Coin Toss at the Top of the World

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. - Matthew 7:7-8

I've been doing some hiking lately around some of the trails I've known since childhood.  I have this anxious feeling in my depths that I want to work out.  Walking uphill quickly helps.

One trail I hadn't ever had the opportunity to try was the portion of the Pine Mountain Trail that takes you to High Rock.  I'd always heard it was worth the trek despite the challenge.  I gave it a go on Saturday and it was well worth the effort.  Too glorious even for me to take a picture.  Nothing could capture what nature put forth there.  Lots of glory.

  

I've been doing a lot of thinking on the example of womanhood that I'm displaying for my girls.  Ivy caught wind of one of her friend's mother having a job.  She asked, "Mom's can work too?"  

"Sure they can," I answered.  My heart sank.  She thought that only daddies work and mommies tend house.  She's wanted to have her own salon since she was old enough to think about what she'd be doing when she gets big.  I wonder if she has been thinking that if she becomes a mother, she can't do that.  The conversation has grieved me ever since.  

I haven't been displaying a fulfilled woman to my daughters.  It isn't because I don't have a job that I believe I'm not doing this empowered womanhood thing right.  It is because I have stepped back and allowed myself and my dreams to take a backseat to caring for my husband and children.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that I should have been out chasing unicorns over rainbows while my family was neglected.

No, I'm talking my basic personhood.  I've taken detours and received certifications, a Master's Degree, and pursued side interests in hopes of making money that would allow my husband to not have to work so hard and free him to be with us more, but nothing that I felt spoke to the real me or allowed me to be fully myself in this world.  When the girls were born, I took their education upon my shoulders because I felt there was no other good option here at home.  To provide them with what I felt they deserved and to fulfill my responsibility to them in bringing them into the world, I gladly took on the traditional role of wife, mother, and homeschooler.  While my husband took on the pressure of providing for us solely on his income, he was still free to pursue his goals in art and music.  

Is being an adult claiming responsibility?  As a kid, I had always been told this.  Adulthood is about sacrifice and responsibility.  I don't know though.  It may just be my family's makeup, but I can't remember many adults around me that would have said they were leading a life that made them happy or that made them feel fulfilled.  I saw sorrow, depression, heartache, and anger written on the faces of many of the adults who loved me so very much.  It covered my world.  Am I selfish in thinking it doesn't have to be that way?      

My main goal is to show my daughters that the world is wide open for us.  There is no role we can't accept or value we have to feel pressured to espouse.  It is about following our heart and going forward from a place of love and respect for others.  All else is a coin toss, and the odds of us winning are perfect as we are infinitely supported by the very stardust we were created from.

An independent, strong minded woman makes people nervous.  A woman that seeks her own fulfillment so that her light can shine as brightly as possible in this world, can expect to be seen as scandalous.  She may not fit in any box set out by society.  She may take risks others see as unnecessary.  It may be hard for those who feel the need to fit her into a category to be with her as she steps into this empowered place.  The fact is, she isn't going to care.  What she knows is that if you love her and want her, you will walk by her through all of it.  If you cannot, it is okay.  Both you and she will be okay.

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It isn't about living in the shadows of another.  In this mountain culture I've grown up in, the matriarchy is a hidden power.  There isn't a person on this planet any stronger than an Appalachian woman.  They've held families together for generations of rises and falls.  Through all of this, she quietly worried that her best wasn't enough and it would all fall through her fingers.  While all of her family knew it was really her that bound them all together, her effort wasn't pronounced except maybe at her funeral.

I pray that my daughters don't take a lifetime to learn that they can speak up about what they need and not feel guilty for needing it.  I want them to know that if their current situation is not making their heart sing that patience, a fearless heart, hard work, and their empowered voice will change that.  They aren't obligated to anyone but those who they choose to be obligated to and those who call them mother.  I want them to be brave.  I want them to know they are worthy of the type of love that wants the essence of them so hard, their every breath is like a song, and that when they give that kind of love, they should expect it returned to them.

Our lives matter right now.  I've decided for the sake of myself and my daughters not to wait for mine to begin anymore.  I'm surrounding myself with the people who feed my spirit and want to know me for me.  I'm talking consistently with those who already have shown me that they do.  I've went out on a limb and decided to return to the game plan of my youth modified for what I know now.  I'm excited.  One day, I will be able to type here that I am healthy, happy, and fulfilled most every day.  It's coming.  

There, at the top of the world, as I took deep breaths crouched over that ageless rock, the coin was tossed.  The butterflies in my stomach set free for a time and I felt whole again in the silence.  One day, my Ivy will know what she's capable of because her mother did her best to show her.  It might not come easy to either of us, but she will know.