Poor Mouthing
An excerpt from a post I wrote in an interesting thread we have going over at Rebecca Fine’s forum:
Tonight I manifested one of the targets set during the course. I sang on stage at the WTF jam at Jamboree. This is famous Barcelona jam session and I have been going there for almost two years, and tonight was the first time I was invited on stage. It was quite an introduction, and my performance was very well-received by audience and musicians alike.
Poor-mouthing fits in with this kind of manifestation because I have not only poor-mouthed my finances but also my talent - by not believing that I am a singer.
Oh yes, poor mouthing is a serious malady that needs to be eradicated - and Wally talks about that when he talks about not concerning yourself with images of poverty, and the best way to help the poor is to put images of wealth in their minds.
Poor-mouthing is a global concern and when one considers the economic state of places like Africa, and now Burma with the cyclone tragedy. Where they are suffering not only poor-mouth economically, but also socio-politically.
When you start looking at yourself and how your thoughts are projected into the world, and think about how our thoughts shape our world, you can see how important it is to change the way you think - not only to improve your own situation but also the situation of millions of people world-wide, and the planet itself by extension.
1 Comment »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I had an interesting conversation with a friend in Canada about this post. She was talking about Germaine Greer’s latest book, and the history of women…and the aging of women, and the invisibility of older women. I suggested that that kind of talk is also poor-mouthing: poor-mouthing older women, reinforcing an idea that older women are invisible.
I think about my mother in this context. She refuses to get old. In her forties started acting in community theatre, and in her seventies got her professional actor’s union card!
She once said to me:”Do as much as you can for as long as you can.” And whenever I’ve thought I’m a total idiot for thinking I can start a music career in my fifties, I remember her advice. I’m also following my grandmother’s footsteps: she was singer and organized cabaret’s and musical theatre shows!
Today I had an email from Mom - writing about the song I’ve just posted on myspace (www.myspace.com/alisonboston) and she says: “What can I start doing now at 80 that I’ve never done before?” Then she told me about answering an ad that was posted on the bulletin board at her senior’s centre. Someone looking for an accent coach. She wonders if she can do it. I wrote back that she taught me how to enunciate, and one thing my English students always comment on is my clear enunciation. (I was actually criticized for it in acting school! “You over enunciate Alsion! Relax! I hear it in my singing too, not sure how to get a laid back talk! But maybe my enunciation will work in another way?)
I’m rambling now…
The thing is, we must not speak of ourselves in any derogatory way. And just because a woman is over 30, or 40, or 50 - doesn’t mean she has to toss out the sexy lingerie, or allow herself to become invisible. Just because we are no longer baby-bearers doesn’t make us worthless - in fact, it makes us more valuable as employees, or colleagues - because WE ARE NOT GOING TO GET PREGNANT AND QUIT! Nor are we going to have to stay home with sick kids. Nor are we going to have monthly bitchy spells.
We are mellower - yet just as feisty and outspoken, and perhaps even more so, because as we age we get stronger and stronger and stronger…
So next time you see an older woman walking towards you, unadorned by a man on her arm, don’t automatically assume she’s finished and forgotten. I tell you - she’s just starting!
(By the way, I’m MIZ- always have been, always will be. Married and divorced twice before the age of 30, never adopted Missus.
Alison.)
Comment left on June 15, 2008 @ 6:48 am