We generally tend to view history through the eyes of religion, gender, status, documents, educated guesses etc. The 'truth' of history is, as such, constituted through different channels creating different pictures of reality. Sadly, too much of our understanding of history is linked to wars and an endless list of dates.
This has left most of us dreading history and finding it irrelevant, however today, more than ever, we need to explore and re-discover where we come from. We need to learn from our past so we can mature and create a better future. If we don't know where we come from, it's extremely difficult to see where we are going.
For example, we need to understand the origins of our beliefs regarding gender and spirituality. Who are we repeating? What are we repeating? And if so, when repeating, are we then moving forward in a better way? We cannot know, unless we are aware of where we come from. As such, our history teachers have done us great disservice and this is one of the reasons I decided to write The Hidden Camino the way I have. I wanted to illustrate just a fraction of how alive, fascinating and deep our history - our cultural inheritance - is!
One of the issues I focus on is gender and the social roles given to men and women. I believe that our modern ideas about gender, are emotionally and spiritually violating and suppressing. What's even more important; the 'truths' we hold today about gender are a product of our history!
We live in a world where we are desperately lacking positive female role models; not saints or sinners, but role models who carved their own path and found their own way! Role models, who show that there are a million ways to live a fulfilling, peaceful and meaningful life.
I'm not saying women should be warriors or depicted in specific roles, as that is completely up to people themselves to choose their walk of life! But I want to challenge our stereotypical ideas about what women are and can be, so we can mature our understanding of what it means to be a human being. In the end, this will lead to an incredible healing and emancipation of us all - women and men.
We must to come to a place where we realise the ridiculous ideas about 'what a real woman/man is' - and even move away from terms like transgender and asexual. We are who we are, and we dress and look the way that matches our sense of identity. Why do our looks have to be equal to our sexuality?
It would make so much more sense to focus on values such as responsibilty, healthy boundaries, and respectful communication. I am quite certain, that if we looked at humans through these glasses, our self esteem would increase immensely and the many gender related problems, would decrease.
xo Louise
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