A few years back I went to a cemetery to learn about some interesting women buried there. I learned about an artist, abolitionist, mountain climber, undercover detective, a secretary and friend of Sitting Bull, a violinist, a singer, a Black doctor (who was the third woman to become a doctor in the US and first Black) Let’s not forget the notorious dancer who lifted her skirt above her knees when she danced.
These women’s actions were frowned upon, yet they ventured forth. They threw caution to the wind and chose to live life as they saw fit, not as society dictated they should. Society at the time did not know how to handle their life choices. A journalist wrote about the doctor saying something like, “She was well dressed.” Nothing about her accomplishment! These women followed their passion at all costs.
We all have times in our lives when a decision to move forward is not easy. Go in the direction your heart is leading, even if it is opposite of what peers, family and society are saying. As you hear comments such as It’s a stupid idea, You won’t be safe; People will think you’re crazy; you won’t be able to get the money to do that. The list goes on.
So many of us have compromised in order to be accepted. Maybe others’ views bring up all our fears, or maybe we just did not want to listen to what they were saying. Maybe it was easier to walk away from the direction we were heading, to conform. Every time we don’t follow our passion, we give up a piece of ourselves. We start forgetting ourselves and move further away from what brings joy and passion into our lives.
Passion is a sure sign we are moving in the direction our higher Self. (Some call it the inner self or heart center.) When we move away from listening to our inner guidance, life is painful—or at the least boring because there is no passion. Yet, the reason we move away from our heart center is to avoid pain. Whether we are moving towards our Self or into the self the world demands of us, there is pain.
However, there is one major difference. When we conform to others’ views of how we should live our lives, we live in servitude. Some would say hell—it is certainly not joy filled. As we re-member our inner self, heart center or higher Self, we will have pain, but we will experience freedom. It’s time to follow the path of the women I found at the cemetery, to rediscover who we are and let go of so many beliefs and views that have slowly led us away from what brings us joy.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
Theresa Contaxis 