Waking the Maiden
Leigh Barret

The coming of Spring isn't just the wake up call for the birds, bees and flowers… the changing season calls to us as well. It is time to let the Crone we have been nurturing all the long blustery winter, sink down into the earth mould with the last of the thawing snow and dead leaves. It's time to stir ourselves up and get ready to burst forth with something tender, new and green!

Yes, yes, I can hear you groaning… easier to say than do when daily life for most of us keeps us in the house, in the car, in the office, in the car some more. We are cut off from Springtime… do we notice her coming except casually? We are just too busy! Doing for others, worrying, paying bills, satisfying someone else's needs. It is enough to want to make you scream! 

So scream! Better yet holler and laugh and then give yourself a good shake. Good news, Spring is here and we are going to wake up your inner Maiden! 

Don't think that just because you are still under thirty that doesn't apply to you too! Once you have been out on your own long enough to have returned home and found that your former bedroom has been converted into your parents new workout room; then you probably are deep into the daily grind of modern life. 

And for those Crones who think that their Maiden days are long past and try to rationalize "oh I've had my fun"… NOT SO, there is still some fun to be had!
I remember the time when my then 85 year old grandmother and I were watching television and a hot love scene came on. I was embarrassed and told her so. She just laughed and said, "My body may be 85 on the outside, but on the inside I'm still a girl of sixteen sometimes." 

So what can we do for the really fun girl that we once were? Let's wake her up!

WAKE YOUR MAIDEN IN NINE EASY STEPS….

1. PAINT ALL YOUR FINGERNAILS A DIFFERENT COLOR just for the day. When people at work comment, say "yeah, aren't they wild ?" or if your maiden is just too timid, paint all your toenails a different color AND wear some really indecent underwear. Change the way you dress, just for a day…try clipping a flower in your hair and tie a sarong over your jeans. Aren't you wild? Doesn't this feel kind of dangerous and exciting? Believe me, your Maiden loves it!

2. LISTEN TO SOME NEW MUSIC THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO GET UP AND JUMP, and listen to it while wearing headphones and pretending not to hear your kids when they are talking. 
Better, look at them and nod your head in time to the music.. or to be on the safe side, since you can't hear and they might be asking to borrow the car, shake your head NO in time to the music.

3. PLAY WITH CHILDREN and NO CHEATING… this activity is not WATCHING children play, it is about REALLY PLAYING. Remember how exhilarating it was to jump rope, and the only thing you had to worry about was keeping your feet from stopping the rope? What about bubble blowing, playing jacks marbles and pick-up-sticks… remember these old games ? Well, you have just now magically regressed x number of years and you are a kid again…poof! no worries about laundry, the ten thousand errands that are waiting, the problem at work or the funny noise the car is making.

 
So go buy a jump rope or some jacks and teach a kid to play. Chances are they have never drawn a hopscotch board on the sidewalk or made a chalk "house" house to live in. Pick up a toy and go away into your imagination for a while. If you are really brave try this playing stuff for a whole hour. If not, see how long you can play before the adult world intrudes. When it does, push it away and go back to play. This is fun, you'll see.

4. I CANT FIND ANY CHILDREN. No excuses allowed… Quick ! List five ACTIVE things you LOVED to do as a kid. Now pick one and do it. Now grab another adult and see if you can get her or him to play, too. What are the five things on THEIR list? Pick one thing and do it. Having fun is contagious AND one of the quickest ways to wake your inner Maiden.

5. PLAN A DATE. THIS Sunday, brainstorm as to what to what and where to go for a date NEXT Saturday. Tell your partner that you are going on a date together and that it is going to be exciting. Let the anticipation build for at least a week. Then on the BIG DAY, Get dressed up, make yourself beautiful, make it an event. Take a picture of the two of you dressed up and ready to go out. Don't let the lack of a partner stop you either. Your partner could be a friend who needs a boost. Do the planning, then GET GOING.

6. Write all your emails today with wild fonts, CAPITALIZE, use italics and LOTS !!!! of exclamation points.

7. HAVE A PAJAMA PARTY. How many other women do you know who are in need of awakening their own inner Maidens ? Make it a theme party , "Waking your Maiden Goddess" and get the guests involved in planning activities that will keep you going til the wee hours. plan on music, pot luck midnight supper and healthy breakfast. Remember we are WAKING UP so don't call it a SLUMBER party !

8. WAKE UP CALL ! Did you have a DIARY WITH A CUTE LITTLE KEY when you were a girl ? Hopefully it was where you wrote more hopes and dreams than hurts and disappointments, but regardless of the past, start a journal for your Maiden. Not your ordinary diary for writing the days events, nor a dream diary (for the dreams that come while sleeping) this one is for finding all the hopes, daydreams and pleasures that somehow got forgotten or fell by the wayside as you grew up. Time to dust off your aspirations and wake them up along with the inner Maiden you are waking in yourself. If you aren't sure where to start, check out "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. Though her book is for waking the blocked artist, YOU are the artist creating your own life, and what better activity for the your Maiden, full of passion and creativity, and bursting with inner creative fire.

9. THIS LAST STEP IS YOURS TO WRITE… surely you have thought of something that I didn't include ! Inside you there is a girl who has needs and desires and who will help you get the most out of life whether you are twenty-five, forty, or seventy-five. What is the HEARTS DESIRE of YOUR inner Maiden, what will wake her up and put a smile on her face? 

Have fun!

Leigh Barret, 2006 Spring Equinox