It’s a New Year! You got through 2017!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah you did.
If you are anything like me, you are breathless from the last 12 months. Maybe a little sweaty.
Fevered?
Shaky?
Anxious-excited?
It was the kind of year that could break a person, if she weren’t careful.
It was the kind of year that could demoralize, if she didn’t know better.
But you, oh, you know better.
You know, somewhere very, very, very deep, that 2017 was the year we’ve been waiting for.
That our great-great-grandmothers have been waiting for.
We couldn’t have known it would be the year that abusers would be taken down in nearly every industry.
Or the year a woman would get to write, “Yes, This Is a Witch Hunt. I’m a Witch and I’m Hunting You” in the New York f*cking Times. As a headline. (Thank you, Lindy West, for that.)
Or the year activist Tarana Burke’s #metoo movement would engage millions. Globally.
But it was.
Did it poke at the places we’ve all been violated?
Did it show us where we’re still raw?
Did 2017 make us cry and awaken our fury?
It did.
And therein lies the gift.
I am not saying anything as trite as all things happen for a reason.
The violations women have endured for 5,000 years under patriarchal oppression cannot be redeemed or lined with silver.
But, what I firmly believe, is that within each violation, there is a seed to crack.
And in that seed, there is power.
We knew we were never alone.
We knew it.
But 2017 made us KNOW IT.
In the blood.
In the bones.
In our great-great-grandmothers’ DNA.
And we can’t unknow it now.
But what do we do with what we know?
How do we crack that seed?
How do we make sure we don’t curl up in self-protecting balls, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the trauma we’ve faced individually and collectively?
Because, for certain, it is TOO MUCH.
Come in closer, women. Hear my whisper:
I know what to do.
I know what comes #aftermetoo.
I know because I have been preparing for this moment for over 20 years.
This is my work. THIS. Exactly this.
This is what I know.
I am ready for you.
I am ready for us.
I know how to alchemize the pain of women into power.
I know how to do it individually.
And, to brag, I know how to do it with thousands of women at a time.
I’ve got you.
I’ve got us.
Sisters, 2018 is going to be the Year of Woman Rising.
Forget resolutions, this year is about RESOLVE.
We are going to crush that seed and sprinkle it all over the damn place, like gold dust and glitter.
On every woman.
And the men too.
And it’s going to be beautiful.
Love,
Regena Thomashauer, aka “Mama Gena”
The School of Womanly Arts
Regena is a feminist icon, a teacher, a speaker, a mother, a best-selling author, and creatrix and CEO of The School of Womanly Arts.
p.s. #aftermetoo was first written by employment lawyer Jennifer Mathers McHenry and I am so excited by the possibility of this conversation.
p.p.s. Come to the School of Womanly Arts Experience next month. Come!
Reserve your place soon – limited spots remaining
You are invited and you are wanted and needed at the next School of Womanly Arts Experience weekend in New York City. The course is powerful, it is intense, it is unlike anything you have ever done. It is only for women. And it’s Regena’s gift to the community.
School of Womanly Arts Experience Weekend
February 3-4, 2018
Midtown Manhattan, New York City (exact address of venue will be emailed upon registration)
This event will fill to capacity. If it calls to you, we recommend reserving your spot today.
