When you're striving toward a goal, making progress, and pushing ahead, your male side comes out. However, when you go with the flow of life, accept your creative spirit, dance, laugh, and pay attention to your internal process, you express your feminine side.

Importantly, none of these characteristics are linked to gender. The features we've come to identify as "feminine" result from the expectations we've placed on women throughout history to act in a particular manner. Similarly, the characteristics linked with being "male" are characteristics we used to identify with males. Today, we know that individuals of both genders may have any mix of these characteristics. Therefore, none of these characteristics are inherent in either gender or should be anticipated of either. Nonetheless, the terms "feminine" and "masculine" are still helpful in defining two opposed ways of being for more here to see new content.

Individuals of all genders must embody both feminine and masculine energy to feel whole. For example, men are sometimes pushed to identify more with male power, yet being able to let go and be flexible brings a lot of pleasure. (In fact, raising males sans gender norms is more essential than ever!) Similarly, many women are still socialized with the notion of being feminine, yet being straightforward, assertive, and progressive has many advantages. Having outlets for both our male and feminine energy is gratifying for all of us.

Why are so many of us unaware of our feminine energy traits?

Masculine energy, frequently associated with the development and forward movement, is "appreciated" more in our society than feminine energy. However, individually and culturally, this produces a sense of being off-kilter. When we place too much emphasis on masculinity, we spend most of our time working and very little time relaxing, vacationing, or interacting with people on a spontaneous basis. Overvaluing masculinity also causes us to become reliant on artificial objects such as cellphones and computers, causing us to spend less time in nature and expressing our creative selves.

Many of us want something different—something revitalizing, something wild, something resourceful, something spontaneous—because we are too masculine and under-feminine. It's all about the female!