~ the heART of a woman ~

~ the heART of a woman ~ (photos and article by Christine Armand aka ~ the daily heART ~ )

So, it’s International Woman’s Day today. My first thought was…hmmmm…a whole day?!?!?!? Wow. Thanks Guys! And then my mind immediately went to Helen Ready. And then I thought…Well,  I could bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan, but then you’re on your own, Buddy, because I’m probably gonna need a nap. Then, I thought…O.k…you are a woman. Your daughter is going to be a woman someday. What do you want to tell her about what it means to be a woman?

So, I went out to my garden and thought about it. And while I thought, I wrote the word w o m a n out with petals and rocks and leaves and curvy twigs. (Yeah, I’m a bit of a hippy, so sue me.) I knelt in the dewey moss, and got dirt under my fingernails and on the knee patches of my jeans. The sun was coming through the camellia tree all blushed with new blooms. I was even happy to see a honeybee workin’ it. It felt good to be so connected to Mother Earth, my main woMAN. And though initially, I thought I was perhaps channelling Andy Goldsworthy by making a piece of art out of objects found in nature, I suppose I was really channelling HER…the big Momma herself. Because that’s really what the deepest essence of the feminine embodies if you think about it…

~ N a t u r e ~ 

The full goddess moon that makes us want to howl. The ever-changing eucalyptus tree…the venerable oak with it’s old roots…the quirky fig tree…the awkward palm…the emo weeping willow…and the cypresses by a raging ocean that teach us about flexibility and grace. The myriad of blossoms that infuse our  world with such goodness…some showoffy some shy…And the unimaginable perfume of sugar magnolias in the air like daydreams…a scent that no manufactured fragrance could ever emulate in a million years. And all those amazing creatures, like the hummingbird dive-bombing the lemon tree, who may be a pretty little thing, but actually has a mighty voice and a huge heart. All the mad winds that have pollinated over time. The deep lakes, the misbehaving seas, and the rivers that speak to our souls. It’s all there in the heart of every woman. And it’s how the earth got made.

Yes, Mother Nature is the original heARTist. She infuses each one of us with an organic array of vast marvelousness. You can look to nature to see how there is an intricate complexity to every single living thing. How no two things are exactly a like…not even grains of sands.  Not even petals on the same camellia flower. Some are perfectly smoothe and colored a sweet dainty pink, while others are stained by raindrops a deep velvet amber color that’s downright sexy. But, one is not more desirable than the other, though, if this were back in grade school, the pink dainty would rather be amber and the sultry amber would kill to just be pretty in pink. (Flashback to my dull straight-haired self lusting after the wild curly locks of Shirley something or other in Kindergarten.) But, in the world of flowers…I have a feeling, it just is what it is. Things in nature seem to…unapologetically, fabulously, acceptingly, joyfully, humbly, strongly, beautifully…just BE.  And then I realized that’s what I want to tell my daughter. For her to know she is a part of this thriving, awesome world created by all the life-giving blood sweat and tears of the women who have come before her.  I wanted her to know that the emotions of the ancient goddesses who ruled the earth are  deep in her veins, and it’s okay to let that out sometimes. And most of all, I want her to appreciate her own unique, natural beauty, both on the inside and the outside…and to never want to cover up or be anything else other than who she was truly meant to be.

So,

Dearest Daughter,

My wish for you is that you unapologetically, fabulously, acceptingly, joyfully, humbly, strongly, beautifully, and naturally be who you are. And that you  love, love, love being a girl, because I sure do.

Love,

Your Momma

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This is not extreme.
It’s a girl thing.
What we would all be
if the big door inside us flew open.
Don’t tell me not to cry.
To calm it down
Not to be so extreme
To be reasonable.
I am an emotional creature.
It’s how the earth got made.
How the wind continues to pollinate.
You don’t tell the Atlantic ocean
to behave.

I am an emotional creature.
Why would you want to shut me down
or turn me off?
I am your remaining memory.
I am connecting you to your source.
Nothing’s been diluted.
Nothing’s leaked out.
I can take you back.

I love that I can feel the inside
of the feelings in you,
even if it stops my life
even if it hurts too much
or takes me off track
even if it breaks my heart.
It makes me responsible.
I am an emotional, devotional,
incandotional, creature.
And I love, hear me,
love love love
being a girl.

~ Eve Ensler