INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

International Women's Day, today. Way to go ladies! So how far have I really come? To frame it in a time capsule I'll put it in the context of my life.

I've had a little of 60 years to "experience" life as a woman. And I have to say that, whether I like it or not my gender has majorly shaped my life and continues to do so. That being said. I am also very clear that despite the parameters life hands me, I WRITE THE STORY.

I am reminded of that quote by Mahatma Gandhi, "You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind." I have always taken great care to ensure that my mind always had the opportunity to know and experience FREEDOM, even if my body did not.

I have lived with societal pressures and dictates and mores for many, many years. In that time I have managed to break free of these societal bonds at various times and really know the delight and exuberance and pure empowerment of total acceptance and expressive freedom. 

The moments of pure freedom I have known? They have been a sustaining torch, a light, that has kept me moving  during those other times when all I really wanted to do was curl up in a ball and quit. Is this just a "women's thing"? I don't believe so. The human struggle for acceptance and equality is universal.

The journey from birth to death is about figuring out what works and doing it. It's about honoring all the other journeys that you come up against along the way and celebrating each other's wins, each brilliant spot in each other's path, knowing that there will also be dark moments, and long nights that these moments of brilliance will help us each move through.

After 60 years, for myself, Love has become the common denominator. When I peel away the layers, the behaviors the mores and dictates and look at the brilliance and the FREEDOM I see only LOVE.

Wishing you Love on the most auspicious International Women's Day.

Hugs,
Betsy