Balancing Feminine and Masculine
Yin-Yang Perspective
Within each of us, regardless of gender, there is a dance happening between two opposing forces. Feminine and Masculine; being and doing; Yin and Yang; Shiva and Shakti; Goddess and God. Although I am a woman, I am not 100% feminine. I have masculine traits within me alongside the feminine ones. This is one of the truths of the universe, that we each hold a unique blend of these essential ingredients. No two people have the exact same percentage of each, and that’s a part of the beautiful mystery.
What does this mean? Why is this important?
To be a fully rounded human, you need a bit of both to engage with the world. Take me for example: I am highly feminine - I’m in tune with my emotions, intuition, vulnerability and nurturing nature. But the base instinct of the feminine is to BE. The balance to that is some of my “masculine” traits - assertiveness, leadership skills, structure and goal oriented. Masculine is boiled down into DOING. If a person were one of these two opposing forces then you’d either float without direct or chase after achievement without empathy. Balancing between these two is essential and nature wants both of these within us. No one energetic signature is right and the other wrong for us. Both are right and should be celebrated within our uniqueness.
The world is currently a highly masculine society where the feminine doesn’t have as much space as the ideal 50/50. Perhaps it’s been villainized for centuries as lazy or unproductive or “dangerous” for the more active, goal oriented way society is organized. Even the way that we grow our food, quite literally teasing nourishment from the earth, has become a scientific formula instead of the intuitive knowledge of knowing when the frost is coming due to the natural calendar of the sun and moon. That is one small example, but it can be observed that there are so many different aspects of society: government, healthcare, corporations, financial and religious institutions.
Masculine is celebrated, but there is a wave of feminine awareness and celebration on the horizon. The blessing of these cycles that the Earth goes through is we have our seasons and trends come in and out as the pendulum swings. Feminine knowledge has become more celebrated within traditionally masculine spaces. Take myself as another example: I am an intuitive woman who works amongst the highly masculine space of innovators and inventors and manufacturers and engineers of Silicon Valley. A woman “shouldn’t be” good at the consultancy and recruiting efforts I do… how can a feminine attract the talent that they need to stay on top of the DOW and NYSM? It’s because I attract the creativity needed to make those next generation products, because I take time to form relationships that lead to trust and a long-term employee for those clients. It’s the sixth sense that allows for me to thrive in this market, and I don’t hide it. My clients know what they’re getting, my intuitive-feminine self along with the action oriented- masculine results.
There is space for both masculine and feminine and it’s ourselves that limits us to one over the other. We can explore and be curious about different traits that may help us, but the black and white isn’t helpful. I would challenge you to look at your life and see where you can introduce more feminine into your masculine and more masculine into your feminine. Embrace the yin-yang duality nature that you were born into.
