Words of Wisdom

Imagine a Woman 

Patricia Lynn Reilly

  Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is woman.

A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.

Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

  

Imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past’s influence on the present.

A woman who has walked through her past.

Imagine a woman who has healed into the present.

  

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.

A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.

Who celebrates her body’s rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

  

Imagine a woman who embraces her sexuality as her own.

A woman who delights in pleasuring herself.

Who experiences her erotic sensations without shame or guilt.

  

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.

A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.

Who refuses to use her precious life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

  

Imagine a woman who has access to the full range of human emotion.

A woman who expresses her feelings clearly and directly.

Who allows them to pass through her as gracefully as the breath.

  

Imagine a woman who tells the truth.

A woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it.

Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions, and responses of others.

  

Imagine a woman who follows her creative impulses.

A woman who produces original creations.

Who refuses to color inside someone else’s lines.

  

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.

A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.

Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

  

Imagine a woman who refuses to surrender to gods, gurus, and higher powers.

A woman who has descended into her own inner life.

Who asserts her will in harmony with its impulses and instincts.

  

Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life.

A woman who embraces her life as teacher, healer, and challenge.

Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace.

  

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.

A woman who trusts her inner sense of what is right for her.

Who refuses to twist her life out of shape to meet the expectations of others.

  

Imagine a woman who participates in her own life.

A woman who meets each challenge with creativity.

Who takes action on her own behalf with clarity and strength.

  

Imagine a woman who has crafted a fully formed solitude.

A woman who is available to herself.

Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to respect her solitude.

  

Imagine a woman who refuses to diminish her life so others will feel better.

A woman who brings the fullness of her years, experience, and wisdom into each relationship.

Who expects others to be blessed and challenged by her presence in their lives.

  

Imagine a woman who assumes equality in her relationships.

A woman who no longer believes she is inferior to men and in need of their salvation.

Who has taken her rightful place in the human community.

  

Imagine a woman who refuses to use her precious life-energy managing crisis and conflict.

A woman whose relationships deepen in satisfaction and contentment without depleting her.

Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to navigate the challenges of life.

  

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.

A woman who sits in circles of women.

Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

  

Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safety and approval.

A woman who makes a powerful statement with every word she speaks, every action she takes.

Who asserts to herself the right to reorder the world.

  

Imagine a woman who has grown in knowledge and love of herself.

A woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life and capacities.

Who remains loyal to herself. Regardless.

  

Imagine yourself as this woman.