Sunday, August 14, 2011

Eve Ensler and Interdependence

I’m a big fan of Eve Ensler. I respect her work, her courage and her voice that encourages others to tell their story. I first saw her on Ted talks about two years ago when she spoke of the “girl cell” in all of us — men and women, boys and girls.

“Imagine that ‘girl’ is the part of each of us that feels compassion, empathy, passion, intensity, association, relationship, emotion, play, resistance, vulnerability, intuitive intelligence, vision.

Imagine that compassion informs wisdom. That vulnerability is our greatest strength. That emotions have inherent logic and lead to radical saving action.

… Now imagine that a few powerful people, invested in owning this world, understood that the oppression of this cell was key to retaining their power, so they reinterpreted this cell, undermining its value and making us believe that it is weak. They initiated a process to crush, eradicate, annihilate, humiliate, belittle, censor, reduce and kill off the girl cell.”

A few months ago, she appeared on video again. She talks about being diagnosed with cancer and finding her healing through love, community and coming into relationship with her body. Although she has always believed in our interrelatedness she now physically felt it: how cancer was not her private personal story but an international tale. One that resonates throughout the world where rampant, heedless growth, abusive power, hate and fear not only threatens us but hurts, demoralizes and kills us regardless of who we are and where we live.

This is a story about interdependence: caring for the world as we care for ourselves; caring for ourselves as we care for the world. Valuing our interrelatedness and thereby beginning the healing of our wounds. Knowing that when we hide or ignore injustices we only hurt ourselves and when we hide from ourselves, injustices occur.

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