Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power.

Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”

May You Continue... A New Year Wish

My wish for you is to claim witness to your own beauty
To continue to see yourself well beyond the filter of humanity
To nourish the subtle energy that flows through you
That sustains you, that transports you, that loves you
That is you

My wish is that you continue to offer yourself unfettered love
That you honor your practices of self care
The reverent practices of self sustenance
The practices that are kind
And may you splash that kindness outward

My wish for you is that you take your long spine out into your world
That you continue to stand proudly root to crown in your gracefully aging body
Releasing the petulant kinks that inhibit pranic flow
That you ground like the pines deeply and securely
Never toppling despite the threatening storm
Being a balanced inspiration for she who is untethered

My wish for you is that you continue to honor your unique power
By gently bestowing it outward
Pouring it into the inevitable pockets of weakness you will encounter
Continuing to be the steady unwavering beauty-drenched soul you are
These are my wishes for you today
And for the rest of your days

Tricia Schwaba 2024

I wonder

What if, as women, we never had to battle misogyny? What if we didn’t need to give a thought to our safety walking down the street? What if we didn’t know of societal beauty standards or hold in our bones, the long held patriarchal notion that we are supposed to look, dress, and act a certain way? What if we never learned to hold our voices inside? What would that do for women emerging in their independent lives? What would it mean to women who hold the belief that they must futilely battle the inevitable physical impacts of their aging faces? How much time and energy would that free up for countless women of all ages? How much time would that give to offer the strength and beauty of a feminine perspective to the planet? How much would that help to heal, with feminine wisdom, our ailing humanity? I wonder.

Tricia