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Posted: June 1st, 2007 at 1:07am By: Anita Revel
Brooke Shields told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" that there is an "entire population" of women who suffer from the baby blues — far more prevalent than anyone wants to admit.
In fact, there is an "entire population" of women who suffer from all sorts of blues — try, "my favorite pants won't fit anymore" blues, the "husband didn't come home again last night" blues, the "in-laws are arriving in five minutes and I still haven't made the beds" blues, and "the celebrities think they have it tough?" blues.
Energies ebb and flow; that's just a fact of life. One day you can be as high as a teenage celebrity, the next day as down as a duckling ripe for the plucking. If you're having trouble coping with the highs and lows, though, Roman goddess Ceres represents the cycles we experience as women and allows us to accept the ebbs and flows graciously.
(Yes, even during PMS, when stabbing your boyfriend in the forehead with a pair of blunt scissors seems like a perfectly polite way of saying "No thanks, I do not want cream in my coffee.")
Earth Mother Ceres is the Roman name of Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture. The ancient myth about Ceres (aka Demeter) and her stolen daughter Persephone helps explain the cycles of seasonal change.
During the time Ceres/Demeter was searching the world for her beloved Persephone, she was so grief-stricken that she struck the Earth barren — these were the winter months. Once she had found her daughter and had negotiated her return from the underworld for six months of each year, she was happy and allowed the earth to be fruitful — so we have spring and summer.
You see the emergence of cycles? Summer fades to fall, which falls into winter. Spring springs forth and blossoms into summer. Summer fades to fall, which ... you get the picture, right?
High tide/low tide; daytime/nighttime; long skirts/short skirts; fat pants/fatter pants — there's no avoiding the naturally occurring cycles of life.
If you're having a low day and this is peeving you, think of the Maori proverb that goes along the lines of, "Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows fall behind you."
Now, any Aussie mom will tell you that if you turn your face to the sun, you will get freckles (or skin cancer, depending on how macabre your Mom is). But assuming the proverb meant well, and assuming I'm reading it right, no matter how gloomy things might appear to you, look to the bright side to leave the blues behind.
If you have the "I've got a raging chocolate craving" blues, for example, or the "I've told my child not to interrupt unless he's broken a leg or set the kitchen on fire but he interrupts anyway" blues, cheer up.
Ceres encourages you to honor that need and do what you really want to do today. Go finish that oil painting, doodle in your journal, shop for brand names, or — as I did yesterday — get a glamorous makeover. (Go on, go wild. If it's bad, don't worry! Hair always grows back — it's part of the cycle!)
— — —
Anita Ryan-Revel is the author of the popular website Goddess.com.au, aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. She has incorporated her journey into hundreds of articles, countless websites and numerous books, one of which is "The Goddess Guide to Chakra Vitality." You can read more of her columns here. © copyright 2007 by Anita Ryan-Revel.
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Brooke Shields told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" that there is an "entire population" of women who suffer from the baby blues — far more prevalent than anyone wants to admit.
In fact, there is an "entire population" of women who suffer from all sorts of blues — try, "my favorite pants won't fit anymore" blues, the "husband didn't come home again last night" blues, the "in-laws are arriving in five minutes and I still haven't made the beds" blues, and "the celebrities think they have it tough?" blues.
Energies ebb and flow; that's just a fact of life. One day you can be as high as a teenage celebrity, the next day as down as a duckling ripe for the plucking. If you're having trouble coping with the highs and lows, though, Roman goddess Ceres represents the cycles we experience as women and allows us to accept the ebbs and flows graciously.
(Yes, even during PMS, when stabbing your boyfriend in the forehead with a pair of blunt scissors seems like a perfectly polite way of saying "No thanks, I do not want cream in my coffee.")
Earth Mother Ceres is the Roman name of Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture. The ancient myth about Ceres (aka Demeter) and her stolen daughter Persephone helps explain the cycles of seasonal change.
During the time Ceres/Demeter was searching the world for her beloved Persephone, she was so grief-stricken that she struck the Earth barren — these were the winter months. Once she had found her daughter and had negotiated her return from the underworld for six months of each year, she was happy and allowed the earth to be fruitful — so we have spring and summer.
You see the emergence of cycles? Summer fades to fall, which falls into winter. Spring springs forth and blossoms into summer. Summer fades to fall, which ... you get the picture, right?
High tide/low tide; daytime/nighttime; long skirts/short skirts; fat pants/fatter pants — there's no avoiding the naturally occurring cycles of life.
If you're having a low day and this is peeving you, think of the Maori proverb that goes along the lines of, "Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows fall behind you."
Now, any Aussie mom will tell you that if you turn your face to the sun, you will get freckles (or skin cancer, depending on how macabre your Mom is). But assuming the proverb meant well, and assuming I'm reading it right, no matter how gloomy things might appear to you, look to the bright side to leave the blues behind.
If you have the "I've got a raging chocolate craving" blues, for example, or the "I've told my child not to interrupt unless he's broken a leg or set the kitchen on fire but he interrupts anyway" blues, cheer up.
Ceres encourages you to honor that need and do what you really want to do today. Go finish that oil painting, doodle in your journal, shop for brand names, or — as I did yesterday — get a glamorous makeover. (Go on, go wild. If it's bad, don't worry! Hair always grows back — it's part of the cycle!)
— — —
Anita Ryan-Revel is the author of the popular website Goddess.com.au, aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. She has incorporated her journey into hundreds of articles, countless websites and numerous books, one of which is "The Goddess Guide to Chakra Vitality." You can read more of her columns here. © copyright 2007 by Anita Ryan-Revel.
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