Voice and Vision

One Woman's WORDS AND WORKS •grapple •inspire •liberate

92: Emma and Olivia and a New Year

I am thinking about my granddaughters. Yes, I think about my grandson, too. But specifically today I’m thinking about the girls:  what it means to be a girl, then a woman, in what still presumes to be a male-dominated society. How the challenges of being female would like to discourage or depress at times! How the fulfillment of a rich rewarding life can seem too far a reach.

Girls, it doesn’t have to be that way! Within you is the strength and love to bloom. On your own. You don’t need anyone to hand you what you want or do something for you. Your ability, confidence, courage, and balance come from within. Your own thinking directs your life. Your own tenacity. Your own focus on all that is good, true, beautiful, just, and right is your perfect guide.

Talk to yourself. Get to know and like who you are. Find time to walk alone and ponder. Time to write in a journal. Or read a bit of inspired wisdom. Or ride a horse in an open field. Or play your own creation on the violin. Time to refuel, question, think, develop ideas that matter to you. A time set aside to explore who you are. Maybe it’s only 5 or 10 minutes a day, or longer monthly–not because you have to, or are supposed to, but because you honor yourself and are ready to listen to the voice within.

Flowers need rain and sun to grow. Your true nourishing comes from within. In quiet, uninterrupted time alone with yourself get to know yourself. Nothing can defeat you, or stunt your growth, if you listen to yourself and hold onto the good inside you. This gives you unlimited strength for every challenge. And believe me, challenges will come along, as you may already have learned. But remember, you have the power and peace inside you to maintain your joy, freedom, and success. So love yourself. Not in a selfish way, but in a caring way, a giving way that radiates out, for loving yourself enables you to love and give to others. You cannot be separated from Love. Love made you. Love is your source. Love is your reason for being. Your gift to yourself and to others.

As we start another year, I continue to give you–my two precious, talented, vibrant granddaughters–my love,

Grandma

Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round, collage/mixed media, framed, 11" x 13", $115 by Gwendolyn Evans

Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round, collage/mixed media, framed, 11″ x 13″, $115 by Gwendolyn Evans

Artwork:  Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round, collage/mixed media, framed, 11″ x 13″, $115. I found a charming paper doll my daughter made decades ago when she was about 3 and it “called me” to become part of a simple, delightful collage using my pastels, cut papers, pencils, etc.

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