Who are you?

So many of us are raised in fear. We all need and want our parents' approval and encouragement. Some of us get it in fair measure, and others get little or none. After all, many of our parents weren't raised by people who'd had terrific support--it's a long vicious cycle.

Found this great quote on successful-PR-expert Kirsten Osolind's Facebook site:

"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone
tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were
often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking
for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I,
could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my
expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born
with: that I am nobody but myself."

"The harder we fought, the more threatening the men became..."

- Ralph Ellison, "Battle Royal"

I was moved to comment:

So applicable to so many of us women--waiting for approval or permission. At SWWAN we are working on making the world a safer place for women to step out of the shadows and be themselves in spite of society's discomfort.

"A single woman represents chaos. Woman belongs only in a marriage or in a convent." ...line from a famous South American fim that I can't remember the name of right now.

How have you gone about finding yourself? How much do you rely on the approval of others? It can be tough to believe in yourself when you don't fit into an accepted pattern--don't meet people's expectations for "normal." Single women, more than many others, have to face this reality every day. Thanks, Kirsten.

The circle of life - the mother in us all

Women. Mothers. Single women as mothers. The nurturing qualities for which women are justly celebrated are not distributed in equal degrees. But regardless of what kind of mother you yourself are so far--or hope to be--you have a mother of your own. And there's no human connection like the one between mother and child. Even when fraught with pain, it is yet the most powerful bond on earth.

Tomorrow is a day to celebrate the mother in us all. Let us stand together on this day. For just a moment, close your eyes and imagine you're holding hands with every other woman on earth--imagine your neighbor, your coworker, your friend, your sister, aunt, cousin, your mom (even if she's not here). Feel in your sister's hands the warmth of her love for you, feel the energy of your friend's pains and joys passing to your fingers. Send your coworker the peace you feel in a tender moment with someone you love, feel tension and pain ebb away in the shared warmth of your hands touching.

Feel the strength you pass between you, the courage you celebrate in each other, the laughter and the tears you share with all these other women. And just for a moment, know with absolute certainty that we are all in this together.