Women’s Equality Day on August 26 commemorates the adoption of the 19th amendment: a drag-out, hard-won political battle for women’s suffrage that nearly failed. To celebrate the razor-thin victory that lets little girls grow up to be full citizens, let’s remember the fight for the vote and all women’s history this month. And let’s consider the future — where women will still need to keep organizing, with the support and allyship of men and all gender identities, to protect their rights and take power. For if humanity is to survive, thrive, and evolve to greater levels of equality, that future must be led with women.
by Elaine Weiss
Yes, women were “granted” the right to vote just over a century ago, but it was not a gift. “We took it! It had to be fought for and won,” cites author and historian Elaine Weiss. The Woman’s Hour takes us back to those weeks when the whole world was watching Tennessee's suffrage vote. The “Suffs'' needed 36 states to ratify the amendment, and this was the only one left where a vote could be taken that year. This is history written as a nail-biting thriller: unbelievable characters, betrayals, and a climax that flipped on a single deciding vote; the youngest lawmaker, still wearing the red rose of the anti-suffrage camp, surprised everyone with his “aye.” (Harry T. Burn, just 24 years old, had a letter from mother in his pocket, telling him to be “a good boy.”) Read this one when facing insurmountable odds. As Weiss writes, “Everything the Cause had accomplished — every state won, every piece of legislation, every change of heart and shift in policy — was once considered utterly impossible. Until it wasn’t.”
by Rosalind Miles
Anyone frustrated by the uncountable, unimaginable number of women left out of the historical record will enjoy this alternative first printed in 1988. Because “now is the time for the famous, infamous, and unsung women to get their due!” The subjects are the revolutionaries and heroines and geniuses and more who have been left out of most of the books written by men. There are plenty of famous names — Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Simon de Beauvoir, and more — but have you heard of Olympe de Gouges? French progressive, writer and activist who met the guillotine for her troubles? Abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimké? Astronomer Caroline Herschel? Mary Fairfax Somerville who discovered Neptune? (No, she did not get credit.) The book is packed with facts and anger and a great deal of the author’s sardonic wit while the list of extraordinary forgotten women goes on and on — a reality that is both delightful and maddening.
by Octavia E. Butler
This book opens in Los Angeles, 2024: Fifteen-year-old Lauren Oya Olamina is thinking about survival. Society is falling apart, drugs are ripping apart communities, global warming creates droughts, heatwaves, and flooding; towns are being privatized and a violent form of Christian nationalism is poisoning politics. This novel came out in 1993.
Lauren is sensitive — too sensitive — she was born with a hyperempathy condition that makes her feel the pain she sees, literally. She needs a new philosophy, a new way of thinking — something to make her strong and help her adapt, to lead and inspire and create community and a spiritual movement that can overcome this horror. Earthseed, her new religion, begins on the first page of her notebooks: “All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth, Is Change. God Is Change.” A towering giant of the genre, the late great Octavia Butler understood the future — and had a vision for how to transform it.
by Hattie Ellis
The third Saturday in August is World Honeybee Day. To mark the occasion, try this delightful history of honey gathering, which includes a rundown of bees’ social organization. Marvel at the supreme order of a honeybee hive, remembering that all that productivity is by the female. The building and the cleaning and even the alchemy performed to create that sweet nectar we harvest — all by female worker bees. They keep a tiny percentage of mindless male drones for mating, but that’s their only responsibility. Consider that as you admire endless rows of perfect hexagons shaped by tens of thousands of females all coordinating harmoniously.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
Women’s Equality Day on August 26 commemorates the adoption of the 19th amendment: a drag-out, hard-won political battle for women’s suffrage that nearly failed. To celebrate the razor-thin victory that lets little girls grow up to be full citizens, let’s remember the fight for the vote and all women’s history this month. And let’s consider the future — where women will still need to keep organizing, with the support and allyship of men and all gender identities, to protect their rights and take power. For if humanity is to survive, thrive, and evolve to greater levels of equality, that future must be led with women.
by Elaine Weiss
Yes, women were “granted” the right to vote just over a century ago, but it was not a gift. “We took it! It had to be fought for and won,” cites author and historian Elaine Weiss. The Woman’s Hour takes us back to those weeks when the whole world was watching Tennessee's suffrage vote. The “Suffs'' needed 36 states to ratify the amendment, and this was the only one left where a vote could be taken that year. This is history written as a nail-biting thriller: unbelievable characters, betrayals, and a climax that flipped on a single deciding vote; the youngest lawmaker, still wearing the red rose of the anti-suffrage camp, surprised everyone with his “aye.” (Harry T. Burn, just 24 years old, had a letter from mother in his pocket, telling him to be “a good boy.”) Read this one when facing insurmountable odds. As Weiss writes, “Everything the Cause had accomplished — every state won, every piece of legislation, every change of heart and shift in policy — was once considered utterly impossible. Until it wasn’t.”
by Rosalind Miles
Anyone frustrated by the uncountable, unimaginable number of women left out of the historical record will enjoy this alternative first printed in 1988. Because “now is the time for the famous, infamous, and unsung women to get their due!” The subjects are the revolutionaries and heroines and geniuses and more who have been left out of most of the books written by men. There are plenty of famous names — Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Simon de Beauvoir, and more — but have you heard of Olympe de Gouges? French progressive, writer and activist who met the guillotine for her troubles? Abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimké? Astronomer Caroline Herschel? Mary Fairfax Somerville who discovered Neptune? (No, she did not get credit.) The book is packed with facts and anger and a great deal of the author’s sardonic wit while the list of extraordinary forgotten women goes on and on — a reality that is both delightful and maddening.
by Octavia E. Butler
This book opens in Los Angeles, 2024: Fifteen-year-old Lauren Oya Olamina is thinking about survival. Society is falling apart, drugs are ripping apart communities, global warming creates droughts, heatwaves, and flooding; towns are being privatized and a violent form of Christian nationalism is poisoning politics. This novel came out in 1993.
Lauren is sensitive — too sensitive — she was born with a hyperempathy condition that makes her feel the pain she sees, literally. She needs a new philosophy, a new way of thinking — something to make her strong and help her adapt, to lead and inspire and create community and a spiritual movement that can overcome this horror. Earthseed, her new religion, begins on the first page of her notebooks: “All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth, Is Change. God Is Change.” A towering giant of the genre, the late great Octavia Butler understood the future — and had a vision for how to transform it.
by Hattie Ellis
The third Saturday in August is World Honeybee Day. To mark the occasion, try this delightful history of honey gathering, which includes a rundown of bees’ social organization. Marvel at the supreme order of a honeybee hive, remembering that all that productivity is by the female. The building and the cleaning and even the alchemy performed to create that sweet nectar we harvest — all by female worker bees. They keep a tiny percentage of mindless male drones for mating, but that’s their only responsibility. Consider that as you admire endless rows of perfect hexagons shaped by tens of thousands of females all coordinating harmoniously.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
So tell us: What triumphs in women’s history have most inspired you? And with the support of your allies, what future will you build? Let us know at marketing@esalen.org.
Women’s Equality Day on August 26 commemorates the adoption of the 19th amendment: a drag-out, hard-won political battle for women’s suffrage that nearly failed. To celebrate the razor-thin victory that lets little girls grow up to be full citizens, let’s remember the fight for the vote and all women’s history this month. And let’s consider the future — where women will still need to keep organizing, with the support and allyship of men and all gender identities, to protect their rights and take power. For if humanity is to survive, thrive, and evolve to greater levels of equality, that future must be led with women.
by Elaine Weiss
Yes, women were “granted” the right to vote just over a century ago, but it was not a gift. “We took it! It had to be fought for and won,” cites author and historian Elaine Weiss. The Woman’s Hour takes us back to those weeks when the whole world was watching Tennessee's suffrage vote. The “Suffs'' needed 36 states to ratify the amendment, and this was the only one left where a vote could be taken that year. This is history written as a nail-biting thriller: unbelievable characters, betrayals, and a climax that flipped on a single deciding vote; the youngest lawmaker, still wearing the red rose of the anti-suffrage camp, surprised everyone with his “aye.” (Harry T. Burn, just 24 years old, had a letter from mother in his pocket, telling him to be “a good boy.”) Read this one when facing insurmountable odds. As Weiss writes, “Everything the Cause had accomplished — every state won, every piece of legislation, every change of heart and shift in policy — was once considered utterly impossible. Until it wasn’t.”
by Rosalind Miles
Anyone frustrated by the uncountable, unimaginable number of women left out of the historical record will enjoy this alternative first printed in 1988. Because “now is the time for the famous, infamous, and unsung women to get their due!” The subjects are the revolutionaries and heroines and geniuses and more who have been left out of most of the books written by men. There are plenty of famous names — Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Simon de Beauvoir, and more — but have you heard of Olympe de Gouges? French progressive, writer and activist who met the guillotine for her troubles? Abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimké? Astronomer Caroline Herschel? Mary Fairfax Somerville who discovered Neptune? (No, she did not get credit.) The book is packed with facts and anger and a great deal of the author’s sardonic wit while the list of extraordinary forgotten women goes on and on — a reality that is both delightful and maddening.
by Octavia E. Butler
This book opens in Los Angeles, 2024: Fifteen-year-old Lauren Oya Olamina is thinking about survival. Society is falling apart, drugs are ripping apart communities, global warming creates droughts, heatwaves, and flooding; towns are being privatized and a violent form of Christian nationalism is poisoning politics. This novel came out in 1993.
Lauren is sensitive — too sensitive — she was born with a hyperempathy condition that makes her feel the pain she sees, literally. She needs a new philosophy, a new way of thinking — something to make her strong and help her adapt, to lead and inspire and create community and a spiritual movement that can overcome this horror. Earthseed, her new religion, begins on the first page of her notebooks: “All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth, Is Change. God Is Change.” A towering giant of the genre, the late great Octavia Butler understood the future — and had a vision for how to transform it.
by Hattie Ellis
The third Saturday in August is World Honeybee Day. To mark the occasion, try this delightful history of honey gathering, which includes a rundown of bees’ social organization. Marvel at the supreme order of a honeybee hive, remembering that all that productivity is by the female. The building and the cleaning and even the alchemy performed to create that sweet nectar we harvest — all by female worker bees. They keep a tiny percentage of mindless male drones for mating, but that’s their only responsibility. Consider that as you admire endless rows of perfect hexagons shaped by tens of thousands of females all coordinating harmoniously.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
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info@esalen.org
