What is power?

In the traditional sense, power has been seen as ambitious, aggressive, and willing to do what it takes to succeed and/or win. When we think of powerful people, it’s generally not the quiet, reserved, hanging-back-in-the-shadows kind of folks that first come to mind. We are conditioned to believe that power is something that must be fought for and sacrificed for, harnessed and wielded, whether it’s physical power, mental power, or even spiritual power. No pain, no gain, as the saying goes. We fix our minds on a goal, and then we gain power as we buffalo over obstacles to reach that goal, expanding our muscle mass, racking up A’s, and denying ourselves in the name of spiritual salvation-- oftentimes destroying our health in the process.

But is this kind of power true power, or just an illusion?

What if power is the opposite of what we have bought into believing it is? What if power is not something aggressive but rather something receptive?  Not something that must be fought and sacrificed for, but something that is inherently part of us from the moment of conception? Not something we must endure suffering for in order to earn it, but rather something that just has to be gently accepted?

What if you and I, with all of our flaws and scars and regrets and secrets, are powerful beyond measure, and what if our individual power is grounded in a love that connects us to each other and to the earth, plants, animals, and stars, and that all we have to do, all we truly have to do, is open up, accept that power, and receive that love that lives inside of everything?

As the paradigm shifts and the Divine Feminine and her yin/dark/receptive energy begins to rise, what if we are all being given a glimpse of what true power is, beyond the illusion that the patriarchal structures have created to keep control, beyond the mixed messages girls are fed from infancy, beyond the misogyny, colonialism, and violence of false power?  And what if the truth is that accepting and receiving are far more powerful than we ever imagined, and that we, as women, are the ones our ancestors dreamed into being, are the ones we have been waiting for?

What if?