My Darling Daughter

Darkness engrosses the air. Unnervingly quiet, not a being to be found, vacantness. Big luminous, unblinking amber eyes, the only thing visible. Content in her solitude.

The ground begins to tremble, hooves slipping amongst the dirt, the deafening sound of a heart beating a little too loudly, dirt engulfs the air, as the beast closes in on his prey.

You see, a lot of us young women can relate to the lioness. Oblivious to the world around us, unaware of the actual influence that we have. I too am guilty of such, being the prey. Most of us are. My mother though, she wasn’t one of those women. She always came up on top regardless of the situation. She having the biggest influence on who I am today.

Every aspect of my life, who I was, who I am, and who I will become, is because of mother. Throughout my 24 years, I've faced lots of trials and errors in my life. My mother there every step of the way, whether it was to encourage me or tell me I'm out of mind. Each of her daughters mere reflections of her, each representing one her qualities. My point being, she shaped me into the women that I am today. The most valuable information that was given to me from her being: I am who I am and I never need to change or alter myself to please others, I control my life, and one woman is just as strong as any man.

Shaved heads, and hairy armpits, breaking the standards of society one by one. One thing that my mom has taught me is to love myself for me. You see society has a way of influencing women to look and dress a certain way, in order to please who knows who. Obviously a shaved head represents masculinity, and your hair on your body is unacceptable. So me and my mother challenged the “norms”. We shaved our heads, breaking the standard of long hair equalling beauty, and we grew out our body hair, breaking the concept that women need to be hairless. The lesson being we don't have to conform to the set standards. From doing these simple tasks I've learned that my hair is just an accessory and that it doesn’t define if I'm beautiful or not. I also learned that if someone has a problem with the hair on my body it just means they were not educated on it’s purpose of being there to begin with. The only person that has that power to determine your beauty is you.

A dummy lays there lifeless as his puppeteers brings him to life. Obviously we don’t have strings and we aren't being controlled by a creepy man. So why do we let people influence our actions and moods? My mother taught me the power that I have to take control of my own life. She taught me that my body is truly a temple, and that I have the power to heal myself, and that I am able to speak my truth. It’s no secret that words are powerful, but so is your mindset. If you just change the way you see and react to certain situations, the outcome will reflect as such. Also your words and the things you say matter. For example if you say this is going to be a good day then essentially for the most part it will be. But if you start off your day in a grumpy mood and with a negative mindset, and you carry that attitude throughout the day then your day won’t get any better. You are responsible for how you feel and you are in control. So if you’re not pleased with your results then you have the ability to change that. Overall yes your allowed a pity party every once and awhile, but then you better get up, push whatever it is aside, and go and face the world

The most significant lesson that stuck with me is that as a woman we are powerful beings. My mom showed me how to speak my mind, to question, and to defy. She told me that as I women I will face challenges but nothing strong enough to hold me down. Anything a man can do I can do it ten times over. I personally will never be in a situation that I can’t make it out of because I know to always have a plan b,c, and sometimes even a d. But in no way are we as women insignificant because of our gender but if anything we are superior.

Overall, my mother taught me how to be a powerful woman. She gave me the tools to lead the world. And now It’s my job to use them accordingly. If you gain anything from this let it be, that you’re perfect exactly the way that you are, and you have power to do great things. Yellows eyes dazzling in the dark, as she utilizes her charm to close in on her prey.