Ada's Golden Nuggets

Say Yes to Our Female Greatness

adagold — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:26:12 +0000

Yesterday I attend the art exhibit Wack! at the National Museum of Women Art http://www.wackatnmwa.org/. I was specifically moved by Joan Semmel’s painting “Erotic Yellow.” It is a painting of a photograph of the artist nude with her lover. This artist and others in their time were criticized for their narcissism. A quote was placed on the wall referring to Freud’s theory on narcissism and how a woman’s greatness is denied. I wish I had written down what Semmel had said.

A male friend who loves me dearly is hesitant to acknowledge aspects of my greatness for my own benefit he believes. As he always says, “I don’t want to feed your ego.” Are women really still seen as dainty having a need to keep them in their place so their greatness is not recognized? What is wrong with a woman having an ego of high regard of oneself? Why is its threatening? It still surprises me and makes me feel small that if I am overly self-assertive or self-confident I am called “Cocky” in the workplace and told to tone it down. I internalize it as if I am being wrong, wrong for being myself and great.

My male friend says that greatness should not be self acknowledge but validated by others. I say when aspects of society are constantly making you feel small it is up to us to find that inner strength, that inner greatness, that inner truth.

Feeding Your Gremlin

adagold — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:01:15 +0000

With Halloween being today our gremlins must have come out full force. In the past two days I have coached 3 clients and dealt with my own gremlins of insecurities. We all have our insecurities. It is with time persistence, great friends, and mentors that they improve. Those silly creatures always manage to come back when we are in new situations that are not familiar. How to counteract it is reflecting back on what is familiar, the times we were in the same situation and how we handled it. Acknowledgment.

North Country, NH Flu Exercise Experience (Nov 2005)

adagold — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:35:11 +0000

I was in New Hampshire two years ago for flu exercise we were conducting with the state. One of the reasons I love my work is the opportunity to constantly learn from the community members I interact with. My job duty was to evaluate a flu clinic in “North County” the upper most part of the state that is pretty rural. So rural that Verizon refuses to provide Internet services and cell phones don’t work. When I was there residents of North Country are more likely to get news from LA and NY then locally because satellites are the only option due to the lack of cable. It is no wonder the community members are so politically charged as they try to get their concerns met. They are pretty frustrated with their limitations especially where there are less developed countries with more communication resources. Their most obvious strength is how tight the community is. It is not often I get to experience a small town feeling in a county. The local high school in Colebrook graduating class had 20 students an odd occurrence for me who graduated forma city school with over 500 classmates. People were so friendly during my visit that I became bit home sick after I left.