Unpublished Work © 2012 Cristina Carlino

YEAR OF THE BUTTERFLY

BE THE WISE WOMAN OF YOUR STORY

Butterflies:  If you are young and reading this, please do not wonder if you need to be old before your time in order to be a wise woman. Some of the wisest words I have heard have come from the mouths of my own daughter, her friends and children I have never met.  Maybe that’s why Socrates knew what he was talking about when he said, “Wisdom begins in wonder.”

And if you are in midlife or beyond and smiling right about now, I think I understand. The older I become, the more I too marvel at the little girl who lives louder and clearer within me than ever.  Ah for all those years I tried so hard to grow up and know how to fix and banish forever the beliefs and wounds and joys and fears that are never fully outgrown.  And now, come to find out, they bring me a certain sweet comfort.

And I see that being older doesn’t guarantee being wiser.  Wisdom has to be invited in each new day, each decade of our lives.   As I approach my 51^st year, I am ever more aware of nature’s help in rolling out the red carpet for my wisdom to walk in on.   And I am aware of a mystical, sacred pact that I make with Life where I accept I will know less every day in exchange for feeling freer, more creative, and inwardly powerful than I ever have.  I can hear more clearly my inner wisdom and the wisdom others may reveal to me.   Throughout history and cultures, archetypal elders have been respected by young people for these secrets they carry.

So I’m here to tell you here we are:  wise women on a journey of flight spreading our wings into a future we cannot see but with a strength we can help shape to get us there.

So I’m wondering, what is a wisdom that you have come to believe?

-I have come to believe in the wisdom of being still when it is time to be still.

-Of not pretending I know what’s best for another or even what is best for myself.

-I have come to believe that certain people who come into our lives are pieces of the grand puzzle who  open the doors to another new world – one where without logic or reason we know we have known each other before.  Do you know what I mean?

I believe wisdom is getting gratitude in our natural state of being and then being there.

I believe in the wisdom of beauty and words of other women who have come before me:

Here are a few of my favorites:

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” Oprah Winfrey.

“A mistake is simply another way of doing things.”  Katharine Graham

“My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.”  Maya Angelou

And the words of my own gorgeous mother; too many to put into words but always shown to me through her wise living example:  Show and tell your daughter that you love her, believe in her and support the beauty of her dreams and the future will be hers.

What wisdom are you welcoming into your story today?

With grace and gratitude,

Cristina