Friday January 20, 2023
On Tuesday my 49-year-old sister drove my 85-year-old mother and me from Sydney down to Bulli on the South Coast of New South Wales where they both had an appointment with an osteopath. On the drive down South I gasped in awe not only at the stunningly beautiful geography including ancient, craggly, red gum trees,
but also at the incredible human feat of the Sea Cliff Bridge (photos from the visit NSW website and a stunning 2 1/2 minute video of it can be seen here.)
While my mother and sister were at the osteopath, I had an appointment with a massage therapist from whom I requested a 'relaxation' massage, but who sadly did not seem to understand how that is different from a 'remedial' massage. I kept saying, ow, that's tender, less pressure please, etc. but to no avail.
“Maybe she was a sadist,” I wrote to a friend with a laughing emoji.
But it also made me reflect on how sometimes when a person has had training in a particular field—especially medical training, as our Western medical training is the ultimate in patriarchal hierarchies—they’re often trained to believe that they are the authority and they know better than the client/patient what is best for the client/patient.
This patriarchal attitude can prohibit true healing.
If the caregiver/health care provider has the wisdom to tune into the client/patient’s own inner knowing and inner authority—particularly by tuning into their body’s innate sense of what it needs—they can partner together for maximum benefit and healing to the client/patient. Happily for my mother and sister, they have found this kind of caregiver/health care provider in their osteopath.
Perhaps we are at a point in our planet’s history where we desperately need more of these kinds of caregivers/health care providers in the world right now. Someone who embodies the respect to listen to the person receiving the caregiving, to hear what they need, and to partner and work with them, rather than assert power over them which so often happens in patriarchal hierarchies. (And as a side note, other forms of leadership include circle leadership which you may read more about in Chapter 5 of my book, here.)
The Rising of the Divine Feminine is about human beings re-claiming their own inner knowing about what is best for them, and part of that is finding health care practitioners who can partner with them to bring about optimum health.
With the crumbling of patriarchal hierarchies all over the world, perhaps this approach to caregiving/health care providing is one of the fundamental aspects of our systems and societies that is changing.
May it be so. ✨🌟💖🙏🕊️
May we continue to dream into being “A More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible.”
OMGosh, Camilla. Lovely. You know, when I think of you I think of a worn-soft cotton button-up that remains unbuttoned, open, and feels so good on your skin because it reminds you that you have skin, and have lived, and are alive. And always, in soft awe. Btw, I had to go get a Google Maps satellite view of the New Wales coast. Wow. Breathtaking. I love how you write about it, about how you write about everything really. You so softly and vibrantly and humanly stimulate my curiosity. To know more. To be, more. It's a beautiful gift you have. Smooches - JL