Women, Leadership and Rap Music

I'm a big believer in living what I offer up for others to live. I really do believe that I live in a holographic universe; that all in my experience is of my own creation; and that the people I call into my experience are, in some way, an expression of some aspect of my own consciousness.

Take my drive in to the office today, for example.

I was boppin' along, wondering how I would go about beginning this new adventure of mine called 'blogging' - given that I've never done this before - and in the musing, chose to turn on the radio. My station is always set to CBC (after all, I am over 50...) and I found myself in the middle of a conversation already unfolding between the two folks.

One of them (I'll call him 'Bill') had just returned from an event last evening at which Chuck D (an icon in the world of rap) had spoken to a group of Ottawa University folks, gathered at the campus pub. As Bill described the event, this would be the equivalent of Madonna showing up at your local community music festival. Chuck D is a legend in his own time.

'Bill' went on to share some of what Chuck D had said during his presentation, which included (and this is where it got really interesting to me) his speaking to the state of the rap business and his belief that what it's going to take to make a difference is women. Yes....WOMEN!

In order for things to change, women must engage first. Women must step into the industry and by doing so, influence how it all unfolds.

Wow! Who would have thought that I would find my beliefs about the need for women to lead us into the 21st Century, coming from someone/someplace I would never have thought to look.

I do believe that women must lead us into the future. I believe that women will have to decloak and engage - first! - before men can find a new place to stand. Listening to 'Bill' talk about Chuck D and his view of women leading in the rap music industry, taught me a couple of things:

* Reinforcement is everywhere! I really do manifest my reality, and over and over again, my life offers it up for me to notice. Am I paying attention? The connection between what I was thinking and what was on the radio was not an accident

* Synergies will come from unusual, unexpected and unlikely people/places/things. I would never have considered that my world would be shared with a rap icon - and yet, there it was.

* Pay attention - to my own thoughts and my own biases and my own limitations. Only in staying awake to them will I be present long enough to notice something other than those. This morning, 'Bill' made it possible for me to see 'the same' in something that I hold as 'very different'.

What am I watching for/listening for now?

* I know there are lots of us who believe....no, not strong enough...who KNOW that women must lead. Men and women alike, we know that the time for women to step up to the plate and shape their world differently (as opposed to doing what it takes to move through the one that's there) has come.

* I also know that what it's going to take for women to do that in numbers significant enough to shift global conciousness, is not going to be found where we have always looked. We need to be willing to be found....to be invited, welcome and moved to action in ways and by things that we may never have paid attention to before.

And, perhaps (for me) the most intriguing questions about it all are:

* What does it take for women to lead? How must we reconsider and/or redfine notions of 'leadership' in order for women to be willing to engage in huge numbers? What are the limitations of our current experience of 'leadership' or 'leader' that ensure that large numbers of women stay hidden, silent and very, very still?

* What will it take for women to notice : "I matter!". What will it take for women to begin to be accutely aware that whether they do, or whether they don't, (speak, write, engage, ask, walk away, etc) they are profoundly creating their lives - and shapeing the world in which we all live.

The Declaration of Evolution by Intention (www.WEL-Systems.com/declaration.htm) is my framework for living. Every day, I look at that and I wonder "Am I up to it? And, if I'm not, is life worth living for me?" And every day, I come to the same conclusion : what kind of world do I want for myself? And what kind of world do I want for my children? In that moment, my choices are very clear.

So, my invitation for you - just for today - is to watch for your 'Bill' moment, and pay attention to the unlikely gift that he brings. Just for today, let yourself see what you've never looked at before; and no matter how much you know that 'it's not for you' - listen anyway. You might just be found by a new perspective!

Breathing is good....

PS Just in case you don't know who Chuck D is either, you can find him at: www.rapstation.com. I"m sure one day we'll meet! :)