STORIES OF WOMEN

“Women do have a quest at this time of our culture…to fully embrace their feminine nature, learning how to value themselves as women and to heal the deep wound of the feminine.”                        ~Maureen Murdock

As women, we each carry vibrant personal stories shaped by our unique personalities, experiences, influences, and perceptions. They play a powerful role in our formation. Alongside our individual narratives, there are collective stories of women that have evolved through generations, some uplifting us and others holding us back, dishonoring us, and keeping us attached to pain and suffering. Yet, we are so much more than our past.

As young children, many of us acquired our surrounding family and cultural beliefs.  We were expected to be "good girls," where good meant behaving, adapting, and living up to a certain standard. We learned that it was not safe to be seen and heard and be our true selves and it was safer to play small, devalue ourselves, and not stand out.  Emotions were perceived as weakness and dangerous so we chose safety over losing the love of those around us. Many times, our worth was based on physical appearance, achievement, and pleasing or serving others. We have all experienced the ways women have been put in these defining and limiting boxes. We have felt either not enough or too much.

Yet, we are so much more than the expectations and beliefs of others.

Societal messages ingrained in us the belief that being self-less (less of a self) was best and self-ish (belonging to self) was risky so we learned self-sacrifice (giving up of the self) as a way to gain the love and acceptance we desired. In the old paradigm, being the-me-in-the-we meant diminishing personal needs, giving more than receiving and disregarding the truth and whole of me to fit into the we. It is what we knew to be true. It was what our mothers and grandmothers knew to be true. Yet, we know better now and are so much more than our false safety and old stories.

There is also a story of women that highlights our intuition, compassion, strength, resilience, collaboration, unity, courage, and wisdom that we have always known on some level was central within us. It's the story that goes beyond what we have been told and beyond our individual story and comes from our souls. It's about our self-acceptance (being okay with all parts of us), self-confidence (knowing our worth and the power of our light) and self-love (embodying the Love within), which leads to a deeper level of self-leadership (guiding our lives from our highest wisdom). We are the wisdom of our souls. 

It is a perspective that connects and balances all of humanity. It's been exhibited in the lives of women throughout history and we have witnessed it in women in our own lifetimes, but its exposure has been limited. It is a story that validates that how we feel about ourselves and emit that to the world matters, that we know our power and value, we are more than enough, and we are stronger together. In the new paradigm, being the-me-in-the-we now means embracing and integrating all parts of the authentic me and my essential connection, belonging, and interconnectedness to the we. It is a story that is ready to take a greater lead and transform the old story that no longer serves us or humankind. We are ready to embrace the new.

The global heart is awakening and women are at the forefront of this change. We have the ability and wisdom to model how to tell our stories from more than just what has happened to us, what experiences we have lived, or the stories within our minds and egos, but also from our internal responses and knowing the wisdom of our souls that have formed us. We then don't feel the pull to go back or stay in the binds of the past but transcend the stories that limit and depreciate us and bring forth the stories that align with our truth. We have the responsibility and power to heal, respond in a new way, shift our energy, and claim our space in the world, telling our stories from a place of Integrity and Love. We are willing to form a unified collective.

We are part of something much larger than ourselves. Which will we choose and feed moment by moment, day by day? The old or the new? What will be our personal and collective stories that will set us free, foster generational healing, and be our legacy as bridges to a new paradigm and way of being for women and all? How can we support and inspire one another in our choosing and becoming?

All part of the unfolding of the divine design of our lives.