I Am Woman – 2

I Am Woman Part 1 || Part 2 by Hannah Imogen Jones

Continued from Part 1

Some months later I received a telephone call from a friend of mine. She was sobbing her heart out, crying so much she could hardly speak and said that she was coming over to my house because she needed to talk. What seemed like seconds later, I heard an almighty crash from outside the house. I ran to the door and my friend had arrived. In her state of upset she had attempted to manoeuvre her car into our driveway, but hadn’t gotten the angle right and had plunged straight into the wall. Incapable of thinking clearly or reversing and re-manoeuvring at the time, she kept on going and managed to destroy our garden wall, and the entire left side of her car with one fell swoop. I ushered her into the house and took her upstairs to talk. Through her sobs she managed to tell me that she had just been raped by her Auntie’s husband – her Uncle-In-Law. I had met this man at her house the previous Christmas. He was a well respected professional and man of the community. He had seemed absolutely lovely, and we took photographs with his arms around his favourite ‘niece’ and her friends.

I won’t continue to tell stories. For the next decade and a bit, I entered into the workplace and my stories from that arena could fill a book.

I won’t even go into detailed feminist theory, which I studied as my major subject during the final year of my literature degree.

I won’t go into examples from history, about things that are happening today around the world at large, or about situations that women the world over have faced and still face on a daily basis.

I’ll give you an extract from a telephone conversation I had with my best friend about a week ago: “So, do you think that one of the main challenges presented to men in their lifetimes, is to learn how to deal with the testosterone that they are given? To learn how to deal with their superior physical strength and societal power; to choose to decide whether to use these advantages for the work of good, or otherwise, oppression? To choose whether to assert their strength through violence, or to reject the temptation to do so? To give them the opportunity to learn through their experiences and the experiences of their peers?”

I’ll finish this piece of writing, by conveying to you where I am now as a feminist. Perhaps, with where I am now as a human being. Here are my final thoughts and feelings on the matter:

 

I am Hannah Imogen Jones. I am Woman. I Am.

I am the everlasting wind that blows through the eternal trees. I am the trees themselves, as I proudly, humbly stand to shelter those beneath my canopy of wisdom, protection and gentle power. I am the ancient Goddess of Love, of Light and Maternal Strength. I am a universal symbol of suffering, endurance and resurrection. I am Birth. I am Life. I am Creation. I am Creator. I am knowledge. I am intuition. I am perfection. I am Love.

I am a child, a girl, who dances over the waves with the sunlight on her hair and the wind tickling her back. I laugh with delight as I contemplate the joy of my very existence, and the wonders that the universe has in store.

I am a Daughter. I am the magical gift of hope and joy, who came into this world to make you smile, my parents. To learn from you and to be your teacher. To love you unconditionally, and to understand you and appreciate you as you are. I thank you for the gift of this life that we share!

I am a Friend, bursting with compassion and love and fun and empathy. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen to you; one who feels and understands what you, my friends and my others are feeling. One who exists to be there for my friends, whether or not you know as yet, or acknowledge that you are my friend. I am a friend, and I am light. I am laughter. I am humanity.

I am a Sister to my brothers, my sisters and humanity. As a sister I stand in solidarity with my family on this earth. I exist in observation, in waiting and training to continue the sacred path of my elders.

I am an Aunt, elected in this lifetime to nurture my adopted children and all those young sweet souls who need my additional hand of love, care and support. I am an elder, a Grandmother and a Great-Grandmother, here to impart my wisdom to my brood and filter those loving traditions down through the ranks of my family. I am a legacy. I am the wisdom that imparts it. I am your protector.

I am a Wife. I am a Partner. I am an equal human being in Love. I exist to love you, my husband, with every ounce and molecule of my being. To be your companion, your protector and your shelter, your mirror, your nurturer and your challenger. Your comfort, your other half, your lover, best friend and your soul mate. I exist to look after you, and to be looked after by you. I exist with you to share our equal love, and to make our way forwards each day in harmony, in respect and in learning together.

I am a Mother. I AM Mother. I AM. I nurture, I give energy, I provide food and warmth and shelter. I gave birth to every human life that ever existed on this planet, and all that ever will. I am the light of the sun and the magic of the moon and the stars. I am the sea as it roars over rocks and into pools, then glistens with silver reflective calm. I am the wind as I fly over plains and whirl the desert sand into a dancing frenzy, before I breeze past the ear of a butterfly and whisper my song of inspiration.

I am artist, art and muse. I am the Spirit of the Universe. I am the living embodiment of Mother Nature. I am the World. I Am.

I am a Human Spirit, who feels, cares, sees, hears, touches, tastes and experiences life in all its glory.

I am the walking embodiment of freedom. I am the sound of music. I am a flower bud, emerged from the soil to grace this earthly world with my perfumes and petals and scents and colours and patterns and delightful uniqueness. I am a dragon, who guards tight and close my lair of wonder and magic and breathes almighty fires of love, to protect the treasures within.

I am a warrior who treads the boards of life, fighting the good fight with the strength of a million soldiers. A warrior of grace and of peace and of love. A warrior who roars her whispers of love, to deafen to silence those who would hate. I am a fighter, who can make disappear, with just one look of love, any obstacle or foe that would stand in the way of my light.

I am suffering. I am sacrifice. I am the challenge I give to myself through living – to every day joyfully and thankfully strive to overcome the hurdles life grants me. I am an example to my fellow sisters and brothers. I am a teacher. I am the textbook. I am the paper on which it is written. I am the ink in the pen, the hand that moves it and the feather that guides it along. I am the eternal student.

I am a gift, given to this world, that I may make it better and more wonderful through my existence. I am a gift, given to my oppressors, in order that they may have the opportunity to learn how to be towards me, towards their sisters and brothers, and towards their own aching souls.

I am a mirror for humanity. I am a healer. I am a visionary. I am a vessel to carry the Divine Spirit of life. I am everything beautiful, magical and wonderful that the Great Spirit of the universe has ever created, and ever, ever will.

I am compassion. I am peace. I am nourishment. I am gentleness. I am strength. I am freedom. I am joy. I am happiness. I am music. I am laughter. I am Light. I am Love. I am Woman. I am Me.

I AM.

And I AM so much more. 🙂

 

Part 1 || Part 2

(Visited 90 times, 1 visits today)

1 thought on “I Am Woman – 2”

  1. I salute the woman in you and all the other wonderful ones I have met or not met. 

    Read both parts, kinda at a loss of words here. Hate to admit it but this is our reality. 
    Wont, cant defend the male of the species here. Dont want to. 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *