Life seems to have it’s power moments and turning 40 is definitely among them. Moving through my forties has been an increasingly potent experience making me wonder if life doesn’t actually become richer and fuller and more dynamic as each year passes. I am approaching 47, it is just a matter of days, sweeeet.
I refer to the emergence of the Goddess. She is within each of us. For me there were years of unconscious living that occupied the first several decades of my life. A slight dawning began at 30 but it took time to awaken, time to nurture my promise; To cultivate the practice of higher thinking, to calibrate my internal compass on issues of integrity and personal values, to find my true joy. In my forties, I began to heed the call of the life I have the potential to create.
At this point in time, one of my personal heroes is Marianne Williamson, spiritual teacher, mystic, writer, philosopher, she inspires me. In her book, A Woman’s Worth, she talks of the princess and the queen.
“What is a princess, and what is a queen? A princess is a girl who knows that she will get there, who is on her way perhaps but is not yet there. She has power but she does not yet wield it responsibly. She is indulgent and frivolous. She cries but not yet noble tears. She stomps her feet and does not know how to contain her pain or use it creatively.
A queen is wise. She has earned her serenity, not having had it bestowed upon her but having passed her tests. She has suffered and grown more beautiful because of it. She has proved she can hold her kingdom together. She has become it’s vision. She cares deeply about something bigger than herself. She rules with authentic power. Our kingdom is our life, our life is our kingdom.”
I am admittedly a work in progress. This very fact gives me joy in the moment for where I have come from and for where I may yet go. In my forties I feel empowered as a woman, as a goddess. I am finally learning to Love. I am learning patience and the source of my true passions. I am learning to listen. I can hear the call from deep within me reminding me of the glory within each of us. I am reminded to stand tall, to embrace each moment of my life, to respect the hopes and dreams, needs and desires of those I share the world with, to live consciously in service of self and other. I still miss the mark at times but I am awake to what is possible in a world where the Goddess within is allowed to flourish.
I will nurture her into the ripeness of her age. I will contribute to the world a legacy born of Love, something I never knew was possible before reaching my forties.