lavish listening

My personal trainer and I had a chat about women and migraines today. I said, I think it's so common because we hate our bodies, hate our female processes, the fact that we menstruate, etc. She said, but they have given birth, they must feel the miracle of their bodies working. Yes, I said, but they numb themselves with epidurals (well, so did I for the first birth but I didn't plan to); caesarians are becoming so common the Canadian Medical Association is taking notice - because they cost the state too much. But the women forget about the recovery, having their abdomen cut in two, muscles that weren't meant to be cut open. They don't want stretch marks anywhere, won't breastfeed to keep their boobs in shape, want their vaginas virginal, act as if their bodies are their enemies, not their friends. I think self-hate is behind migraines.

PMS - pas ma semaine! is what my husband called it. but if we get enough alone time, rest time, interior tuning time, the symptoms may lessen. Honour thy cycle!

Lavish yourself with care, good food, exercise, sleep, good company, and you'll be amazed at how you feel.
Listen to your body - how many of us break a leg, an ankle, tear a ligament, strain a muscle, before we'll give ourselves permission to slow down, rest. Who are we doing it all for?

Appreciate life - if you are feeling dizzy and disoriented, maybe you're not being 'home' enough. Where is home? You carry it with you.

Lavish listening : one moment at a time. Just be. Help yourself.

"Middle age is a mental state. It begins when you accept your own power and are willing to exercise it, by shaping your own life and contributing to society at large." Zsuzsanna Budapest, The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries

I want to be a lavish woman.
to flow, lava-like.
lavish praise.
lavish giving.
from laver: to wash


Here is a link to hear some menopausal poems, read at the Atwater Library, April 13, 2006.

try this link:
http://www.atwaterlibrary.ca/en/node/49
or you can visit www.atwaterlibrary.ca, click 'computer services' and'audio' or poets, then click on my name. They suggest you save it first,then listen to it, if you want to download the file.

musemother

may mother of months

O may is the month of our mother
the glorious (something) of May....

we used to sing that in our two room school house, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Braeside Ontario.

Listen, something is about to happen
...
this is the day, the week
it may happen, the first leaves
...
listen to the birds
they speak, but from the wordless place
Song for Earth Day, (from Poems from my Backyard)

see www.souaid.com for more poems by me (Jennifer Boire) just posted in the guest poet section.

I am working on a new manuscript, on several actually, on a journal format about turning 50, on a non-fiction book for girls, and a collection of poems entitled Women are Lunar, the menopause series.

Happy May,


musemother