell me, “yes woman! we honor you today. accept the compliment and don’t blow it off this time!” We stood there and watched these men hand out each single yellow rose with sincerity and such love.

I walked away from that moment feeling a sense of appreciation and pride in being a woman. I stood a little bit taller, admired the curves of my body through the store glass fronts, and most importantly, felt a great sense of internal balance and peace. I believe this is how women feel when feminine and masculine energies are equalized within them and equalized within men as well. 

I believe that masculine and feminine energy resides in both men and women. Today, however, the out of control masculine energy, in both males and females, has taken a tremendous toll. I think of it like this; if you have too much feminine energy without the balance of masculine energy, you have a great plans and wonderful visions, but nothing gets put into action. If you have too much masculine energy without the balance of feminine energy, you are reckless and steamroll your way through life. 

Today more than ever we need to balance the masculine and feminine energies within and between us. For centuries we have been able to develop the masculine side more than the feminine, but as a result have created such an imbalance in so many areas. This is why I am committed to paint the divine feminine. It serves as a reminder that we must balance the powerful energies within us. It is time to recognize the feminine values of community, connection, collaboration and creativity. In doing this we can help bring balance back to the world.

I hope that every year on March 8^th you will remember to honor the divine feminine, but remember that keeping the balance between both feminine and masculine energies within you can be a powerful way to change the world.