Badass Woman

Today I went to the Women in Leadership symposium, and the keynote speaker starting talking about the sexual assault she survived in her childhood. I watched while people around me started to squirm uncomfortably, grateful that this woman had the courage to share her story. She talked about how it took away her joy, and her personal agency, and how she got it back. It wasn't perfectly told to serve as a keynote at this particular conference -- the ties to leadership were not really made -- but I think we have to start somewhere with talking about the sexual assault that keeps so many people from shining with their whole selves and what can be done about it.

This woman's story was that in order to be at peace with what happened to her, she had to go back to the scene where it happened and face her fear. How this helped her remember the joy she embodied before the assault, and what it might look like to reclaim it. She also talked about how empowering it was for her, when this same man was accused of a crime, to tell her story in order to round out the picture of who this man was so that he did not get released prematurely. How the combination of these two things helped her reclaim her life.

How her theme song is Badass Woman:

I’m a badass woman (Ooh)
What’s wrong with that?
Can’t hold me back
Yeah, I’m a badass woman
Just made like that
But I’m proud of that
‘Cause I’m a badass woman

Never second guess me
‘Cause, baby, I’m the boss
Don’t underestimate me
‘Cause I’m the one in charge

I am smarter than you give me credit for
And I’m way stronger than I ever been before
I’m a force of nature that you can’t ignore
You can’t ignore, you can’t ignore no more

As for me, I'm still working on telling my story. I'm still discovering what it takes to reclaim my joy.

And my theme song is everchanging...