"Making a Life" with a Woman's Flair

photo by Jaime Kowal

I love men, but I’m glad I’m a woman.

I was reminded of this the other day when a friend sent me one of those e-mail chain letters you’re supposed to forward to x number of people. This one had various quotes from poet Maya Angelou, who was interviewed by Oprah on her recent 80th birthday. To be sure, all her words were poignant, but the insight that struck me most was this: “I’ve learned that ‘making a living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.’”

I believe women have a better grasp of “making a life” than men do. Yes, this is a vast and sweeping generality, but as a professional woman, I encounter a wide spectrum of people daily, and I find that women have far more interest around what I would call the pursuit of “matters of the heart,” which is how I would define “making a life.”

Outside of making a living, most businessmen may golf or do some other sport, but by and large, they’re not actively looking for ways to enhance the “interconnectedness” of their own and their families’ lives the way women do. Women tend to be the “directors” in relationships. Whether it’s an employer who wants honest, interpersonal communications within the office, a couple discovering ways to renew their connection, or a bunch of girlfriends on a holiday lark, you can almost always bet that a woman (or women, in the case of the girlfriends’ weekend) is leading the way.

Take the strikingly gorgeous Maureen Jack-LaCroix, whom we profile in our feature story. Maureen, an entrepreneur, built money-spinning enterprises within the worlds of rock ’n’ roll and skateboarding. She’s now applying her formidable business prowess to truly “making a life”—one that embraces us all (click here to read article).

Or our Visionary Moms. Diane Shaskin, for one, co-founder of Planet Organic Market, often directs her Canadian grocery empire from her home office so she can be near her family (click here to read article).

How does this feminine energy translate into financial success? Incredibly! Check out our TrueWEALTH column where Nina Winham reports that companies with more women on the board report a 42 per cent higher return on sales! And that’s just for starters (click here to read article).

What makes this all really important is that as a woman, you are in the driver’s seat for steering us toward “making a life”—one that honours one another and our planet. It’s a huge but golden responsibility.

Maya had another quote I liked: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Truly this is what “making a life” is all about.

Yoga VISIONARIES… Your Choice

The votes are rolling in! In an upcoming issue we’ll be profiling four of the Lower Mainland’s most influential Yogis/Yoginis. So log on to our website (shared-vision.com) and nominate/vote for the Yogi/Yogini you believe is the most deserving, by May 15. Click here to Nominate Your Choice.

Also, tell us about your love/hate relationship with yoga in 30 words or less. Send it to letters@shared-vision.com with “love/hate yoga” in the subject line, and we’ll print the best submissions. Make sure you include your phone number.

Every Woman in the World

We love this conference and I’m gonna tell you why. It’s by women, for women of “all ages, shapes, and sizes.” Partake in, as part of Whistler Wellness Week, three days of back-to-back workshops… everything from Ayurveda and belly- and pole-dancing to laughter yoga. So much more.

It’s all good. It’s all a SharedVISION.

In gratitude,
Rebecca