Women's History Month

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March 30, 2023

Women’s History Month

Happy Women’s History Month!

I am notorious for posting an IG inspirational quote. Wooooo do they resonate. Sometimes they are words I wish I could have articulated myself and often, they are words deeply felt despite my inability to express them. The kids say: “SEEN.” And I long for my followers to have the same experience of being fully seen, so I share….a GAZILLION of them!

Safety comes from connecting with your divinity providing a pathway to return to the truest parts of yourself.

Once you really see yourself, you can see the world and everyone else what it is. ACCEPTANCE is a prerequisite for safety and yet, it is one of the most difficult things to do. I put acceptance and letting go at the top of my list for giving: “MIRACLE REQUIRED TO PULL THIS OFF.”

We have been trained to be deathly afraid of the unknown, which is where the journey of letting go often leads us. There goes that darkness again…children are given nightlights to avoid it. Adults sometimes fall asleep with the tv on to prevent being in the stillness of the darkness. That same darkness, that solitude was Harriet’s clear road to freedom on 19 separate journeys.

If we can brave the darkness, we’ll find the safety of freedom on the other side. Because deep in the abyss of the unknown is our Inner Knowing. It is beyond the veil. If we are brave enough, we will FAFO.

I grew up feeling very safe. I am in full recognition that it’s not only a point of privilege to grow up with both my loving, doting parents AND all my grandparents AND a village of aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family. My loving safety net and village was expansive. However, my experiences feeling a lack of safety physically happened very early and there are three different instances etched in my memory—all when I was 3.

1. There was a string of burglaries near my second childhood home in Mount Baker, so my parents were serious about putting the alarm on. Me and that alarm got in a fist fight one night when I called myself sneaking to get bubble gum downstairs. It went off and it startled me to the point of near death. I failed on Operation Late Night Bubble Gum.

2. My Dad’s friend, Lee Carter, was at the house when my Mom and I returned. I had not been properly briefed (I am kind of joking, but not really) and didn’t know he was there…and sadly, I have never been great at “doing new people.” I came around a corner, he spoke and scared THEEEEEE shiiiiii out of your girl. Also, I was just learning about strangers. And I already told y’all the burglaries were going down in Mount Baker! Sorry Lee Carter! You are a wonderful person…really, it’s not you—it’s me!

3. My mom and I routinely went to Frederick and Nelson’s Department store after church. One Sunday, in sheer excitement, I bolted onto the elevator leaving my mom behind. She ran to the door and slung her purse to try to keep the door open. I will never forget the terror in her eyes and the pit in my stomach from realizing I had just made a huge mistake. The store was completely shut down for over an hour while they searched for me. I never ran on another elevator again.

While these are physical safety examples, the memories create a very real, traumatic emotional experience in my body. Creating safety has meant coming to terms with what happened using my more mature mind and providing comfort (and forgiveness) to the scared inner child who is still very present within.

As we usher in Spring, let us usher in new beginnings, boundaries, and experiences that are overflowing with safety for ourselves and everyone we encounter.