Every Woman

This picture was taken a couple of years ago but I believe nothing encompasses more what the future looks like than these bright, happy young faces... 

#Unstoppable #Invincible #Fearless #FacesOfTheFuture #EveryWoman

 

Just yesterday I was tying a sari for the first time on my nine year old, getting her ready for a dance program in school. To be fair I think I was more nervous than her, hoping that the artificial ‘bun’ that I had pinned at the back of her hair wouldn’t fall off in the middle of her performance; also a little bit piqued that I could not see her perform seeing that she looked so lovely!

I think of my mother and my daughter and all the wonderful women who have stood by me, stood with me, friends from school days and friends at the workplace. Each woman I know has been a source of courage and inspiration, their lives a story each unique, each underlined with grace and strength.

That I believe is the core of every woman – a sinew of steel that runs underneath all she does. It is not evident physically as in bulk or muscle but it is there in the layers of unsaid tales she has borne, in her eyes that has seen so much.

A strength that we often have had to draw upon unfortunately, perhaps more so in my country, in the voices of the women that are never heard. We are the silent masses, who are to be seen but can never let our voices rise. We are taught at an early age to look down, look away, never to lock eyes with anyone – oh that would be heresy indeed!

I look at the face of my daughter and that of her friends and I see glimpses of the same strength, not fully visible yet but very much there. I am hopeful that in the era that we live in, one fraught with so much violence that there will come a day when they do not need to use that strength.

Simply because by then, I hope, it will be a world where they are seen, as they should be, as equals. Yes we are different, yes we are frail if you will sometimes, minute in our size.

And yet we carry babies, carry sacks of stones, walk miles carrying pots of water, wake earlier than most to prepare lunches, do dishes, the laundry and the reports for the day. We walk the streets in our uniforms, fly planes, operate heavy machinery and embroider daisies, walk the dog, carpool the kids, anchor the news.

We do not ask that you treat us different or subservient or incapable just because we are women. We simply ask that you see us as He did – made in His image ~

                                “….in the image of God he created them;

                                        male and female he created them.”   Genesis 1:27

Until that day, we will nurture our daughters, love them, encourage them and instil in them a confidence that is unshakable, a belief that is unwavering and a will, resolute and firm.

In them and in us, is every woman. Each one always..

#EveryWoman

Unstoppable

Through the odds,

Despite these

The barriers grim.

Invincible

Though I be frail,

A strength, my

Reservoir within.

I am her

An endurance borne

Of grace and mercy

Unafraid, carefree.

I am my mother

My daughter

My sister, my friend

I am her,

Every woman I see.

      ~  Judith Vaddi