Unity in Diversity – Balancing the Masculine and the Feminine

Yesterday, many Hindus around the world celebrated ‘Maha Shivratri’ (literally translated as: the great night of Shiva), a festival that celebrates the legendary marriage of Shiva (the masculine god, with power enough to empower or destroy all of creation) with Parvati (the epitome of feminine power, all merging in this, her most nurturing avatar). It is said that the power of this divine union of the masculine and feminine created a world greater than ever before.

Beyond the cultural relevance, I felt drawn to look into the deeper myth behind the celebration of this 'union', and it led to me to appreciate the concept of 'masculine' in 'feminine' in a much more internally relevant way.

The idea of balancing ‘opposite’ attributes is not unique to Hinduism. Chinese mythology speaks of the creative power of the balance between Yin and Yang, now a well-accepted reference in common parlance. Beyond theology, neuroscience speaks of the role of left-brain and right-brain in optimal human functioning, management speaks of the importance of creativity and analytical thinking in delivering great results, chemistry speaks of the difference between ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ charges as the source of power (literally!), even mechanics requires two adjoining parts to be complementary opposites, not identical.

The concept of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ uniting to create something greater holds true. In order for most creations to come into being there is a masculine and a feminine aspect, a generative and creative aspect, a driving and a receiving aspect – even at the atomic level.

Long before we learnt to understand all this, stories were created, legends were born, myths were shared that gave us an easy window to look through and start to grasp some of these broader and deeper truths. It has taken me being well into my adulthood to appreciate the subtle truths and significance of our cultural norms and traditions. I now take joy in looking deeper into the universal meaning behind our modern festivals - and perhaps I extrapolate somewhat!

‘Maha Shivratri’, as I chose to interpret it, served as a poignant reminder of the power I hold within me, when I unite the full complement of the gifts, needs and drives within me. Being in my full creative power requires me to express both my ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ attributes. I can sometimes recede so far into my ‘feminine’ receptivity that I can shy away from going out in the world and showing myself. Or I can get so driven about how I want an outcome to be, that I can forget to receive other points of view. Neither serves me.

At some point in our lives, each of us learnt 'how we are supposed to be' and then we tend towards behaviours that support that ideal, often with characteristic 'masculine' or 'feminine' traits. Instead of serving us, this distinction and separation limits us and, in the long run, even hurts us.

This week we continue to celebrate the power and contributions of women all over the world. But in order for women (and for men) to fully realise our potential, we have to recognise and respect the balancing attributes within each of us: the fears and the desires, the gut instinct and the analytical reasoning, the gentle touch and the sheer drive, the ‘good’ person and the ‘bad’. All have a place to exist. All have a contribution to make in creating a great life. There is no right or wrong way to be. Just the truth of our unique individual self-expression that draws from our ‘feminine’ and our ‘masculine’ traits, allowing us to create something truly great that leverages our full potential.

And imagine if we as men and women pool our unique blend of gifts and attributes together: we’d create something greater than any of us could do alone.

There is a reason why great leaders often choose to work with people very different from themselves. And why great teams and great companies are built on diversity. There is a real reason for including the feminine and masculine perspectives at work, in our homes and in our communities. But it goes beyond the surface task of just including women or men; it takes a desire to truly empower and support the expression of the richness, depth and diversity within each of us!

Essentially, days like yesterday, and each of our varied and diverse human festivals and traditions, at their core, are meant to remind us of the greatness within us all, the joy of full self-expression, and the power of being held and supported by our communities - in the full unity our individual uniqueness and our shared destiny.