Go forth; begin

Is it just ME, or are you, too, busy attending graduation ceremonies.

It’s a hectic year for me; 6 graduations in all; 2 college, 4 high school!

Those are the facts….here is the good news....

As objective an attendee as one can be, I feel so hopeful for our future.  I have sat among congregations and audiences who have given the gift of education to their children and supported them all along the way and sacrificed to see it through.  While I hope every child could receive this gift and embraced it, as purposed, I am not (quite) that naive.

From classes of hundreds to thousands, if but some rise to the level of their potential and continue to nurture and embrace the passion that glows in their eyes on their day of commencement, I will gratefully accept and live with those odds.  Have we a choice, after all?

Yes, we always have choices and so do these leaders, these parents of tomorrow.  Choose to give them choices.  Choose to encourage them to choose wisely.   Teach them that they must be willing to live their lives based on the choices they make.  Have no doubt; those choices will affect us all, one way, or the other.

It is easy – and understandable – to think the word commencement means the end of something, as in education, high school or college days.  Rather is means to begin, to go forth, to start.  It is to open a new chapter.

I gave you the good news; here is the great news….

Commencing should not be left to students; it should – and can -  be a regular activity for all of us; to move on, the start again, to go forth.  Isn’t THAT another great lesson to teach our children? Shouldn’t we also support each other to face each day with new choices, new options, and new opportunities?   No doubt!

In hearing the personal stories of the women of TheIWLA, it is crystal clear that many do embrace what it means to commence.  It seems, though, that too many live with the “hope” of it.  Absent of the commitment to it, that is all it will ever be.  Put some faith alongside that hope – faith in yourself that you can keep moving forward, that you can start anew each day.  If your choice is to go it alone, you have that right, but what I feel at the core of my being is that to do it with others and for others makes every day a better one.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, feel like calling a friend, a sister, someone and say, “Let’s do it together”.

Let’s commence…together

How do you spell power?

Is it just ME, or do you, too, wait, enjoy, then question the “official lists” on…well, just about anything?

FORBES has been publishing its “100 Most Powerful Women in the World” list for years.  WOW, to be on that list would mean to have done something so incredible as to change the world, to have made a difference. 

So, when this year’s list came out, I was more than curious to see who had made the top 10 for 2013. Who are these pioneers, these architects of change, these women without whom the world would have a deficit?

So, for your viewing pleasure, your enjoyment and, perhaps a bit of education, here are those “top 10” amazing women for:

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor since 2005 and upon whose shoulders the fate of the Euro rests  (politics)

 

Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil   (politics)

Melinda Gates, Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (philanthropy)

Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States  (politics)

Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary of State, United States, Personality, Philanthropy  (politics)

Sheryl Sandburg, COO of Facebook (business)

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (business)

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeand Security, the United States  (politics)

Sonia Ghandi, President, Indian National Congress, India  (politics)

  

Indra Nooyi, CEO, Pepsi Co (business)

Very interesting…of the top 10, six are in politics, three in business and 1, known for philanthropy…BTW, the average age of these 10 women is 56.3 years of age ( oldest being 66, the youngest is 48).

Thrilled to see “we” have crossed boundaries and occupy an impressive place in the old “Olde Boys Club”. In the words of Robert Frost, “…miles to go before (we) sleep, miles to go…”.

No woman ever needs to be on a list to be making an impact in the world.  I dare say each of every one of the aforementioned and those who occupy the remaining places on the “top 100”, could not have gotten to where they are without the support of other women.  Remember that and feel proud of it.

The more women come together, the more we align ourselves, the greater our collective potential to leave this world a better place for  having been here.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s what women want to do, that’s what women can do, that’s what the world needs women to do.  

That’s how I spell power!!

So, IS it just me, or have you, too,  wondered who would be on your “top 10 women” list.  Got a pen and paper??

One question: who’s on the list who decides “the list”?

May we never forget

Monday, May 27, 2013 is Memorial Day 

in the United States.

Let us take a moment to remember those who have lost their lives in the service of their country – whatever country that may be – and let us never forget what some do for all in the name of freedom.

Let us pray for peace around the world, the world we will be leaving to our children and grandchildren.

Enjoy a happy and safe weekend.

Beth’s regular Blog will be back

on Wednesday, May 29, 2013  

Don’t take the bait…

Is it just ME, or do you, too, find yourself in jaw-dropping moments for what another has dared to say?

It could be the evening news, a conversation with a neighbor, a situation at work, during which someone so freely expresses an opinion, unsolicited mind you, and what was said was to be taken as fact.

Freedom of expression, gifted as a right, is to be cherished and used, not abused with reckless abandon to the benefit of one in favor of another.  That might actually be verbal bullying, which the world already has too much of.

Yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion but you shouldn’t expect the right to declare yours without being willing to hear those of others.  Play fair!

I think this is an area that men do better in than women.  They don’t get personal; they don’t think that hard – and that is not intended to sound mean – it’s a proven fact.  Men express themselves in ways that would be totally unacceptable for women to express themselves among each other, absent of what may be considered culturally acceptable.   Of course, we must remember there is a difference between being a woman and being a lady.  They need not be mutually exclusive, but sometimes are.  Sad!

Women should command a voice; not DEMAND one.  

Here’s a good rule of thumb…stick to the point.  Don’t flood your opinion from one category to another.  If you are attempting to engage in a conversation on a particular topic, stick to that topic..  Leaping from a business discussion to “getting personal” is bad form.  What that suggests to me is that the basis of the business side of the discussion had a shaky foundation or possibly imploded.  Switching from business to personal opinions of another – on a perusal basis – is just bad form; very bad form.

Women are tempted to do this.  It hurts the target; the offending party knows this.  It is meant to derail, to draw emotion from and to pull the offended party away from what the conversation was supposed to be about in the first place.  Stooping to the same level is actually what the offending party wants and it’s the last place you should go.

Staying poised is not always easy, but it is worth it in the end.  It is actually your greatest strength coming to bear when you need it most.

Have no doubt, the one who “went there” is well aware of it and attempting to deflect a thought.  Transference is written about in every Psych book and taught in every Psych class.  It is intriguing; to say the least, don’t take the bait! And yes, it is tempting…. but don’t take the bait.  Please, don’t take the bait! 

This is self-sabotaging and what many would say has held some women back.   We are all warned to be aware of the written word; the spoken word, too, when expressed with a sharp tongue cuts deeply – and it lingers.

Never fail to remember, that saying it doesn’t make it so.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too wish women would finally get past this urge, this need, this “acting like a girl” thing and treat each other with dignity and respect?

Discretion is the greater part of valor

“The Bard”, himself

And, yes, I understand this has given me the opportunity to express an opinion, my opinion.  Please feel free to express yours, as well.  Thank you.

I fear; I fear not. I fear; I fear not......

Is it just Me, or do you, too, think of picking petals off a daisy when reading the title, above?

FEAR; even the word sounds scary.  But, what is it? I suppose it is different for as many as would hazard a guess at the answer.

Fair to say, it means different things to different people.  Perhaps based on outside influences, hearsay, something about which we know too little, opinions of others…the unknown…all reasonable.

Perhaps what is most significant about fear is how we react to it.  If fear paralyzes us, it controls us; it wins.  If fear pushes us to try something new, or to try again…to step out of a comfort zone, then, it is a challenge…it is what helps us grow.  So, what is most significant, perhaps, is how we don’t react to it.  Choice!

TheIWLA member, Michelle Bilodeau shares her personal perspective about her relationship with fear….

Fear Calls Us to Look it Straight in the Eye and Do That Which We Think We Cannot Do ~ 

by Michelle Bilodeau

Initially, I could only hear the first part of the quote, "Fear calls us". I had learned to hear its call morning, noon and night. It had become quite a companion. Fear seemed to be included in just about everything I said or did. I guess I thought it was normal. Naive, but I didn't know that then. Fear had been winding its way through my mind and my body for years. I grew accustomed to it.  I didn't like the limitations of fear, but then again, I didn't know its name at that point. I only knew I was 'cautious'. I would overrule my intuition continually.  If my 'gut' suggested I do something or go somewhere that would cause me to stretch my parameters, my head was quick to rebut and put me back into my 'place'. A sort of malignant growth that had attached itself to me - with my consent. I'd captured myself and had become powerless, as I convinced myself daily that this was no big deal!

My body, though, was saying something entirely different. Flexibility had just about gone out the window. Walking anywhere was minimal at best. I knew my body was speaking, but I really didn't want to listen.  To listen meant I would have to make different choices. To listen meant I would have to get off my butt and face...who and what I'd become. Ugh. It would be much easier, my mind would say, to just stay with the status quo. So I would - again and again.  A sort of 'self-testing' to see who would win. My confident mind or my screaming body.

My first grandchild arrived in the midst of this secret battle. I was afraid to even hold him if I wasn't sitting down, stabilized on the chair. But it wasn't until the second grandchild was born that I actually 'gave in' and began to see the shocking carnage I'd allowed in my body. The weakness. The instability. The frailness. It wasn't a pretty picture. Even so, fear kept trying to convince me to keep on keepin' on.

It really wasn't until I stopped and meditated on this lion photograph that I began.... (emphasis on 'began') to even try (another emphasis on 'try') to understand what I saw in the baby lion's posture: the word "No". Saying 'no' to the fears in my mind was like sitting in front of that Daddy Lion being quite assured I would be eaten if I didn't 'obey'. How in the world could that little guy stand up to the 'possibilities' of  saying 'no' to such an ominous opponent?

Here is where the light went on. The Daddy Lion wasn't baby's opponent. He was his teacher. I realized that in order for him to develop into the mighty lion he could be, Daddy was teaching him that with every fear, there is a doorway to freedom from it where we can retrieve our beautiful gifts abandoned behind that fear.  And that doorway opens by saying 'No'. (Nature is so honest...) There is always something more important than fear itself. A lesson I'm still learning daily. (Maybe that's still 'hourly'... ) I'd been waiting for fear to basically disappear. About as illogical as Dracula turning around and walking away from gallons of fresh blood! 

________________________________________________________

So, IS it just me, or do you, too feel that Michelle has slayed her dragon, named Fear?  I am certain of it, because she has fearlessly exposed herself in sharing her past – and it is her past. DONE.

 

I love the “lion theme”; it makes me think Lion King, whose lesson is the circle of life.  Yes, this is it!  Michelle has completed this circle and living fearlessly has to mean to be living more freely.  Good for you, Michelle.

I have been called fearless; but, I am not reckless.  I am willing to build bridges so I can cross them.  My greatest fear is to live with regret and wonder “what if”.

Dream.  Dare.  Determine.  Do.  Delight.

“…we have nothing to fear but fear itself”

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Second chances…

Is it just ME, or do you, too, sometimes put yourself right into a news story and wonder how you would deal with the situation at hand?

Every day at TheIWLA, stories are shared by women who have been forced to bear situations and conditions seemingly impossible to cope with.

Childhood abuse, marriages gone wrong, sickness among their children, life-threatening disease – all that we pray we will never have to deal with in our own lives.  Yet, too many women have had to deal with them in theirs.

Lately, there seems to be an exponential number of stories about man’s inhumanity to man – as though it were a sport.  This was not the Divine plan!
Yet again, it read another story of a woman trying to make life better for others when things went terribly wrong for her.

Here’s what happened…

While working as a humanitarian worker in war-ravaged Somalia, Jessica Buchanan knew she lived with danger. Even so, she never thought she was at risk for abduction. But on Oct. 25, 2011, that’s what happened.

She was “completely surrounded” the moment she was seized by Somali pirates, she recalled Monday on TODAY. “Yelling, screaming, hitting windshields with AK-47s. Guns in my face, and then we just take off driving through the desert into God only knows where.”

Buchanan spent the next 93 days in conditions so unsanitary they ended up threatening her health. The former grade-school teacher wrote about her experience in “Impossible Odds,” a book she co-authored with her husband, Erik Landemalm.

Buchanan thought she would die every single day she was held, she told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie.

“They were long and scary, sometimes incredibly boring,” she said about those days. “I worried that I was actually, maybe not going to necessarily lose my life, but lose my mind.”

Her abductors barely gave her any food – bread, some tuna fish, a bit of water “They never treated us humanely,” she said. “A lot of times I just felt like an animal put on display.”

Buchanan named her book “Impossible Odds” because of the outrageous ransom demanded by her captives. “It was a great title because it felt like the most impossible situation ever: $45 million. Where do you come up with something like that?” she said.

Meanwhile, Buchanan’s husband said he felt completely helpless, with very little information to go on.

“It was the worst kind of feeling that I have ever experienced,” he told Guthrie. “I just wanted to go in after her, but at the same time, I had to trust that the right people would do the right thing to get her back.”

The appropriate team did just that… SEAL Team 6, the same Special Forces group that took out Osama bin Laden. The team rescued Buchanan along with a Danish aid worker, while killing all nine of their kidnappers.

Buchanan said the rescue mission came as a total surprise. “Just complete shock and awe that these men risked their lives to come in and to save mine and give me a second chance,” she said. “They said my name, and they said, ‘We’re here to take you home.'”

But Buchanan has never had a chance to thank her rescuers since that night.

“They’re just like that,” she said. “They come in, they do their job and then they fade into the distance. Just incredible, incredible period.”

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, wonder if you could have endured those 93 days?

"Ready to lead, ready to follow, never quit."

Official motto of the U.S. Navy Seals

Beauty is in the LIES of the beholders…

Is it just ME, or did you, too, find great fascination in the varied perspective of what defines beauty, culture to culture?

I read a fascinating story of a Western women, certainly described as beautiful from that perspective who developed what is described (by her) as a “biblical plague”.  I immediately assumed leprosy; still a disease in these times.

I was fascinated by her and her story, taken with her approach to dealing with what any woman might understandably be devastated by, I admire the man she was engaged to at the time who clearly was as captivated by her inner beauty as with her physical beauty, and happy  for the two children they brought into this world who are being raised with great example.

Here are excerpts from her story… 

There is nothing like a biblical plague landing on your face to make you question the importance of physical appearance. I was 24 years old when I noticed a massive knot on my face that caused my left eye to close slightly. I was sure that something horrible had bitten me and was equally sure that some topical cream and an antibiotic would cure it. But when my normally personality-less dermatologist sat down beside me, put his hand on my arm and said, "You are so young and pretty. I am so sorry," I knew I was wrong on both counts.

At the time the plague descended, I was a trainer for a mid-sized bank, which called for me to present in front of people on a regular basis. I was also getting married soon... that special time in a girl's life when you prepare for that walk down the runway that church folks call an aisle.

Sparing the more vivid details of cystic acne, I will tell you that it is a cruel skin disease that can ravage the skin with huge, painful cysts. See? Biblical plague stuff. Fortunately, mine hit only one place on my body. Unfortunately, that place was my face.

The doctor offered a round of Accutane, but he advised me to wait until my childbearing years were over because it was new to the market and could lead to serious birth defects. I opted out for the next five years, until both kids were born and my tubes were tied.

The result was a variety of deep, dark scars on my face that caused my young daughter, years later, to look at me and say, "Mom, why do you have cwaters on your face?" She was learning about the surface of the moon in kindergarten and, innocently, saw the similarities.


During those years when it took considerable deep breathing to gather the courage to stand in front of friends who remembered the "before" picture, I learned that I was a lot more than my looks. I found that leaders listened to my ideas during training even though my face made me feel a little Quasimodo-ish.

My friends and family acclimated to the new look and soon overlooked it entirely. More importantly, my soul was still the same, my heart was still the same, and my compassion for others grew five times its normal size.

I learned that my outer body was a shell that was vulnerable, so I tied self-esteem to that potential pearl within. My acne acted as my irritant, and I began to spin a life around it.

I discovered that although we all love to look on things of beauty, there is a difference between authentic beauty and beauty based on trends and fads.

I would like to slap the photographer/marketer/promoter who created Twiggy. Her popularity led my generation of women to stay perpetually hungry -- Donna Highfill

Fad beauty comes from fear and insecurity. It begins when a noteworthy person creates a look that others decide is beautiful. The gossip line begins, and we all whisper in one another's ears that to look like [fill in the blank] is cool. It's sweet. It's what will ensure that you are accepted.

Fad beauty can be everything from Rubenesque voluptuousness to elongated necks. It can include tattooed eyelids or lotus feet. What is overlooked is that fad beauty is often created by masochists who establish control over others by making them believe that they are never enough.

I believe that fad beauty is more about blending in than standing out.

Frequent the halls of a middle school and you will see the same young lady pass you 100 times. She has the same hair, the same clothes, and the same habit of eating lettuce for lunch. Why? Because some fashion guru prefers his clothing draped on a human hanger, and has declared that thin is in. And she wants to be "in" more than anything else in the world.

As a woman who grew up in the literary arms of Pippi Longstocking, I was never really worried about blending in. My parents couldn't afford to provide the accoutrements of cool -- designer bags and Polo shirts -- and my fang bicuspids and stringy hair dashed any other hopes for coolness. I was mocked like so many during my awkward stages, and I quickly learned that the worst thing that could happen to me would be to so fear standing out that I blended in.

My skin disease in my early twenties reminded me of the fact that real beauty is something different from fad beauty. Real beauty radiates from the soul, and its light can make others forget that you have big knots all over your face.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, feel there  is no better definition of what it is to be “a beautiful person”?

Cameron Russell, you are a beautiful woman!

Walk your talk

Is it just ME, or are you, too, tired of people who say one thing, then turn around and do another?

 

If there is one thing I value to the same heights and depths as my family, it’s my word.  It’s good.  Take it to the bank.  No need to confirm.  People who know me well, know this.

From time to time, and I suppose it is unavoidable, we are forced to engage with people who say one thing, may mean another, and turn around and do something yet again different.  Very frustrating.

On a recent Sunday morning news show, I was thrilled to catch the lead-in to an upcoming story:  “Warren Buffet says women are our future”.  Bravo, Mr. Buffet!

The story went on to state he believes more women should serve on corporate boards, as  heads of Fortune 500 companies, in higher decision-making capacities – and he’s right.

So, where is the rub?

Well, his own company is reported to rank at the bottom of the Fortune 500 for actually doing these things.  Really, Mr. Buffet?

His world renowned Berkshire Hathaway is an American multinational conglomerate overseeing and managing an A-list of subsidiaries including wholly owned GEICO, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruuit of the Loom (love the talking fruit head son the commercials!) Helzberg Diamonds, and Net Jets.  In addition, they own half of Heinz and Mars along with minority holdings in American Express, The Coca Cola Company, Wells Fargo and IBM.  WOW!!

While his word is truly financial gold and his accomplishments clearly speak for themselves, I was disappointed to learn the facts after his declaration. 

Let’s give Mr. Buffet a break, shall we, and hope that this announcement is a prelude to others that will declare more women as Board Members, CEO’s, and other high-ranking positions across the board in his many companies.  I don’t know what jobs may be open at this point…perhaps whoever does his pre-interview research has created an opportunity, so keep your eyes and ears open.

So IS it just me, or do you, too, appreciate those who speak with actions, not just words?

Build your reputation the old-fashioned way;

earn it!

One day is not enough

To all the Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts, Godmothers and Guardians of children around the world, TheIWLA extends appreciation, respect, and heartfelt gratitude for all you have done

and continue to do to protect and nurture our greatest treasure; children.

Thank you

Mother’s Day in Ancient Times

Some sources claim Mother’s Day origins lie in antiquity. According to MothersDayCentral.com, the ancient Egyptians held ceremonies and celebrations each year to honor the goddess Isis. To the Egyptians, Isis represented motherhood and fertility, and was believed to be the mother of Horus, who was considered to be the mythological ruler of Egypt. Thus, Isis became the “mother of all pharaohs” and the celebration of Isis became a celebration of mothers. For many, this is the starting point of Mother’s Day history.

It is believed that the Romans had their own Mother’s Day, by holding an annual celebration for the goddess Cybele, the “Great Mother.” Cybele originated as a Phrygian goddess, worshiped by the ancient Romans as the mother of a fertile earth.

The Greek, too, celebrated a Mother’s Day of sort. Cybele’s Greek counterpart was a goddess by the name of Rhea. The ancient Greeks would hold festivities over several days, usually in the spring, to honor this “mother of all goddesses.” Games, festivals, fresh flowers and parades were all part of the early 

celebrations that could be considered part of the history of Mother’s Day.

Another quiet neighborhood

Is it just ME, or do you, too, wonder how on a quiet suburban street - it could be anywhere – women have been held against their wills for as long as 10 years? 

Last night was another sleepless night for me.  I turned the television on; it went right back to the last news channel I had been watching. 

Sometime in the wee hours, the “breaking news” came on…a young girl who had gone missing about ten years ago had been freed by the neighbor who had been living right next door all the while; he never knew she was there.  Impossible, one would think!  There were two others.

The details are still being sorted, the arrests have been made, the town is celebrating, a new hero has been found among us, and we are left wondering, why?

 

Jaycee Dugard had been held captive in the backyard of her abductor’s house for 18 years.  She had given birth.  She had been missed by the social service workers who regularly visited that house, checking up on one Phillip Garrido.  HOW?

Have we become a world of disinterested persons, living alongside one another with no clue as to what may be going on in such close proximity?

Kidnapped children in the house next door.  Bombs being made in the apartment that separates you from them by a single walls’ thinness.  Children being snatched from their mother’s arms (please read  “We Can Stop Him”)

I believe there are lessons in everything; I believe looking for the silver lining is worth it and I believe in hope.

There are 5,256,000 minutes in the span of ten years.  In each of those minutes, if there were just one small speck of hope, these three captives held onto it and survived by the very grace of it.  HOPE!

What are you hoping for; what are you waiting for?  Please don’t waste one precious minute; each is what gets you to the next. 

May none of us, any one we love, nor any one we will never even meet, ever be in a position where hope is lost forever.  To the mother of one of the captives who has gone on to the next world, I would tell her that the  hope of seeing her daughter again is what helped keep her daughter alive – for she hoped to see, too, and so , one day, hopefully, many days from this one,  you will. 

I hope.

Find your blessings

Is it just ME, or do you, too, try to find the up side of a situation and marvel at others who do it so generously?

I read a story this morning.  It told of a women recovering from 55 surgeries repairing the facial disfigurement inflicted upon her by her husband when he discovered her involvement with another man.

He beat her with a bat and doused her face with lye.  It ate through her flesh, into the muscles, the tendons, the bones.  The victim, herself a transplant nurse, must have known the journey she would be on to recovery; yet, she embarked upon it.

The sudden death of another woman made possible a full face transplant.

The daughter of the deceased donor had the opportunity to meet her mom’s beneficiary, who now looks like her mom.  In that experience, the daughter found the joy of being able to touch her mother’s face again, to feel her skin, to see her freckles.

The strength of the three woman in this story amaze me.  I imagined the donor must have expressed her willingness to donate organs, even her face, if and when, in her passing, the opportunity presented itself. 

   

The daughter had to bear the thought of what would be done to her mom’s remains in order for the transplant to be possible.

The victim/recipient had to bear the pain and suffering of the ordeal itself, the dozens of operations that followed, the emotional and psychological trauma, which may present the biggest challenge, and finding a way to move forward in her life, now blind.

I wonder as I have just written those words, if her blindness is God’s way of protecting her from what could be a lifetime of strangers’ stares because of her disfigurement, perhaps her inability to see herself.  Perhaps!

We live in cynical times.  A news broadcast cannot end without hearing of atrocities around the world or around the corner; sadly, they are everywhere.  The blessing is that strong, very strong women, like the three mentioned here, remind us of what is possible – good and bad  - and that how we deal with every moment is what gets us to the next and that the roles we are capable of playing in and for each other is often left to chance, to opportunity, to circumstance.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too wonder if you would have had the strength of any one of these women?

Count your blessings,

they are there.

The future is bright

Is it just ME, or can you recall your reaction to hearing that a child had been targeted for assassination because she verbalized her belief in the right for girls to be educated?

I recall clearly my outrage at the early morning news stating that a “little girl” was the target of an organized shooting.   A single child, attacked by a radical group of Taliban soldiers.  Outrageous!

What:  an organized assassination attempt

Where:  Pakistan, on a school bus.

When:  October, 2013

Why:  she desires to be educated

WHO:  a 14 year-old child;  her name: Malala Yousafzai

Remember that name.

It is hard for me, as a western woman, to fathom that in 2013,  voluntarily pursuing an education  not  only be an opportunity, but a right.  For me, education was an automatic process: you went from one level to the next, and on to the next and the next based on financial capability, a bit of aptitude (though there was always a school you could attend, regardless), and the value you and your family placed on education.

Was it something you had to be willing to lay down your life for?  Please, that is a ridiculous notion to even ponder.

Yet, in 2013, children, particularly girls, are placed in the line of fire simply because they desire to be educated.

Malala was a single victim that day, yet she represents generations of nations who never dared, as she did, to speak up.  Because she did, we can only hope that no other child will ever be in her position, truly an “army of one” against any organized faction, particularly the Taliban.

In the seven months since Malala survived being shot in the head and neck, she had been recovering at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in London, England., where her family set-up temporary residency to be near her at this most challenging time.

Now, Malala moves on; forever changed as the 15 year old “face behind a global movement” for the right of all to seek education.

We think of faces behind movements including the likes of Ghandi, Nelson Mandella, Genevieve Clark; we do not oft think of 14 year olds.  I suppose we can consider Malala the modern-day Joan of Arc.

Since her harrowing ordeal, and because of it, Malala has just been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.  She is the youngest nominee for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize and what she will go on to do from here can only be imagined.  Whatever it may be, I dare to say it will be worth waiting to hear of it, to be part of it, and to be inspired because of it.

What this child’s ordeal affirms for me it that what we believe it – whatever it may be – in worth fighting for.  It re-affirms my belief in the value of education.  It gives me comfort to know that the world has this child-woman in it – and there are many others – whose influence on future generations of people around the world will affect us all.   I pray that!

So, IS it just me, or do you, too,  want to continue to grow as a woman of leadership, an architect of change, that Malala will be as proud of as we are of her.  I pray that, too!

This is not good-bye!

We can stop him!

Is it just ME, or do you, too, sometimes become so incensed, so angry, so overwhelmed with sadness when watching news shows?

This blog is a bit different than most you may have read here.  It is vital, however, that this information be shared.  It has always seemed to me that the best way to get news out there is to stir the hearts of women.

A recent edition of a Sunday evening national news Show (US) featured a story of one Joseph Kony, a Ugandan, born in 1961.

I have to take a breath.  While it seems impossible that in 2013, the atrocities of one man, who declared war on his own people could still be perpetuating crimes against humanity to the degree this Joseph Kony is.  The fact that he is doing so by kidnapping now (reportedly) up to 30,000 little boys by snatching them from the arms of their parents, who, by way of indoctrination, often become the first victims of these child-warriors; children are ordered to kill their own parents so they live in fear of having no home to ever return to, no family.

So, here’s what the collective conscience of those who truly have one have decided to do: they want to make this man a rock-star in the sense of being recognized – regardless of what rock he may be trying to hide under – so he can be caught, his army can be dismantled, Ugandan women no longer have to live in fear of being kidnapped only to become sex slaves, and so  little boys can grow to become men – good men – men who are willing to fight for the right things and for all the right reasons.

Information is powerful.  Action must follow.

Please google Joseph Kony.  Read about him.  Talk about him.  This will create an unstoppable energy that will circle the globe – until he is stopped.

No parent should live in fear of having a child pulled from the safe harbor of their arms.  No child should be denied the right to have a childhood, a safe childhood. 

No one man has the power to perpetuate these acts if the world stands against him.

So, is it just ME, or do you, too, wish to join the army to bring down Joseph Kony? 

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Let’s go girls !