one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.
Hans Christian Andersen
a snippet from my journal:
It's time to begin. Begin loving my self.
I've been the larva, the caterpillar, and wrapped tight in the chrysalis;
now, it's time to spread my wings and become the butterfly.
It's time to fully, wholly love myself.
The goddess within me (the divine creative force) is ready to emerge.
It is time to love myself f r e e...........
Monarch emerging from a cyrsislis.
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly,
but rarely admit the changes it has done through to achieve that beauty.
Maya Angelou
I recently came across these words I wrote above -
of becoming the butterfly.
They were tucked away and hiding in an old journal.... until now.
And today, upon re-reading them - I am re-awakened.
Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time.
Deborah Chaskin
I am leaving behind the limited ways of life forever
and entering into the 5th dimension of peace; of peace with self.
Not just peace, but purpose, place and power --
of being authentic - of being me - of being whole.
How does one become a butterfly? she asked pensively.
You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.
Trina Paulus
Now, where is my dress?
...oh here it is!
Butterfly Dress by designer Luly Yang
and my shoes...
Alexander McQueen Butterfly Shoes
Butterflies are self propelled flowers.
R. H. Heinlein
In writing this I am reminded of a poem I read long ago....
Imagine a Woman
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 pasts influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
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.
by Patricia Lynn Reilly
© 1995
The poem that inspired the book
Imagine a Woman in Love with Herself.
by: Patricia Lynn Reilly
An Excerpt:
Our beloved planet is in desperate need of women who have moved from self-loathing to self-love, from self-criticism to self-celebration. Women who design woman-affirming solutions to the challenges confronting humankind as it enters the 21st century. Women who use their personal and communal resources to give birth to images of inclusion, poems of truth, rituals of healing, experiences of transformation, relationships of equality, and households of compassion. Women full of themselves!
For more of Patricia Lynn Reilly's inspirations, visit her site:
www.OpenWindowCreations.com
Butterfly Woman by Walter Oliver Neal
... And recently, I came upon her altered version of the above poem:
(I think I like it even more - for its simplicity.)
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 believes she is good.
A woman who trusts and respects herself.
Who listens to her needs and desires and meets them with tenderness and grace.
Imagine a woman
who has acknowledged the past's influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.
Imagine a woman
who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and to her wisest voice.
Imagine a woman
who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs her own spirituality and allows it to inform her daily life.
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 and its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.
Imagine a woman
who honors the face of the Goddess in her changing face.
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 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 yourself as this woman.
I do! I do! I do!
I imagine myself as this woman.
Do you?
You are beautiful.
