Passion Leads to Commitment

Beware the Ides of March. Women of passion are on the rise, joining in world-wide revolutions. Standing up for the right thing becomes self-evident when we know who we are. That is not to say that competing priorities of nearly equal merit do not create tensions.  Yet we often surprise even ourselves when we are moved by passion to an action of unmistakable value.

Mary and I have been reading Birute Regine’s Iron Butterflies (2010) in which she also reminds us that “underlying the progress toward flexibility is a transformation of the meaning of commitment.” The outdated meaning defines commitment as a focused give-it-all rather than balance.  Rather, it’s a “bungy cord” that stretches and bounces. This new frame for commitment allows women to stay committed to family and friends, while passionately involving themselves in other actions of value…politics, sports, health, social justice.

Women’s Ways of Leading and Iron Butterflies are companion books. We recommend both.

Celebrating your bounce! Linda and Mary

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 at 10:19 am and is filed under Education, Family, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.