It is inspiring to watch so many women courageously stand up and speak out about sexual abuse. I know the courage it takes. And I am fired up to help women in any way I can to stand solidly in their power.
I envision more and more women able to speak their truth and stand strong for what they believe is right.
I know that if women were more empowered, this world would look quite different.
Hiding my truth, going silent
These were my bottom line remedies against being seen, judged or controlled.
- Have you even known that feeling of muzzling yourself for safety?
- Does it still feel safer to hide then to be seen?
- Is it better to go quiet than to reveal yourself?
- Can you pinpoint where or when you first started to stay silent out of fear of the potential consequences?
I have spent much of my adult life studying people—myself and others. Most of my personal work has been to empower myself, especially to empower myself as a woman. Now, in my sixties, I know the difference between putting power outside myself and owning it. I know how to listen to my own knowing and to speak my truth. And while today, I rarely scramble with those uncomfortable old habits of hiding, I know them well.
I learned a great deal about the power of speaking out working with and watching the women of the Mapusha Weaving Cooperative in rural South Africa. For 16 years, as I worked to help them with their business, they taught me.
They taught me about the risks and rewards of speaking up. I got my voice back fighting for them.
The time for safety in silence is past
- Do you see the ways in which you go silent to protect yourself?
- Do you see how that habit diminishes your power?
- Don’t you want to change that disempowering habit?
- Where is it that you do not honor your truth with a voice?
- Where would it make a difference if you spoke up?
Join me and share your story in the comments below or email me. Together let’s each challenge our own barriers of silence.
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