The Woman and The Village

You know that saying, that it takes a village to raise a kid? Well, actually it takes a village to do about anything.

Only in today's world, about 80%+ of all the work of the village falls to the woman. In the village it might have been that some people would chop veggies while others would watch the kids, while others would process the hides into clothing, while others would hunt, and others would gather and so on and so forth.

But today - women are somehow the ones who do most everything (including more than their fair share of hunting) while the men have retained their tradition hunter roles.

The problem is that the village needs to be a village. We need help in our lives. We need the wisdom of the elders, we need the hunters and the gatherers, we need the ones who cook and the ones who heal. What we really need is to stop trying to do it all ourselves.

Underneath the surface of the human heart is desire to belong. In terms of survival, it's vital. Whatever thought processes brought us to the place of believing we can do it on our own are deceptive. Interdependence is the natural occuring phenomonen of the village; ego - with all it's onhangers (fear, resistance, anger, and all that pain) - is how we bring about our doom.

It's not that we all have to go back to living indigenous lifestyles, (although why not?) but there is a strong need in today's society to get back to recognizing the value of the village, if for no other reason, just so the women of today's world can get back to some sanity and so the world doesn't keep on marching toward impending doom lead by greed and destruction.

Women, the eternal changers, are holding it together, but we need to remember village life and find a way of integrating it into modern daily life. Can we cook together, share chores in some meaningful way or find other ways to share the task of daily life? It is a worthwhile train of thought. Could we?

Blessings.
- Darshan

© 2009 Darshan F Jessop