beautiful and sensitive souls… but they are also victims (as are we), of the culture in which we all live. We are all influenced; we don’t know… what we don’t know. There is a vast (and often unseen) difference between the concept of men and women, and the concept of masculine and feminine energy, because we ALL have both. And it is my belief that we are all victimized by the current cultural emphasis, and value, placed on the masculine. But this is not the problem, i.e., too much emphasis and value on the masculine energy. I believe the problem stems from too little value of the feminine, the mother, the earth… from where it began… and without our collective care I wonder where it will go? Without increased value of the feminine I wonder where we will go, collectively, both as human beings and as a culture. In the last 6 months I have: been diagnosed with stage 3 uterine cancer, undergone major surgery, declined chemotherapy-radiation-chemotherapy (the “sandwich” approach that was recommended by the surgeon), moved two-weeks post surgery to Hawai’i to complete my pre-doctoral internship in clinical psychology, and ended up on 35 giant posters all abound NYC modeling for Icon/Thinx. Absolutely none of this was planned except for the move to Hawai’i. Life is so full of wonder! And I am, at this point, just so grateful to be alive, today, silver hair and all! I am filled with nothing but love and gratitude and I realize, like the Velveteen rabbit, that over time, we become real, and it is only when we are very, very, real, that we can truly be loved… PS A male acquaintance of mine, responding to my recent good fortune, said this to me, “FYI, purely from a guy’s perspective, gray doesn’t work. Gray is old,
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blonde is young. Strictly a male POV, [point of view].” Right! I think that IS the point! But perhaps it is NOT the “male” POV, but rather the “masculine” point of view, since many women feel the same way. My hope is that as a culture, we continue to grow, following cutting-edge trends in psychology such as: horticulture therapy, attachment theory and the integration of the two, (after all we breath each other’s breath just as we have breathed each other in, for all time). May we begin to integrate the land, the love, and the wisdom of the mother, our mother; our earth… into our souls… I toast to you, Silver Sisters; the pioneers (then and now), and the beautiful Silver Faces of today! To those who say, “Silver is old,” I simply reply, THANK YOU! ☺ (And I also thank you, Ben Winkler, for your passion, your efforts, and your love.) Blessings to ALL! (almost…) Dr. Bella Elizabeth “Bella” McCloud, MS, Doctoral Candidate, Psy.D., Clinical Psychology, E-RYT@500 Faces of Silver
