Women’s History Month- What Do Your Know about the Equal Rights Amendment?

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This is Women’s History Month and I for one am revisiting my history. Frankly I was a little surprised and perhaps a little embarrassed at how little I knew or remembered.  So in the spirit of educating my sisters (and brothers) I have put together a little quiz.

How much do you know about the work and the women that are fighting and have been fighting to guarantee equal rights under the constitution for women?

There are those that say it is not necessary.  But view the ERA response:

“Would anyone really want to turn back the clock on women’s advancement? Ask the members of Congress who have tried to cripple Title IX, which requires equal opportunity in education – who have opposed the Violence Against Women Act, the Fair Pensions Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act – who voted to pay for Viagra for servicemen but oppose funding for family planning and contraception – who for decades have blocked U.S. ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).”

Test Your Knowledge

  1. What is the Equal Rights Amendment?
  2. Who wrote the text for it?
  3. When was it first introduced to Congress?
  4. How many years did it take to pass?
  5. What year was it sent to the States for ratification?
  6. How many States are needed to ratify the Amendment?
  7. How many years did Congress allow for the States to ratify the Amendment?
  8. Did enough States ratify the Amendment before the time limit expired?
  9. What happened then?
  10. How many States actually ratified the Amendment?
  11. Is it ratified now?
  12. Which States didn’t ratify the Amendment?

Find the answers yourself, or continue article to view answers.

Life is An All Inclusive Adventure

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Imagine two people on a cruise.  One person understands how an all-inclusive cruise works and enjoys scrumptious meals throughout the cruise day and night.  The second person is not aware that the food is included and since they are on a limited budget, spend most of the cruise eating crackers and water.  On the last night of the cruise the two happen to chat.  The one who is aware shares how wonderful the food is and remarks, “I love these all-inclusive cruises; it’s great to be able to eat anything we want and not have to worry about money.” The second guy almost passes out.  “You mean the all the food is included and I’ve been starving myself and eating only crackers and water?”

I had the privilege of training alongside  Clif McKnight, author of “If you can’t calm the waters, Learn to ride the waves’ for the past two days.  He brought in a guest speaker Mark Holland. Mark  shared the story above.  Life is an all-inclusive event, yet some are content with crackers and water.  Let me put it this way, many people are starving themselves and surviving or barely surviving when life offers an abundance of possibilities and opportunities.  We are here on the ship of life.  We can pick and choose according to our gifts and talents and make life an adventure of a lifetime.  Or, we can settle for life’s crumbs.  It’s our choice!

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Ten Questions to Help You Find Your Passion

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“Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night” wrote Glade Byron Addams.  It is not okay to NOT live passionately on purpose.  It is our destiny to take life in our hands and like clay shape and mold it into whatever gives us joy.  We are each creators and creators create!  Some are lost; some are on the wrong path, and some are stuck.  But a lucky few are on the right path even though they may not have reached their goal yet.  But, that doesn’t matter so much because when you’re on the right path, the journey itself is joyous!  Perhaps you have had to take a few detours, but you’ve kept your eye on the prize.  You realize why you are where you are and you know where that road leads.

Don’t Forget Where You’re Going

I’ve certainly had to do jobs that I didn’t want to do in order to get to do the jobs that I was born to do. The key is to not get stuck there.  During those times we have to do our best and have a process of continual learning that allows us to get better and better.  We also should align ourselves with those who strengths complement our weaknesses and our weaknesses complement their strengths.  Sadly, I’ve heard people say that there is nothing that they are passionate or excited about.  That just is not acceptable.  We were born to live a joyful life.  We were created to love life.  How could we be expected to live lukewarm, uninspired, dispassionate lives?  To help you figure out your purpose, your passion, so that you can attract possibilities and power to you, consider the follow questions:

  1. Are you currently doing work you love?
  2. Do secretly wish you were doing something else?  What?
  3. Rate your joy for your work on a scale of 1-10?
  4. What aspects of your current work do you enjoy the most?
  5. Do you find yourself daydreaming about the passionate work you hope to do one day?
  6. What is your talent?
  7. What are you good at naturally?
  8. What work would you continue to do even if you were not paid?
  9. Who do you know that excels in areas that you are weak in and how can you help each other?
  10. Who inspires you to live more joyfully?

Harold Whitman said, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer #10: Not Passionate about Your Work

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If your mind and heart are somewhere else, do yourself a favor and let your body catch up. Love is the greatest power on earth and when we love what we do, we’re able to tap into that life altering power.  We dissipate our power when we are doing one thing and wanting desperately to be somewhere else doing something else.  Our power is the most potent when we are focused wholeheartedly in the moment.

Do you love what you do?  I mean do you love it so much that if money were not an issue you would continue to do it anyway?  Does your work excite you?  It is the passion for what we do that attracts benefits to us.  It is the passion that keeps us on track even when we’d like to give up.  It is the passion for a goal that energizes us.  Without passion we don’t have the excitement, attraction, or energy that we need to make work meaningful.  Lack of passion and a sincere heartfelt interest in what we are doing surely has derailed many a dream.  Clearly there will be times when we have to do work that we are not as interested in, competent at, or enjoy.  But if that work will eventually lead us to our goal, then we need to stay focused.  That is what it means to keep our eyes on the prize.  Check back tomorrow for part 2:  Ten Questions to Help You Find Your Passion.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer #9g- Insufficient Education (continued)

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Can you imagine telling your parents you’re dropping out of Harvard to start a company?  That’s what Bill Gates did.  He had that much faith in his dream.  Andrew Jackson was a Congressman and President of the United States and never attended college.  Rachel Ray got her start teaching cooking classes even though she never went to culinary school.  She also has her own magazine and is a best-selling author.  John D. Rockefeller Sr. started Standard Oil and became the richest man in history with no college degree.  How many people reading this have allowed the fact that they don’t have a degree in a particular area to stop them from pursuing their dreams?  And, what if you wanted to be a movie producer but were denied access to film school, would that stop you?  It didn’t stop Steven Spielberg.

If You Need An Excuse, Any One Will Do!

Some people would allow the lack of money or age to keep them from going after their dreams, not  Mark Zuckerberg.  He had to borrow money to start Face-book and went on to become the youngest person to appear on the Forbes billionaire list.  And, Henry Ford never even graduated from High School.  That didn’t stop him from starting the Ford Automotive company.  Think of how many people were able to be employed and how his automating the car production process has changed our world.  One of his keys to success was that he surrounded himself with knowledgeable people.  Perhaps you should to.  Source- 10 Famous People Who Didn’t Go to College. What these extraordinary people show us is that if you have the talent, you can make it!  They followed their bliss.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.