Featured in Art Inspired by Poetry 15 Mar 10

This is a detail of my drawing of Meeting the Mad Woman which is Part of A Tribute to Womanhood Collaboration with Reynaldo.

I thought this detail gives a clearer look of the facial expressions of the woman.

Meeting the Mad Woman

She is nice
She is kind
She is subtle
She is compliant
She is nurturing
She loves so much
She is sweet…
Oh the feminine beauty we all know,
we all love.
That intrinsic beauty that
belongs to women,
we revel, we indulge,
we dance in the flame of softness.
So tender, so full of delight
I love this side of others and
self…the divine feminine.

Women have throughout history been
iconized for their ability to nurture and build
relationships with family and friends,
rewarded, applauded and admired in fact.
But this is just one side of the story,
there is another that needs to be told…
and that is of the mad woman.

For every hurt that hits her heart
For every disappointment that eats her soul
For every rejection that wounds her mind
For every heart ache that shreds her sensitivity
there needs to be an expression.

For some women it comes out in tears
For others it comes in silence and disappearing
For others it comes out in bitchiness
or passive aggression that is mean.
Others become insecure and are
unable to be a sister to other women.
It comes by her dying inside and losing
touch with who she really is.
And others it comes out in illness,
losing confidence,
losing voice…

But for some it comes out in rage, pure unadulterated anger.
Why is there such a fear of anger?
Is not anger the other side of love?
Is not anger a healthy, normal emotion that
makes the blood explode with fire?
Why is it many people cringe whenever they
see a woman expressing her anger?
Why do some people run from her?
Screaming she has gone hysterical,
crazy, god forbid insane!

But no she is just angry. Passionate!
She is hurt and she has become angry.
Her pain is real. At that moment it is her truth.
It is a raw expression of her soul
Gasping to find breath,
it is her true voice finally finding expression.

Anger is as valid as her sweetness and without
owning it she is just half a woman.
Jung referred to this as a shadow side.
Our less pretty side and it was his belief
we needed to embrace and integrate our shadow
side into ourself creating light and shade.
Yin/Yang?

We need to dance with anger,
love her, hold her, embrace her with out fear
that we will be: abandoned,
rejected…left again.

She is the wild part of our soul
that is screaming to find a voice.
She is the wild woman of passion and sexuality
that longs to dance and embrace every archetype within.

In meeting the mad woman we engage the core self.
We chant to fire and burn with passion
as whole wild women.
After all isn’t anger…another view, another angle,
another lens of Passion?

And is it not passion that attracts our lovers and
creates our art and yes above all makes our
heart start!

By Anthea Slade