by Amy Beth Acker: “All good things are wild and free.” – Henry David Thoreau
Healthy women have a playful spirit, are powerfully devoted to those they love, possess immense strength of character, and draw on a rich heritage of instinctual and intellectual wisdom handed down by generations of women before them. They are wild and free in the truest sense: unapologetically and entirely who they are at their deepest, most authentic core.
When we are not free, we are held back, closed off, and we feel overwhelmingly stuck. Our voice is silenced — by the outside world or, more often, by ourselves. We live in the black and white margins of life, unable to feel safe in the gray areas.
To be wild and free means to live from a place of your inherent worth and value. It means owning your imperfections as much as your strengths as worthy and valuable parts of yourself.
Here are some things that wild and free women have in common:
1. She is constantly in a state of transition.
In order for us to evolve, to move forward, to live our best lives, we must accept that women are designed by nature to be cyclical beings.
Our hormonal cycles are cyclical. So are the ocean’s tides. They both reflect the cycles of the moon. We have cycles of seasons in nature, cultural holidays and traditions that are celebrated and observed in cycles as well.
As women, our bodies and minds are designed to create. We are designed with the ability to create new life. More than that, we are designed to express ourselves creatively, to value the journey of creation as much as or even more than the final product.
Conversely, women who are wild and free also know when something they have created has run its course and must now end. This can be a project, a relationship, or even a set of values that no longer work for them. Wild and free women don’t hang onto things because they are afraid of what will happen if they let go.
They trust the cycles of life that dictate that new beginnings are impossible without endings and endings are the foundation upon which new beginnings are brought forth.
2. She doesn’t engage in relationships that don’t work or are meaningless to her.
They are devoted to their partners, their children, and their tribe, but they know that their relationship with themselves, specifically with their intuition, is paramount above all.
Without a relationship with intuition, we become lost, susceptible to predatory influences, and disconnected from ourselves and those around us.
Our intuition may show up as a still, small voice inside us, a gut feeling, or a sense of knowing or guidance. If we listen, it tells us how to best show up in the relationships we are in. When those relationships are no longer serving our best interests, our instinct tells us when and how to step away.
Relationships can be our greatest source of growth or they can be our greatest cages. Women who are wild and free know that the choice is always theirs.
3. She honors who and what she is.
Women who are wild and free know that their worth comes from who they are, not what they do. She creates because creating is an expression of her authentic self, not because she is looking for the love or approval of others.
She is conscious of her strengths and weaknesses and uses this knowledge to her advantage. She is comfortable with the concept of “good enough.” She values her own dignity and sovereignty above all else because she knows they are what keep her connected and autonomous.
While she doesn’t strive for perfection, she is always looking to grow herself: her knowledge, her abilities, her talents, her strength and vitality. She knows that growth involves work, and often also involves fear, and she is willing to be brave and flexible to reach her goals.
Being wild and free is the birthright of all women. When we are led by our intuition, we will always be on the right path to freedom
