January 21, 2008 at 09:58:57 PRESIDENTIALLY SPEAKING: The Power of Soulful Partnerships by Meryl Ann Butler Page 1 of 4 page(s) | |    |
(reprinted with permission from One Planet Magazine, Jan. 2008 edition) by Meryl Ann Butler
The Washington Family
History shows that high profile couples in deeply connected, soulful partnerships can empower the world through the ripple effect of their relationships, raising their roles of leadership to enhance the greater good.
When two people mutually empower each other, they are honoring self as well as the other and have a deeper ability to appreciate each other’s dreams and aspirations. And they are eager to celebrate each other’s successes. These attitudes spring from each partner’s worldview, are supported by an outlook that focuses on joy and wellbeing rather than fear and lack, and invite the happiness and empowerment that many couples, presidential or not, have experienced in successful relationships.
Rev. Ronald McFadden[1] says that “the difference between united and untied is in where you place the ‘I.” Effectively enhancing self-empowerment in others begins by honoring one’s own sense of connection: the “I” must be placed up front. This is the deeper truth within the flight attendants’ reminders to “place the cup over your own mouth FIRST, before assisting others.” Ironic, as it may appear, attending first to one’s self, results in being self-less rather than selfish!
Couples who consciously make this choice invite the magic of synchronicity to dance into their everyday experience. So-called miracles present themselves more often than we could ever expect. However, if we are not “tuned in” to their frequencies, these phenomena simply don’t show up on our radar. As Sir Winston Churchill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”
Centered and balanced couples often report experiencing miraculous timings, “chance” meetings, or love at first sight. For instance, when young Jimmy Carter[2] returned from his first date with 17-year-old Rosalyn Smith[3], his mother asked him how it went. He responded that he knew that she was the girl he wanted to marry.
Young George Washington as suitor
Martha Dandridge Custis, age 26
Colonel George Washington[4] asked for Martha Custis’s hand in marriage on his second visit to her home. And, in spite of the fact that they didn’t even converse the first time they met, Elizabeth Harper and presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich both recognized the moment as a “meeting of souls,” and were married three months later.
Pres. James Madison, 1812.
America’s 4th President, James Madison—the “Architect of the Constitution”—and Dolley Payne Todd, weren’t very far behind. When they officially met in 1794, they seem to have fallen for each other immediately, but kept it a secret—at least they tried! Rumors found their way to Martha Washington, who questioned James.
Dolley Payne Todd Madison
Although he gallantly denied the rumors, he and Dolley married less than four months later. Dolley said, "our hearts understand each other," and their biographers frequently mention how blissful their partnership was. Her active involvement and support of her husband’s activities was very unusual 200 years ago. Dolley’s assistance during James’ successful campaign for the presidency provoked his opponent to quip, “I was beaten by Mr. and Mrs. Madison. I might have had a better chance had I faced Mr. Madison alone.”
Like the Madisons, Dennis Kucinich[5] and his wife, Elizabeth[6], are an inspiring example of a dynamic couple with a synergistic relationship.
Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author and educator who counts First Lady Dolley Payne Todd Madison as well as two signers of the Articles of Confederation among her ancestors. Mary Ball, mother of George Washington is in the ancestral lineage of Butler’s great grandmother, Blanche Ball. Grateful to know that the blood of America's founding mothers and fathers runs in her veins, Butler has been newly filled with matriotism as a direct result of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Lest she appear too uppity, it should be revealed that she also has family ties to James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill. Butler has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled enlightenment for the past two decades. A native of NYC, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006). They don’t call quilts “comforters” for nothing! www.90minutequilts.com Butler was faculty advisor for "The Love for All Mankind/Anti-Apartheid Quilt" project at ENMU (1993), now in the collection of the Hon. Nelson Mandela. As Arts Advisor for the Center for Improving U.S.- Soviet Relations (CIUSSR) Baltimore, MD; her activities included the "First U.S.-Soviet Childrens’ Peace Quilt Exchange" (1987-88), an historic project chronicled in the media of both countries. Citizen diplomacy trips to the U.S.S.R. in 1987 and 1988 included lectures and presentations to fashion designers, craftspeople and artists in Odessa, Moscow, Kiev and St.Petersburg, in which she focused on the topic of creating global peace through international art exchanges. Butler is the proud mother of a daughter and seven stepchildren (all grown), and a passel o’ grand younguns. It is to these new generations that she dedicates her political activism.
No comments:
Post a Comment