It's getting close to the end of the year here (and just about everywhere else, I suppose) which always makes me a little nostalgic, a little introspective. Tonight is the lunar eclipse (peaking at 3:17am EST) and tomorrow night is the longest night, Yule. I like to take the time to look back and acknowledge the year gone by, what I've learned, what I still struggle with, and where the influences lie for both.
It's been really wonderful writing for a wider (wink) audience here at Fierce Fatties and I thank Shannon, who was unable to post today, for the opportunity. The other contributors here at FFF have written eye-opening, mind-expanding, provactive, hilarious and sometimes serious stuff this year, all of which have helped me and countless others along on their own journeys to personal well-being, whatever that might be for them. My own little blog is chugging along and I'm grateful for my readers and those who put up with my silly comment-space which doesn't ever seem to want to work.
The more I think about it, the more I realize how deeply I've internalized the messages of positive thinking, self-love and self-acceptance from here and the wider Fatosphere; Kate Harding might be gone but I still remember fondly laughing out loud over her sassy articles and esp. the comment threads, at least, most of the time. Marianne at The Rotund has such a strong writing style I can only hope to be half as eloquent someday. I love the Adipositivity Project and Leonard Nimoy's Full Body Project, and Elizabeth Patch's little sketchbook of win and diving headfirst into the Baroque period's lush and lovely images. There are not-so-good days but they're few and far between and I have all of the above and more to thank.
I read this poem back in my last year of highschool nearly a decade ago and it sprang to mind immediately today thinking of all the nifty people and 'places' that have shaped me, literally and figuratively. Enjoy, even if you don't identify as a woman/female. You're still a Phenomenal YOU!
PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
from And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.
