The Fierceness of the Feminine Heart

“I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self-respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn’t all she should be.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

I hear a lot of people describe women as gentle and lovely, with soft hearts and tender feelings. While these are beautiful words, and are certainly true, I seldom hear the one word I associate the most with the many incredible women I’m blessed to know.

Fierce.

Fierce, for many, conjures up images of aggression, anger, or even violence. But when I think of the fierce women in my life I think of a lioness, strong and proud. I think of fierce loyalty, fierce love, and the fearlessness that pours from a fierce, brave heart.

As women, we’re too often told to relish in tameness, to be content in quietude and to value mildness above cherishing our own lights. We’re cautioned against being too much, because people might not like that. Don’t laugh too loudly, don’t be too opinionated, don’t fall too hard. Dim your light. Quell the fierceness of your feminine heart.

To that I say never.

Let your laugh shake the earth with its fierce joy! Astound with your courageous capacity for love, boundless and deep as the sea! Roar with the unshakeable knowledge that you are beautiful, strong, and worth love beyond your wildest imaginings.

So despite the din of those who sought to sink me, I learned something along the road. I found my own fierceness and I have learned to love it, to cherish it, and to let it shine. I have learned to love my fierceness in love, in loyalty, kindness, honesty, and humour. I have learned along the road not to dim my own light, but to love fiercely, to give fiercely, and to laugh with fierce abandon!

The next time someone tells you that you aren’t incredible just the way you are – even if that person is you – remind them, and yourself, that you have an unwavering fierceness in you. There is a fire in you that will never dim. There is a lovely, blessed light that gives you your beautiful fierceness and makes you completely irreplaceable and a force for good in the lives of everyone you touch.

Embrace your fierceness, love yourself, love others, and my darling you will change the world!

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