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June 13, 2016

Brave is the Woman who Sheds her Disguise.

Mallory Johndrow/Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/KAsjiTRuihk

For so long, the primitive being of womanhood has been tied down and suppressed with chains of this rigid belief system.

They tried to tame our fire and brand our souls with the factory-stamped definition of what is beautiful, and what is not.

From the moment we first entered this world we have been fed lies that our beauty is only skin deep. Like a beast in a cage, we were poked and prodded with spears of judgement and condemning. We became convinced that with each wrinkle or grey hair that appears on the surface of our skin, the expiration date on our beauty grows closer.

Wild is the woman who dares to dream of a world connected with union and embrace. Where beauty isn’t defined by the size of a woman’s waist, or the designer labels she dons herself with, but rather the purity that radiates from her heart.

Beautiful is the women who knows her worth and understands that she is a force to be reckoned with, who will fiercely stand by herself in all of her brilliant glory.

Brave are the women who break out of the cage of conformity, who know their identity is more than strings for a puppeteer to pull.

So let us step away from the programming of this society, that has always told us our dreams are too big.

With courage, let us take off the masks we have sculpted to fit someone else’s definition of perfection and stand strong in our vulnerability—

Unravelling and rewriting the scars on our souls which brought us shame and pain;

Letting these scars, scratches, and bruises become our war paint—our print.

Like a leopard whose spots mark its power and beauty, we declare a certain authority that comes from being touched by the center of our own sorrow.

We return back to that raw, authentic self that has been hid beneath the surface of our skin, trapped within the imprisonment of expectation and obligation.

We raise our voice in recognition: “We are enough!” This truth lights the torch for us to return back to the infinite part of ourselves that has always been free.

Embracing the animal within; wearing our fur, our print, and our truth proudly as we dance to the beat of our own drum.

Manes shaking, claws sharpened, animals unleashed.

Confident in all of our flawed beauty, radiating the truth that flows through our veins and bleeds from our hearts: we are worthy.

I meet the eyes of my sisters, staring into the depths of their beauty.

I see the reflection of my own joy and sorrow.

In an instant I know that I’m not alone on this journey.

We have all walked in the belittling shadow of perfection, we have all tried to tame our wildness, and contain our free spirits. But the chains cannot hold our souls any longer.

I honor the wildness within.

We are animals returning back to core instincts.

Women as wild as wolves, shedding our disguise and leaving behind the identity that once caged us.

Running to our hopes and dreams, and sharing the story of the sacred wild woman.

 

Author: Amanda Garvin

Image: Mallory Johndrow/Unsplash

Editors: Emily Bartran; Sara Kärpänen

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