Welcome to my first blog! I'm so glad you are here.
I decided to start off with a topic I absolutely have so much passion for. If there is one thing I could really share with my younger self it would be more knowledge on femininity. I constantly felt like I was in this rabbit hole chasing the culture's perspective for so many years, so I really did not take much time to think about what being a woman meant to me. I had no idea what I believed about the role of women and it created some internal conflict for me for sure.
In our culture I've noticed a woman's role is often met with a negative connotation which is the most disappointing thing. It's interesting to me because until I really started to learn more about the Catholic church's teachings on the feminine genius and femininity I really had no idea what I was missing out on. I had zero clue of the power and space I hold by simply being myself, a woman.
Femininity is not boiled down to what a woman looks like, how "girly" she is or what she wears. Femininity is not boiled down to a woman's job title, relationship status, vocation or how many children she does or does not have in this life. Femininity is not boiled down to women competing with men or women needing to prove themselves to men.
Femininity in its simplest form is the role of every woman. I believe femininity is a call for women to live out the truth of who they are created to be. Once this truly clicked in my heart there was so much surrender for myself. There were many points in my journey where I was really clinging to the dark sides of feminism. At the heart of my desires, I just wanted to empower and speak kindness into other women, but I actually had no idea the real effects this was having on my perception of the men/brothers in my life. I constantly felt the need to prove myself to the world and to men and little by little my perception of men started to become more negative. I also did not like that I was somehow still stuck in this cycle of judging other women. It left me feeling unsatisfied and less empowered in the process.
The greatest practical lessons I've learned through opening up my heart to living out my femininity is that I can allow a man to be a man and that does not take away from me as a woman. A man can want to protect me and I don't have to shrink or hide at the thought. I can embrace that inherent desire he has and I won't be less then. A man can want to hold the door open for me and I can allow him to do that willingly. A man can rise up completely in his masculinity and that won't take an ounce away from the femininity I possess. It just won't.
It is a true super power of all women to see and look into the eyes of the human person in front of her. Think about it, women just have this intuition and an inherent nature to give. Isn't that just beautiful?
She sees and receives and in no way does that make her beneath a man. In fact when femininity and masculinity are truly present I've actually felt the most hope and excitement witnessing it lived out.
That's something worth talking about.
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