The good that came from this year of outing sexual harassment, taking it from dark corners, has been important. Here's a way to balance the bad and ugly and give some light to the beauty of sensuality, lest we forget.
I stumbled, once again, on the poetry of Pablo Neruda, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1971. It made my heart soar. I hope it will do the same for you.
Whether straight, gay, or transgender this is a gift for you. Whether just starting to touch the meaning of love or moving into the twilight of life, this is for you.
The essence of sensuality and sexuality drive us all. Sometimes, with all the disappointment we have seen in so many of our leaders, we lose hope.
Yes, it's important to acknowledge the negative.
We have pushed down the abuses for too long. Women and men of courage have come together to slay the demon of destructive entitlement. That's when people feel they can take without regard for anything but their own needs and desires.
However, if that is the only focus, it puts us all in a place of distrust and fear.
Pablo Neruda captures the sensuality and passion of love relationships.Take a break from logic and big data and read one of his poems to someone you love. Here's one of my favorite passages from his book, Love Poems written for his wife Matilde Urrutea de Neruda:
And when you appear
all the rivers sound
in my body, bells
shake the sky,
and a hymn fills the world.
Beautiful and heart warming. A gift of words to a loved one.
And, let's not give up the fight for gender equity, for decency, for people showing regard for each other.
Often, the best way is by indirection. What I mean is, visual art, music, and poetry are healing forces in our world. Let's use them.
Imagine, what if enough of us imagine a kinder, gentler world. Who knows, maybe it can come to be.