Swing on a Star

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have been invited by Geralyn, from Where My Feet Are, Sibella, from Arts & Rhymes, Himali, from Decoding Happiness, Sagarika, from In Depth, and Christina, from The Wordy Rose to participate in a ‘3 quotes/3 days challenge. I don’t think I’ll be able to do this consecutively, but I will get all three out sooner or later 🙂 (this is post #2)

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I’m a huge fan of being counter-culture (I touched on this a bit in a past post here). I want to be who I am meant to be. Not what society says I should be. Not what others say or think I should be. Not trying to live up to the expectations of others.

I used to be really insecure and my self-esteem was sooooo low. I remember when I was a teenager trying to decide what kind of ‘style’ I wanted to ‘be’. What for? Why not just wear what looks good on you, and what you like on yourself? Why not just do what you were made to do? Why not just be who you were made to be? Why not be an original, and not a copy of someone else?

How about you? Do you try to live up to the expectations of others? Have you tried to be someone you’re not? If so, why? Are you comfortable and secure in who you are? Are you living that out?

Painting a Work of Art

I will hold you in my arms
In my mind
In my heart

I will paint with vivid colors
Through my life
A work of art

Do you think of your life as a work of art? I know I’ve touched on this before in the area of poetry, but I would like to touch on this now in the form of art in general. Yes, I believe that our lives are like poems. Some are sad. Some are intense. Some are flowery. Some are light. Some are dark. I like to think of mine as a plethora of experiences – emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual. Holistic in a sense.

Albert Einstein said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worth living.” Wow. What do you think of that? I think it’s a pretty darn powerful statement. It seems so counter-culture for our modern times, where personal peace, affluence and the quest of ‘being happy’ and collecting things for personal gain seem to be high on humanity’s priority list.

These two cuties above are my children. I wrote this little poem (if you’d like to call it that) about them. Western culture seems to demean a woman staying home with her children, and not being realized professionally, as something bad. As a waste of life. As if she’s making herself and her life less than what it could be. I don’t see it that way. I see it as a life fulfilled. A life with far less stress and rushing about. A life of more tranquility, peace and fulfillment in what I invest in.

Yes, I think Albert Einstein just may have been right. After all, he was considered an amazing genius.

What are you investing your life in? Are you painting a picture of vivid colors? How are you doing so? Do you believe that a woman is ‘throwing her life away’ by staying with her children and investing in their good? Do you think she is a woman that is unfulfilled in life?

A Woman’s Beauty

Do you think a woman has to have a successful career, be a mother and have a prominent place in society in order to be fulfilled? I don’t

I love being a woman. I used to think it was a bit of a curse. I guess the culture I grew up in contributed to that train of thought. I used to resent the Biblical view of femininity. I used to think that there was great inequality. There was a time in my life though, when I was living in India, that my whole mind-set changed. It was as if God was freeing me from wrong ways of thinking. He never wanted, nor intended for women to be inferior. He has made men as they are and women as they are. Men have certain desires and women have certain desires. We’ve been wired differently, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve embraced my womanhood; my femininity. I’m not trying to prove anything to society, nor am I trying to ‘have it all’. I’m simply accepting the calling I’ve received in life, and enjoying the life that I’ve been given, as a woman, with womanly desires. And you know what? I’ve never been happier.

How about you? If you’re a woman, do you feel like you need to prove something to the world or society by ‘having it all’? Do you enjoy being a woman? Do you feel as if women are inferior to men?

And you men. What are your thoughts on the subject? What do you consider to be a mark of beauty in a woman?