There is a wonderful little story about a journalist who asked Mother Theresa how she would create peace in the world. Her answer was the advice to go home and love your family. It’s such a beautiful thought and powerful too that a home can be a potent place for the nurturing of peace…. that peace out there cannot be created unless we have peace in here, be that in our homes or ourselves.
I had a similar inspiring conversation with a spiritual leader. I was spending time in India and had the privilege to be with Dadi Janki, the head of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University at their headquarters in Mount Abu. We were in a small forum where we could question the leaders of the organisation. I asked Dadi about the role of women working alongside men in changing the world intending to use her response on my Feminine Leadership blog.
To my surprise, her response was that women should make their homes as heaven.It was pronounced with great power and I had to take some time to explore the meaning of the words. Like Mother Theresa, Dadi was endorsing the power of home. This idea that we can make a change in the world by going home and doing something there is both curious and powerful.
Admittedly, at first, I was disappointed because I thought Dadi was recommending that women should leave the world of business/work and return home. But she was a world leader, head of a vast organisation in over 120 countries, so her focus was not on domestic work. She was really talking about the role of women as leaders of peace and the power they have in the home …. that it is up to us to create heaven at home for everyone who lives there.
Women have traditionally had the leadership role in the household. It is women who are largely responsible for homemaking and child care. They’re in charge of food and nourishment often quartermaster and chief cook; mental well-being, growth and development of children and their activity planning and management; they take on the healing of the mind, body and spirit, give encouragement and provide what I heard Aboriginal elders call emotional labour. So women have that real opportunity and responsibility to provide a calm peaceful oasis that is the foundation of everyone’s life. Home is where everyone sets out from each day to go out into the world in whatever endeavour they are doing.
Creating even a little piece of heaven to experience in your home is important especially in a time of planet crazy ‘out there’……. To read more about how to do this with eight helpful tips … jump on to Gina’s column in the latest House of PreEminence, a digital glossy magazine for women change-makers where Gina is the Healthy Home Editor.
Gina Lazenby, Chair of The Feng Shui Society
House of PreEminence Magazine April issue on Dreams, Dharma and Destiny Magazine Link (190 glossy pages) Gina’s tips on page 128
Direct link to Gina’s column
