The Kind Of Woman I Want To Become:

I think I have become Her.
Maybe not the outer ME
I thought I wanted to be.
The career. The fame.
The fortune. The body.

The inner ME,
much more precious and everlasting,
I do claim.

A calm I never imagined.
A certainty that began as bravado
and matured into knowing.                                                                                                                  
A searching that led to
discovering and uncovering
what was already there.
A kindness, started in Sunday School,
which became a daily event.
An intellect gifted at birth
and nurtured by teachers.

The Woman I have become is not singular.
There is little strength in the One.
The Woman I have become,
Maid, Mother and now Crone,
feels and has been fed
by the connection to the Many.
The strength and wisdom of the ones who came before
and the limitless possibilities of the ones who will follow.

That is a Career to be proud of.
That is Fame that will live on and on.
That is Fortune beyond measure.
That is a Body that stretches across the sky,
like the Egyptian mother goddess Nut,
and touches all of creation with a good night kiss.

Today we celebrate Women’s Equality Day.  To commemorate the day in 1920 when women in America were first guaranteed the Right to Vote. In 1973 President Nixon issued the proclamation stating, “The struggle for women’s suffrage, however, was only the first step toward full and equal participation of women in our Nation’s life.  In recent  years, we have made other giant strides by attacking sex discrimination through our laws and by paving new avenues to equal economic opportunity for women.  Today, in virtually every sector of our society, women are making important contributions to the quality of American life. And yet, much still remains to be done.”

Wise Women, our work is both internal and external.  Who we become is created and crafted by both our inner thoughts and our outer actions.   Mahatma Gandhi challenges us to, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

If you believe much still remains to be done,
in the World and within Yourself,
Become That Strong Woman.
Stand up to Intolerance.
Kneel against Injustice.
Use your Voice.
Vote!

Note:  The above beautiful sculpture, “Psyche Emerging,” by Rachel Santel is featured at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, operated by the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and located in Faust Park in Chesterfield, Missouri.