By DeAnna | Published: May 2, 2012
Everything starts as a Thought! A dissertation, a dress, an airplane, this article, or a national holiday such as Thanksgiving… The thoughts of Sarah Josepha Hale translated into action: she wrote letters to American politicians for 40 years(!) until Abraham Lincoln eventually proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Thursday of [...]
Posted in Coming of Age, Women's Wisdom | Tagged celebration, Coming of age, entering womanhood, first period, girl empowerment, girl to woman, menarche, menstrual monday, menstruation, mother daughter, PMS, red tent, rites of passage, woman, womanhood, women, women power
By DeAnna | Published: April 12, 2012
Are your moods predictable? How about your sleepless nights? Fearless moments? Bashful bouts? “I don’t know what came over me!” we often exclaim, and usually we really don’t have a clue. Enters the Moon… Waxing and waning, the moon’s absolute predictable rhythm is change: two weeks of waxing followed by two weeks of waning, and [...]
Posted in Women's Wisdom | Tagged body as sacred, body as temple, ceremony, Coming of age, entering womanhood, girl empowerment, menstruation, mother daughter, PMS, power of mind, red tent, rites of passage, woman, womanhood, women power
By DeAnna | Published: March 4, 2012
Sing daughter sing Make a song And sing Beat out your own rhythms The rhythms of your life But make the song soulful And make life Sing ~ Micere Mugo Zimbabwe, 1970’s (From: “I’m on my way running”, editors: Lynn Reese, Sean Wilkinson, Phyllis Koppelman. Avon books, 1975) Isn’t this the wish of every mother [...]
Posted in Coming of Age, Women's Wisdom | Tagged Coming of age, entering womanhood, girl empowerment, girl power, mother, mother daughter, mothering, rites of passage, self esteem, teen girls, woman, womanhood, women, women power
By DeAnna | Published: February 4, 2012
Were you welcomed into Adulthood? Did you receive a ceremony? Had a Mentor? Experienced a sense of belonging to your community as an equal member once you turned a certain age? Most adults living today haven’t… When I speak with Jewish folks who had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, they, too, feel that it was [...]
By DeAnna | Published: January 16, 2012
How does one become an adult? Well, mostly by imitation… I grew up in a household of two (heavy) cigarette-smoking, coffee-drinking parents. For me, this was the epitome of adulthood… And when I started smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, at the age of seventeen, I felt that I have arrived! The “arrival” was not celebrated [...]
Posted in Coming of Age, Women's Wisdom | Tagged Coming of age, entering womanhood, first period, girl empowerment, girl power, girl to woman, menarche, mother daughter, mothering, red tent, rites of passage, self esteem, teen girls
By DeAnna | Published: December 12, 2011
All indigenous cultures around the world revered women for their ability to birth Life! In order to birth Life, we must first Menstruate! In native cultures menstruation was known as the time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest In native cultures menstruation was considered a time when women have access to the Divine In native [...]
Posted in Coming of Age, Women's Wisdom | Tagged body as sacred, Coming of age, entering womanhood, first period, girl empowerment, girl power, girl to woman, menarche, menstruation, mother, mother daughter, mothering, PMS, red tent, rites of passage, teen girls, woman, womanhood, women power
By DeAnna | Published: November 8, 2011
In my daughter’s 5th grade class there are three times as many girls with braces on their teeth than there are boys. Though boys are more likely to get braces these days then they were when I was growing up, the majority of brace-wearers are still girls. Is this a coincidence? I doubt it… It [...]
Posted in Coming of Age, Women's Wisdom | Tagged body as sacred, body as temple, body image, Braces, Coming of age, entering womanhood, girl empowerment, girl power, Girls Braces, mother, mother daughter, mothering, rites of passage, self esteem, teen girls, woman, womanhood, women power
By DeAnna | Published: October 10, 2011
“First menstruation is welcomed with much celebration and fanfare in Hindu and Buddhist Sri Lankan cultures” writes Audrey Sivasothy in Associated Content on Yahoo (June 4, 2007) However, On October 4, 2011, Sirohmi Gunesekera writes in ‘The Daily Mirror‘ of Sri Lanka: “Menarche marks a major change… If only the ceremonies marking the event were [...]
Posted in Coming of Age, Women's Wisdom | Tagged ceremony, Coming of age, entering womanhood, first period, girl empowerment, girl power, girl to woman, menarche, menstruation, mother, mother daughter, rites of passage, self esteem, teen girls, woman, womanhood, women, women power
By DeAnna | Published: September 9, 2011
How do you like being called a “baby bearer”??? ‘The Times Of India’ refers to you as just that, in an article by Saadia S. Dhailey published on May 18, 2011, saying: “Too much is involved as baby-bearers are reminded of their natural role every month…” Not only are you a baby-bearer, but this is also your [...]
Posted in Coming of Age, Uncategorized, Women's Wisdom | Tagged Coming of age, entering womanhood, girl empowerment, menstruation, mother, mother daughter, mothering, PMS, preventive medicine, red tent, rites of passage, self esteem, teen girls, woman, womanhood, women power
By DeAnna | Published: July 22, 2011
Imagine a moment of looking at yourself in the mirror. What is the first image that comes to mind? Are you smiling? Are you satisfied with what you see? Do you approve of the way you look? Or are you immediately under attack from your ‘Inner Critic’? Does your gaze zoom-in on the features you [...]
