I was speaking to a woman recently who asked me about my work. After sharing about supporting women to awaken their sacred sensual Shakti energy, she volunteered that she doesn’t feel “turned-on at all anymore.” Then she quickly added that this was “fine with her,” a growing challenge for her husband it seems, but not a problem for her.
Later I wondered, from a place of genuine curiosity rather than judgement, “How is it that a woman decides that not feeling turned on is acceptable?”
I realized that for me, feeling turned on is far more than just sexual desire (which naturally ebbs and flows in our lunar-rhythmic cycles). Feeling turned on for me is a bubbling of my feminine life force energy that includes intimacy with the sacred, arousal, gratitude, love, appreciation, wonder, creativity, abundance, play, passion, trust, appetite, zest and so much more. In short, it’s my Shakti.
Turn-on is a new exploration in my post-menopausal body. Subtlety has become far more erotically interesting than stamina. Having solitude, sovereignty, and my own sanctuary space has become a non-negotiable wellspring of profoundly deep fulfillment. I’m befriending a belly I’m no longer capable of “sucking in,” finding my new sexy with slippery fabric that clings to my more ample curves and cleavage.
“Making love” might mean watching my Beloved’s infinite blue eyes overflow in a heart-melting-open moment of recognition of the miracle of simply being together, having found each other in this crazy world, as we sit sipping our tea in the hot tub on a drizzly morning before getting ready for work.
I’ve lost three relatives since mid January. Life feels quite precious and all too brief. It’s worth protecting, speaking out for, marching in solidarity with, being turned on to.
Women who are turned on are difficult to push around. They speak their mind. They have access to power, creativity, and their own sustainable, renewable resources of energy. They’re happier and healthier. They’re awake to their Shakti.
These are the kind of women, we are the kind of women, tuned in, tapped in, turned on, who are here to change the world.
~ Rejoicing in awakening, Lisa
