"The search into the unconscious involves confronting the shadow, man’s hidden nature; the anima/animus, a hidden opposite gender in each individual; and beyond, the archetype of meaning.” – from Abstracts of the Collected Works of C.G. Jung

What’s your gender? What vibrations do you engender? What mascu-feminine or femi-masculine costumes might you be rocking these days? (Why) Does this really even matter?

In the strains of Ani DiFranco’s warbles of love, loss, creation, you feel it. RuPaul and the Queens at Lips’ Sunday Gospel Brunch, shake, shimmy, and channel our inner yin/yang. In one breath, Shepard Fairey tattoos our world with the word OBEY and adds a touch of soft, sweet HOPE.

Your creative mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to channel your inner Anima or Animus, and let her/him fly high and free. What’s the point of this exercise? Just that...an excursion. You may want to exercise or exorcise that deep, sweet, inner you that dresses “too boyish” or “too girlish” for the rest of the world. This is a love letter you can fashion for yourself with your own hands to restore a sense of balance, and heighten your sense of awareness of yourself, and your place in the world.

If you’re not familiar with the anima/animus theme, it’s based on Carl Jung’s imaginative psychology, which defines the anima as the feminine inner personality in the unconscious of the male, and the animus is the a masculine inner personality in the unconscious of the female. Carl Jung spoke of the inner truth and longing we embody but don’t often express, as natural artists, whatever your preferred medium.

Be courageously creative, alone or with trusted loved ones. Experiment in the medium of your choice, whether you work with your head, hands, heart, or any combination. Below you’ll find some delicious suggestions for boldly growing where no woman has grown before.

Practical: Plant a garden “in drag.” If you’re a butch type, then add some frilly, girly plants. If you’re femming it up on a daily basis, make it all about weeding and seeding (no room for a garden? Create a garden box. Do you have a purple thumb? Get help at www.yougrowgirl.com).

Whimsical: If you’re shy, you can make up an interpretive dance to your favorite “opposite-gender” song in the solitude of your own space. I like to move about to Ani, because she’s right in-between any assumptive gender spaces.

Magical: Create a collage about the wo/man within. By yourself, or jointly with your friend, your Honey, or a trusted family member. Why “trusted?” Enlightened witnesses will always have your back. If you don’t feel safe inside, you’re less likely to create, or to create with a whole heart.

Just For The Heaven Of It: Doodle. (On arms, notebooks, poster board, the nape of your neck....) Let the doodle sit for a day, or week. Does it speak to you? Is the voice gruff or fluffy?

Colorfully: You may paint, take photographs (with your cell phone? With a top-notch camera?), anything visual and colorful. If you think that’s too frou-frou, then go chiaroscuro: be all obscure and dark about it.

What about me? “My gender is runway.” This has been my mantra all week. My Honey and I visited Club Lips’ Gospel Sunday last week and saw the Queens in all their finest regalia. I realized that I don’t femme it up enough--so being extra femme, for me, is a kind of “drag show.”

Adding just a smidgen more swish to my days made manifest yet another fun reminder of how a creative thought, a flash of inspiration, could lead me back to balance, wholeness, and a subtle, safe disregard of all the world’s gender-boxes. I truly believe that art frees the soul. Feel free to put that thought to the test. I eagerly await your results.

Jianda is a multi-genre artist, artist coach, health foods cheerleader and Holistic Practitioner (please visit Jianda.net or myspace.com/jianda for more info). You can find her contact information at www.jianda.net.