I’m in awe of our resilience and the unique ways we blossom after dredging through mud and overcoming hardships. Yay us!
I’ve been so inspired by those who have participated in our support group for women. These lovely ladies remind me how powerful we are together, how much crap we can survive and grow from, and how empowered our boundless spirits actually are. Sharing relatable stories only increases my intention to acknowledge and appreciate my fiery nature while encouraging others to do the same.
I was born into a family of strong, independent, nurturing women. I grew up with my mom and sister. I spent time camping with my grandma, aunts, and cousins, whom I always admired. Rewind a few decades from childhood, my beloved grandma tragically gave birth to a stillborn but somehow she decided to try again. I wouldn’t be here unless she did, as her future daughter is my mother. My sister’s baby spent the first week of her life in the intensive care unit of a cold hospital. Ten years later, she’s the sweetest little dear I’ve known. My other grandma buried three of her four sons but at ninety-five, she still gets up in the morning ready for social celebrations.
These stories remind me I can overcome anything, even when shit is rough. I’ve been to a dozen funerals, certain I wouldn’t recover from some, and occasionally crushed by the opposite sex. There were times I thought I might even die; like when I was bedridden in Thailand for weeks suffering from dengue fever, or when a small boat carried me through enormous waves one night to reach the shore of a tiny Asian island, or when I crashed my moped in a head-on collision, or even from a broken heart. But I didn’t. When I distance myself from past challenges, I tap myself on the back for somehow making it through.
This resilience applies to the human race and our incredible capabilities to withstand hardship. But when I think of the divine feminine, I envision not only celestial nymphs dancing through space, or dark, fiery goddesses of transformation, or compassionate entities of healing; I see my grandmas, my mom, sisters, and friends, Mother Nature, even the ocean and moon. I think of how inspiring the feminine has been in my own life, the loss and hurt we’ve endured, the mountains we’ve conquered. I find awe and courage in myself, which I’ve doubted on countless occasions.
Are we tuning into our highest calling as women, expressing with transparency, and celebrating every unique aspect of ourselves and one another with total acceptance? Are our actions, ideas, and dreams truly ours, or placed on us by patriarchal conditioning? Feminine empowerment requires stepping into our primal selves unapologetically and dissecting a bit about who we are, what’s truly important, how we take life by the balls and swing with carefree abandon beyond barriers.
I invite you to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and remind yourself that there is ALWAYS a special, sensitive, courageous spirit inside to help pull you from any molasses-like muck. Some say this ambitious ally resides in the brain, but I feel it deep within my chest as if my heart is my own motivational speaker, the voice of wisdom that, no matter what, cannot be drowned by any amount of external stressors, deplorable distractions, or tragic interruptions. This is the one who chimes in when my ego insists I’m lost, alone, broken, or doing it wrong.
Our personal space should be reserved for those who ignite our fire, support our outbursts, hold us when we’re sad, cheer us on when we’re kicking ass, and see us beyond any superficial masks of identities that please the masses. But most of all, our biggest, brightest advocate comes from within.
The good news is, this empowerment is already part of us! Although it can be beneficial to call on others to help pressure wash layers of mud over our shining lights, we can connect with this inner voice when we recognize, appreciate, and even celebrate our raw humanness, as wretched as it can feel. Some of my favorite ways to bring forth this Phoenix rising is to chant mantras, practice yoga, or turn on my favorite music, prance all over the place, shake, stomp on the ground, scream really loud; anything which encourages energy to flow so I can better hear that voice.
According to Tantra, a mighty, mystical, dynamic spirit permeates us and everything in the manifest world. Shakti! The feminine IS nature, deep and mysterious like the darkest, undiscovered cave, nurturing like warm water of a natural hot spring, tender like the inner petals of a lily, steamy hot like lava, wispy like a salty sea breeze, solid as the widest diamond. This is already who we are. It’s my intention to remember this and remind others.
With sincere gratitude to all women, it is an honor to share unfiltered stories, vulnerabilities, challenges and joys, confusion and bliss; to realize how similar we are, and how much more liberated we become when aligned with our feminine spirits. The ego can be an incessant little lying bitch, but our inner goddesses always guide us through the mud.
