Mother's Day - The original

This is my annual repost about the origin of mother's day.

We have gotten so far away from the original thoughts and made it into a shopping spree day - like all our holidays!

Take time today to think about what Julia Howe wrote.

Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870
by Julia Ward Howe

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.


Peace,
Lynn

Taking care of YOU

If you are a woman, you are most likely not getting enough sleep - or enough exercise.

Why? Because, in spite of any changes in our cultures, women still have the most responsibilities. And when pinched for time, women forgo sleep and exercise. I know - because I do this too - for me it's the exercise....if I get busy, I don't go to the gym - knowing full well that any intention of "working out" at home - is really a feeble excuse to skip the work out entirely.

From a National Sleep foundation Study we learn:

"... that when pressed for time, one half of women responded that sleep (52 percent) and exercise (48 percent) were the first things sacrificed.

But when women were tired or ran out of time, 39 percent also reduced the time they spent with friends and family, 37 percent stopped eating healthily and 33 percent stopped having sex with their partner. '

I am the master of excuses when it comes to pushing weights; but ask me to play squash and I find the time. The moral for me is to make working out a social event - but then I am not a stay at home mother and I am self-employed.

The other factors - beside lack of sleep and exercise - are also worrisome; eating less healthily, reducing time with friends and family and no sex with your partner. These are bad for one's mental and physical health...

All this leads to more stress and stress leads to spousal problems and spousal problems lead to more stress..

It is a vicious cycle and one that is hard to break especially if there are financial reasons underneath it all.

I know it sounds like a worn out platitude - but women must take care of themselves first - because if you don't, the ones depending on you do not get the care they need....

Will you retire?

Our lifespans have increased and our health is better. So do we continue to "retire" at 65? 70?
Or will we take on newer careers at those ages?

The median annual income for older women [ 65 and up] is a few thousand dollars over the definition of poverty level. And although we worked hard at women's equality - we are not equal financially. Our income at over 65 is about half of that of a male.

So it makes economic sense for women to keep working. I'll always work - but it will not ever be 9 to 5. I've tried that a few times and it doesn't fit my psyche :- ). I've changed careers many times...when I was 50 I went to law school and my son, who was then 11, wrote an essay about me that ended with "My mom is 50 and she still doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up." His mom is almost 67 and still wonders what she'll be when she grows up....I love reading and learning - but
for now I'm content to do it on my own without collecting any more degrees....

I'm more into degree-less work now....It its my growing older better psyche : -)