Author: The Shrew

Mother, wife, sister, friend, entrepreneur, business owner and civic volunteer with a deeply rooted belief in the United States Constitution and my Unitarian Universalist principles (before the "Resistance"). I have a great passion for life as proved by my many roles and responsibilities. I try to learn as much as I can to blog intellectually on subjects that matter to me.

Shrewd Awakenings: Let’s March for Some Common Sense!

   The third annual Women’s March is scheduled to happen on Saturday January 19, 2019. This March has had its share of controversy over the past year, from the cochairs and their association with antisemitism to locally organized women’s marches that shun inclusivity of perspective. Just what is the aim of this March and what does it really do for me that I cannot accomplish for myself? Originally organized in 2017 to protest the inauguration of President Trump, this March from the outset was begun to raise awareness of the possible backward legislation that could develop from the new administration. Speakers decried setbacks to women’s issues like abortion, but mostly they were upset that a “womanizer-in-chief” was elected over a female presidential hopeful. To be clear, I didn’t vote for either of these candidates. I thought that both were too polarizing to allow constructive work to be done for the people. But I would ask, what is this work and more importantly how does it effect people, especially women? Also, would women’s marches really influence federal policy? Women want constructive work to happen on policies that affect them and their families. Access to affordable and private health care, family friendly work environments, manageable costs of living, excellence in education and safe communities are top priorities for most women. But these priorities are not what I see being the focus in our government system (I include Unions as part of this system too). Two party control is in actuality one party obstruction and the people they represent are not being served and therefore the people they serve do not progress on the above mentioned policy priorities. All women are uniquely qualified to stand up for exceptionalism. The United States is an example (or should be an example) of exceptionalism. Because of her authentic capacity for emotional maturity, openness, fortitude and humility a woman has the ability to directly influence her family and social circles toward changes that impact lives daily. The power is all hers if she should choose to apply it. Transformation is then realized on a personal level rather than nationally, and the innovation, once perfected, is emulated from there throughout the culture because it is authentic and heartfelt. This is the March of a woman!

What is a Shrew?


A Shrew is any person who honors the Female Principle. I describe a Shrew as having these qualities:

Emotional maturity
Openness as a condition toward wholeness
Fortitude
Humility

These qualities are expressions of controlled chaos which feminine energy must display in order to be a true Feminist. A Shrew will never humiliate or degrade male energy because to do so would disregard the importance of this balancing energy which in essence is order.

The Shrew View: A Bad Dream For The Caravan.

My heart goes out to all the migrants from Honduras who have made the torturously long journey for better lives.  Traveling as a caravan would certainly bring more protections for those members who are most vulnerable to physical harm and manipulation by undesirable players, but aren’t there even greater risks to these people if the coordination of the caravans were done through deceitful means?

The ends are clear to me at this point.  The USA is to be viewed in the wider setting as a cruel nation, from its birth right to the present.  But let us not take our focus away from where the migrants of today have come…Honduras is a failing country and the examination of this fact will make it clear to all that an evil energy is working to create the same fate for the USA (Spoiler alert, it is not climate change!!).

I am not a “doomsdayer”.  I am a realist.  In fact I believe there is no Utopia in this world beyond my ability to live my life on my terms which is what we know as the “American Dream”.  You may think me foolish, but I believe that in this country there are criminals, homeless persons, and loners who are themselves actually living in their own Utopia…constructing a way of life that makes them happy on their own terms.  Others might look as these folks with pity and say that they must be helped, but we cannot construct a Utopian way of life for them because it would be our idea and not theirs.

This brings me back to the caravan.  In Honduras their is no “Honduran Dream” even though the government is a Democratic Republic.  The military coup of ten years ago set the stage for a constitutional crisis because, simply put, the beaurocratic effort to rewrite their constitution had no rules…no one could agree on how to begin the process!  The people of the country were not consulted because their rights are considered too limited!  And their Attourney General was not able to reconcile a civil rights process.  THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDERS WERE SO INGENIOUS WITH THEIR PROCESS FOR THE US CONSTITUTION!!  Our Founders had the educated study of human history over thousands of years as their baseline.  We in this day and age refuse to take this into account because we want to only live in the present.  Learning from our past means to not repeat our mistakes and our Constitution allows for this practice.

Hondurans at our border have been sold a bad dream that they are now living as reality.  Who are the manipulators of this bad dream?  This must be the focus of discussion.  God help them…

Shrew U: An Open Letter To Our New Congress

grey ceramic landmark during daytime
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Welcome to a new day!  As you take your seat and represent your constituents please remember these things:

  1. You were probably elected within a close margin so work with your peers on both sides of the isle as if our Republic depended on everyone’s educated input.
  2. Base this educated input on facts not feelings.
  3. Focus, focus, focus.  Your job is dependent on your performance.  And Yes!  We are watching.
  4. Civility should be your middle name 🙂  Don’t be concerned about the President’s behavior because it speaks for itself.
  5. You’ve sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution so read it and apply it to everything you consider.
  6. Cultural changes are inevitable…These are better left to the communities from which you came.  Also, change can be infectious when handled conscientiously with everyone involved.
  7. Fascism is not a one way street.  Any political party can believe their policies are the best.  Be concerned about any one sided political push or group think.
  8. Laws were not meant to be broken or discarded lightly.  Follow them or change them!

Thank you and have a nice term…

The Shrew View – We Are At A Tipping Point!

A house divided against itself cannot stand – Abraham Lincoln

Who are we kidding?  Neither the liberal left nor the conservative right have all the answers to our country’s problems at this point in time.  Have they ever?  Let’s be honest…The best answers come in the form of a small community working together in a non partisan manner.  And, if someone is not connected to and working against the community then we should consider that it may be by choice.   Families, neighborhoods, churches, schools, Rotaries and even sports offer opportunities to connect in a variety of healthy ways.  The only skill you need at first is curiosity.  Defined as a strong desire to know or learn something, curiosity can open doors to a stronger sense of belonging.  The best part about this is that you can belong to many different circles of community thereby finding your niche to make a positive impact.

candle burning
Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

I have a feeling that anyone who picks up a weapon to inflict harm on a community really knows down deep that they are not solving anything.  Like being totally on the left or totally on the right the answer to their problem leaves a literal hole that oozes pain, guilt, horror and disgust, all of which are the antithesis of curiousity and clearly the mask of evil.

Isn’t this evil what the extreme left wing Democrats see in President Trump?  And by the same measure isn’t this evil what the extreme right wing Republicans see in the extreme left wing Democrates?  When did Congress stop being a community for the people? Elected leaders must have the skill of curiosity to belong to their peer community no matter which side of the isle they are on.  The President is putting forward his ideas, but it seems as though Congress has no strong desire to learn or know how to debate and offer a compromise on the ideas.  And what is worse,  Congress has been modeling this behavior for far longer than I can remember.  Unfortunately our leaders of the next generation are not witnessing the intended function of Congress.

alcoholic beer cars city
Photo by rebcenter moscow on Pexels.com

I think we have reached a tipping point in this country.  Evil is showing its ugly face in unimaginable ways.  We must acknowledge its ability to reside amoung us and be curious enough to ask why it exists.  Only then can we learn together the path of the humble messenger that we all can become.  God help us…

Shrewd Awakenings: How Are You Using Centering Energy?

Female energy at it’s core is Chaos.  Male energy at its core is Order.  These are opposing emotional energies, and no matter where you are on the LGBTQ or cis-gender spectrum, you can exhibit these energies in a variety of unhealthy ways.

What humanity needs is a balance which can only be found through centering energy…Christ knew this, Ghandi knew this and MLK knew this as have many others who understood the human need for freedom.

Government is not our friend in the quest for freedom because government is control inspired by men and women who are imperfect.  To expect that a government authority could administer an efficient program for all with equal results is impossible.  This is why government must be limited in its scope and why the individual must have maximum freedom to explore their unique potential.

The Enlightment ideas based on reason, individualism and skepticism did not occur overnight.  Influenced by 17th century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton with prominent promoters like Goethe, Voltaire and Adam Smith, the further development of these ideas formed the basis of our U.S. Constitution.  We could conclude that the Enlightment is the centering energy  for our government.

Are our law makers on Capitol Hill using centering energy?  I think many are not!  They take an oath to uphold the Constitution and yet all I see are the energies of order and chaos at work:

Chaos demonstrated by:

  • Identity groups causing disruptions
  • Women literally crying as a force to be reckoned with
  • A porous southern boarder
  • Out of control deficits and spending

Order demonstrated by:

  • Emigration that helps parties and not people
  • Equality of outcomes as a means to an end
  • People forming separate group identities
  • Media platforms pushing compliance of liberal platitudes

We must be very careful not to live enmeshed in these opposing energies.  Our binary form of government leadership only adds to this push-pull hysteria.  To balance these energies leadership must become more “enlightened” and model best practices of reason through understanding, skepticism within context and legislation honoring our inalienable rights.  And we the people must become more “enlightened” and model good works while loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.