Urban gardens take shape on derelict patches of city land.
In Detroit, artists take over old factories and warehouses creating art from what lies around them. Vacant buildings are re-born as community centers
People like Alice Waters are part of the The Slow Food Movement; educating consumers about the benefits of preserving and promoting local and traditional food products,
In Australia, a woman named, Rhonda has retired with her husband and describes her lifestyle this way "We spend our days now doing as much for ourselves as we can."
It is profoundly interesting that we seem to be returning to life's fundamentals; having a quiet 21st century renaissance or re-birth in the areas of food, the arts, the importance of family and inter-city community.The recent economic downfall may have been precipitated by corporate gluttony but on the upside it has opened the way to new realizations. How fast food is causing obesity & costly health related issues, that family disconnect is out of control and why a city’s orchestra does have a place in our cultural fabric.
Where does that leave us the women who run small businesses, have families on tight pre-planned schedules and make food choices that err on the side of the convenient. We are not unhappy in our Blackberry, sleek stainless steel refrigerator, reading "Jane Eyre” from our Kindle world. So are we feeling the need for a female renaissance?
Each century has re-defined us. Women no longer run households that revolve around the changing seasons. The pull of the sea tides and the cycles of the moon don't have the spiritual power that we once worshipped. Our natural talents to heal, weave and tell stories passed from one generation to the next have all but diminished. Then fast forward to the women's movement of sixties and seventies when female power was defined by its sheer numbers.
Today, nine years into a new century we have all been touched by events that have made us pause, question and worry. Whether it has been the recession, illness, caregiving or a change in marital status. Each event leaves us with the unanswerable question of ‘why’ to which there is never a satisfactory answer. We do know that we are still the matriarchs in our own world and as the universe is quietly reassessing so too must we. That through our change and self awareness we can move out of perceived failures, difficult trasitions and into a new era. The female 21st century renaissance will be more about individuality.
