Fits like a Glove

Have you ever tried to wear a pair of gloves that were too tight?  I have a pair that was given to me one year for Christmas.  They were a stylish brown leather, slim and attractive.  I wanted them to fit, but every time I put them on, I could slowly feel the blood to my fingers wane.  

I bring this story up because sometimes I feel like the modern economy is too tight.  The four philosophies that I wrote about yesterday--the ones that I think are pulling the economy out of balance--feel constricting to me.  Perhaps they make you uncomfortable too.

The expression, "fits like a glove," is supposed to mean that the fit is just right.  Not too tight, not too loose.  This is how I want to feel about the economy.  Unfortunately, because of its current preference for big and impersonal, the fit is wrong.

What would the right fit feel like? I wonder.  Of course you know me well enough by now to know that I'm leading up to the answer to that question.  The right economic fit is the SHEconomy.  The SHEconomy fits well precisely because it elevates what the modern economy squashes.  It nurtures relationships as a necessity rather than an inconvenience, because women are relational.  It values small and nimble, because we have long since learned that being smaller and "weaker" can make us quicker and more agile.  The SHEconomy measures success in multiple ways, like health and well-being and community welfare, instead of just monetary gain.  And it understands that the economy often operates in the midst of life, in between dinner and soccer practice and grocery shopping, rather than within tidy boxes.  

Do you see why the SHEconomy, by counter-balancing the philosophies of the modern economy, could create a good fit for women?  It is a place where women can take leadership and ownership, because it affords us an opportunity to express what is important to us.  And it capitalizes on what we naturally excel at--on our economic strengths.  

For the rest of the week we are going to talk about what the SHEconomy looks like, and how we can nurture it regardless of our lifestyle.  Staying at home?  Great, the SHEconomy is for you.  Working 9-5?  Awesome--the SHEconomy has opportunities for you.  Stay tuned for more!