by Joan Bryna Michelson

Answer: Electricity

Because both:
·    Are necessities, not luxuries.
·    Are catalysts for change, facilitators, breaking old things down to make better things.
·    Can be constructive or destructive if not managed well.
·    Help tread new territory.
·    Provide multiple – some might say even infinite — options.
·    Have pure origins in the natural universe.
·    Have uses (and abuses) that become more sophisticated with integration into the modern world.
·    Make lots of things happen, but requires the involvement of other people.
·    Light up a room or darkens it as the case may be.
·    Illuminate – brings to the forefront, reveals….
·    Are mysterious – we know how it works, sort of, but not entirely.
·    Are easy to take it for granted, until it’s gone.
·    Are “a form of energy generated by friction, induction, or chemical change and having magnetic, chemical and radiant effects. It is a property of all matter, consisting of protons and electrons which attract each other…it sets up a magnetic field of force through which it produces kinetic energy.” (Webster’s New Unabridged Dictionary, 1983, p.584).
·    Are “a state of strong emotional tension, anticipation, etc. as in ‘her entrance created electricity in the room’” (Ibid).
·    Are underused in parts of the world, to the detriment of the areas and populations.
·    Have varying “voltage,” which has an impact on how they operate in the world, what their impact is and how they are managed (sometimes women purposely take a “low voltage” role, that is, a low profile existence), and
·    Have “normal” power and “emergency” resources to turn to as needed…..sometimes a woman in business needs to tap into her emergency reserves.