A World for Girls

 

Women empowerment is such an important aspect of my existence. It's the very heartbeat of much of my work and life. Growing up as an aspiring dancer, many of my dance classes consisted of other women. When I reflect upon the people who changed my life in regards to academia and my school years, those teachers are mostly women. The spiritual community that I'm currently engaged with is founded by women. When I went through a devastating relationship culmination in 2009, the people who helped me heal and put my heart back together were all women. My most endearing relationship, male or female, was with my grandmother, who is, of course, a woman. Women are the very blood in my veins that have, at times, saved my life. As a practitioner of Ifa, I meet many people within the tradition, and some of them happen to be daughters of Osun like myself. What I've gathered from being in the tradition for many years, is that some women understand what it means to be a daughter of Osun in nearly every aspect of their life except the role they should play in regards to other women. I've noticed this with women in general outside of my religion. It seems as if women understand feminine energy in relation to men, but they lose the plot when it comes to how they should relate to other women. You cannot be a bad bitch and be a hater at the same time. I'm afraid that's not how it works. They are two totally different energetic frequencies. One is in alignment with abundance mentality and the other, lack mentality. Being a woman walking in her Goddess hood is being a woman that celebrates, empowers, and holds safe space for her sisters. Being a Sacred woman is being the person that uplifts her fellow woman, and genuinely wants to see her doing well. True sisterhood is absent of secret animosity, gossip, jealousy, envy, competition, and mocking. A true bad bitch also knows that the reward for celebrating other women is the boost in her self esteem. She also knows that the secret to manifestation is  celebrating the achievements and accomplishments of her fellow woman. An empowered woman functions from a place of abundance because she knows that no one is her and that is her power. From this perspective, holding space for women to become as fulfilled in their lives as possible while uplifting them, becomes second nature. You cannot be a woman that claims to love herself and her place in the world, but behave in a belittling and demeaning, degrading manner towards other women. It simply isn't possible. Make a habit of finding something beautiful about other women you come across, whether you say it out loud or not. Watch how the way you feel about yourself in the world radically change when you make it a habit to be a source of support for the other women in your life. Loving other women assist with helping to love yourself. Adopt that mindset and don't look back.