The baby is in labor pains. Okay, well, not really. It’s been born for a while – now I just get to take it home from the hospital? No, that’s not really a good analogy. ANY way… The business is beginning to take off. My first customer is on Monday, all day, and kick off was yesterday. It’s been a busy month in preparation for this. I’m excited, scared, a little worried, but overall just ready for it to get GO-ING! My employees are, too.

Being large and in charge is an interesting thing. Business people (you know, the kind that go to a “real” job every day) will tell you that it’s hard or it is too much work. Sometimes I guess it’s easier to draw a paycheck from “the man” as one fellow on-site provider puts it. You know, though, I’m way too independant for that deal now. I like being in control. Yes, those of you know me know that… but it’s more than that. I don’t feel like a control freak. I like people to have their own minds and own ideas about things. I beleive that’s what makes a good group become a team. It’s what I’ve seen build things rather than take them down. Dictators are really good at destruction. Real leaders are good at creation.

So that makes me wonder why more women aren’t in positions at corporations? I believe it’s because of the patriarcal nature of business, still, today. I imagine 50s business suits all sitting around a board room discussing the fate of the company. The unfortunate part is that women have to play that role to be admitted. It’s changing – slowly – as more women own their own businesses. Eighty-Five to Ninety percent of businesses in the country are small businesses – and how many are owned by women? The number’s rising. If we want to build and create, it seems one of the easiest solutions.

I wonder, though, what men believe we’ll lose by admitting women into the men-only places? Being a co-mason, I ask that question often. I don’t want to be a Free and Accepted Mason, it’s never been my desire. I don’t want to belong to that group mostly because of what they do, not because it’s men-only. It’s not a challenge to me to break down that barrier. I merely stand back and wonder why it’s there. What is so different about our make up, in gender, that we cannot be philathropic, social, fraternal, or on the Path? Our group is much more esoteric, which is why I’ve gone that way. Yet, it seems odd to me to deny duality and in fact, deny 1/2 of the human race. Odd, isn’t it?

The board room or the Lodge room, I think things are changing. I have a long view – the 20 to 40 year view. I can see the change happening slowly. Maybe once our current dictatorship, er, presidentship changes, we’ll be able to see a little more progress in a little more places. Home is a really good place to start.

–TDD