Someone asked me once, “What song gives you strength?” There you have it. “I Am Woman” it is! I just watched the movie made last year about Helen Reddy’s life, “I Am Woman.” I remember watching her on ‘The Carol Burnett Show’, ‘Sonny and Cher,’ and ‘Johnny Carson.’ Yes, I’m that old! I never realized until I watched the movie how many women were also empowered by that very same song. Helen Reddy, may you rest in peace, know your song still builds strength within me I didn’t know I had.
Seeing someone motivate and build strength in another, especially someone they have never met, is mind-boggling! It actually makes me a little envious, wishing I had the power to inspire another human to know they have more ability to survive than they ever would have thought. I would love for my poetry to be a motivational entity, but then, I’m not sure I would handle it very well. Don’t misunderstand me, I would love it. Not sure I would accept that my words could move anyone out of their situation in a upward motion. I have always thought of my poetry as personal therapy. Sadness motivates me to write in rhyme. I hope it helps others as well.
Going through what I have gone through and still be living is an empowering personal achievement. I give so much credit to my mother. She never really talked about surviving the loss of two of her eight children. She suffered in silence and shared her grief with our Lord in private. I thought that, but it was confirmed after my son died. My sister gave me a book of my mother’s about surviving the loss of a child. It was a thin book, but on the inside cover, she wrote those very words. I cried when I read them. Part for her sorrow and part because I felt her loneliness. If she only knew how much strength she provided me, she was never alone.
Surviving loss is not something I have done alone. I’ve had a lot of help. I still have triggers that open the flood gates, but I am woman, and I do roar. I am pushed from within to live, and live large. When I was pregnant, I ate for two. Now, since my son died, I breathe for two. Motivation comes in many forms. It can be songs, people, movements, and just plain words. I may not be moving mountains, but I sure hope I am moving in the right direction. If you make your voices heard, use encouraging words, actions, and cliches: this too shall pass; what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger; storms are reminders the sun will shine again, etc. We have had enough of the other kinds in this year of 2020.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. As the pandemic lives on much longer than any plant I have ever owned, please know we are all strong, and invincible, and we all roar. Be thankful for the things that inspire you. I want to give thanks to all of those in my life who have empowered me without even knowing it. To my family, we have been through a lot of loss in our time, but I know I am who I am because of all of you. I miss those we have lost, but they are never really gone. They live in our hearts forever. We may not all be woman, but we are all strong. We cry because they are gone, but we smile because they were here.
#thanksgiving2020 #iamwomanhearmeroar #wearestrong #thedashinthemiddle
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