Sunday, January 29, 2012

"Imagine a Woman"

 I first encountered this writing by Patricia Lynn Reilly in my early 20's, when I clearly needed a lot of help to imagine what life could hold.

This poem has meant a lot of things to me, at different points of my life, and I predict it will continue to take on new meaning as the story of my life unfolds.

IMAGINE A WOMAN 

Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman. 
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories. 
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and her life. 
Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.


Imagine a woman who acknowledges 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 wisest voice.


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 in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.



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 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.






 © Patricia Lynn Reilly, 1995
www.imagineAwoman.com

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