Women grow out of girls, and that this great journey has taken thousands of years. Grandmothers know that girls are sprites, bringing light playfulness to the serious side of our world, and they are emotional antennas, telling what they know, as boys learn to get quiet with their feelings.
Girls grow to womanhood by learning, they pulse with the cycles of life. They learn to flow gracefully into the stream of their world, even as they learn to make and guide their own rudder.
Women wrap their arms around life, around their loved ones, around their homes. They bring life into the world and know that they have Motherly spirit within, will do whatever it takes to protect their young. Over time they learn that their Motherly spirit does not mean self-conscious alarm over every step, but is a rambling journey of exploration, fully grounded, finding and giving nourishment, teaching their young how to grow strong and self-sufficient. Women nuzzle. Women roar.
Women swaddle babies and guide children, even if they have none of their own.
Women know loss. Women cradle death as well as life.
A woman knows that reaching out to sky, or into the world, is a skill they must develop and carry always. There are times women are protected, as children, and times women learn to make their own path, walking long roads to find their ancient sisters, those who birthed babies alone in fields, and who gathered wood alone in the winter to warm themselves, their families.
Once they have struck out on their path, they find that while there are terrifying nights when fierce wind blows away all of their courage, there are also mornings of dew and warming sun to bring them back to life. Sometimes a woman waits in the dark for small twinkling stars, bits of wisdom within her, tiny light when she needs it the most. Some call this intuition. Learning to follow those stars, to hold them in her mind day and night, takes discipline and devotion. It is lonely work.
No matter her size, a woman must know that her body is her temple, and that only when she learns to guard her own gates does she begin to know real safety. Women love their smile lines and their stretch marks, lines of service, stripes of valor. A woman shuns notions of external beauty and creates her own from deep within. This beauty is easily recognized in any face. A Woman dresses well and with attention; first with love and respect for herself, then for the enjoyment of others.
Women build their own fortresses, and know who to take in and who to turn away. Men and women of lesser value will come knocking, and discernment is one of her most important tools.
Author of the source article: Vicki @ Dahlimama blog