This week I’m participating in August McLaughlin’s amazing Beauty of a Woman BlogFest tour. I hope you drop in on the site and sign up. I’d love to read your posts. Below is my offering to the tour.
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I met a woman once. On the outside she wasn’t a great beauty. She was what others called ‘attractive’. She sported a square face, almond-shaped blue eyes and hair the color of honey. She wasn’t tall. She wasn’t short, but she had a sense of style.
Her eyes twinkled most of the time, and her hair, even when mused, always looked great. She smiled a lot, loved a lot, and cried a lot when confronting deep heartache or overwhelming joy.
She never became angry when life hammered her with disappointments; instead she turned them into lessons, lessons that strengthened her over the years. Her brain was sharp and quick; her tongue soft and gentle.
She was strong in her moral beliefs and held tight to them, knowing if she sacrificed what was in her soul, she would be untrue to her spirit. However, she never forced others to believe as she did; rather, she simply guided their thoughts to accept, not necessarily approve, another way of thinking.
She was kind, loving, and a wonderful mother. She listened and offered her shoulder to cry on, and words of wisdom when needed. She never passed judgment, allowing her children to grow and become who they needed to be in their own time. And while she may have wished they’d taken different paths in life, she never condemned them for the ones they chose.
She loved openly, honestly, and with every inch of her being. She accepted the good with the bad, the wrongs with the rights, and carried herself with pride and dignity in the face of adversity. Where others would have given up, she held strong and weathered the storms. She never complained of a neglectful husband. There was a time he wasn’t so, and that was who she remembered. There was pain, regret, and heaven knows she had her share of life’s battle wounds, but she spoke of them as old friends, not enemies, and she embraced them openly and with vigor.
She had lost her youth, the elasticity of her skin, yet she still kicked up her heels with the best of them. She was a writer, a storyteller who loved life, and there wasn’t an animal she didn’t adore or a baby she didn’t want to nurture and kiss. She also took time to tap into the child within, to fantasize about dragons, castles and lands in mist and dreams.
She was everything I find beautiful in a woman: strong, confident, kind, loving, warm, tender, smart and funny. Who is she?
My future me. The woman I want to become. The woman I want others to remember me as when I leave this life and travel into the next. It’s a tall order, but I can do it. She’s calling to me. All I need to do is be as brave as she is and follow.
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Please be sure to stop by the other participant’s sites and read what they find beautiful in a woman:
- Amber West: A Beautiful Stream of Consciousness – Beauty of a Woman BlogFest
- Liz: The Beauty of a Woman BlogFest
- Bill Parker: On the Multitudinous Beauties of Women
- Coleen Patrick: Service Chic vs. Soul Deep: The Beauty of a Woman BlogFest
- Barbara McDowell: Beautiful Things Blossom From Caccoons
- Kourtney Heintz: Beauty of a Woman BlogFest: Lessons From Grandma H
- Kassandra Lamb (Misterio Press): You Are Beautiful and Strong, Sweet Child of Abuse
- Marcy Kennedy: What Would You Trade to Look Young Forever?
- Rebekah Loper: 2013 Beauty of a Woman Blogfest – Comfortable in My Own Skin
- Lissa Clouser: Beauty of a Woman BlogFest: Part 2—An Unlikely Role Model
- Jennette Marie Powell: Beauty of a Woman: Don’t judge us by our covers!
- Amaryllis Turman: Beauty BlogFest 2012 – What is REAL BEAUTY?
- Kathryn Chastain Treat: The Beauty of a Woman BlogFest II
- Donna Galanti: Beauty is the Place Where Love Resides
- Linda Adams: My Relationship With My Glasses
- Ellen M. Gregg: The Beauty of a Woman: Inside Out
- Audrey Kalman: I want to be like Carol Winfield even when I’m dead
- Catherine Johnson: Beauty of a Woman BlogFest and Giveaway!
- Tameri Etherton: Shakespeare Totally Knew the Beauty of a Woman
- Catherine Krummey: Beauty (tumbler)
- Jenny Hansen: Beauty of a Woman BlogFest: Do Breasts Define a Female?
- Lindsay: Chronically beautiful…
- Inion N. Mathair: Beauty of a Woman’s BlogFest
- Jennifer M. Zeiger: The Eye
- Michael King: BOAW Fest – Eye of the Beholder
- K.M. OSullivan: Beauty of a Woman BlogFest 2013: The Beauty Box
- Kate Wood: The Beauty in Me
- Sabrina Garie: Owning Your Own Beauty
- Kerry Ann: Beauty of a Woman: Beyond Skin Deep
- Kim Jorgensen Gane: The Beauty of Women Friends
- FactoryMaid: Lying in the Mirror
- Renee A. Schuls-Jacobson: The Beauty of a Grandmother
- Jess Witkins: What Makes a Woman REDHOT?
- Sue: Beauty of a Woman BlogFest: Skin Deep
- Misty Dietz: The Paradox and Beauty of a Woman
- J. Keller Ford: The Beauty of a Woman
- David N. Walker: Beauty of a Woman
- Erin/Lux: One sees clearly with the heart
- Reese Ryan: Phenomenal Woman – That’s Me
- Maggie Amanda: 30 Years of Learning About Beauty
- Lena Corazon: Beauty of a Woman Blogfest: The Power of Natural
- Subtextreadalwaysnew: Moments of Beauty
- Nicole Basaraba: Beauty of a Woman – Body Culture
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- A Womans Beauty (rkophen.wordpress.com)
- Beauty of a Woman Blogfest: Do Breasts Define the Female? (jennyhansenauthor.wordpress.com)
- Beauty of a Woman Blogfest is Coming Soon! (marciaarichards.com)
- Announcing: The Beauty of a Woman BlogFest II! (augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com)
- Why Don’t Women Say ‘I’m Pretty?’ Here Are Ten Reasons. (jezebel.com)
- You are beautiful (sparklestarsunshineglitter.wordpress.com)
Jenny, this is wonderful. I want to know this woman. More, I want to be her. As was pointed out above, that you’re writing to her – about her – you’re already on your way to her, if not there and needing only to complete the integration process. Beautiful. Thank you.
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Thank you, Ellen. I’m please the post spoke to you.
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I love that you handled this blog post in this way. What a great idea. I have many dreams yet to fulfill myself and think a good talking to might do me some good!
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I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I think it speaks to many women as most of us never see ourselves as complete or wonderful, even though we already are to those who love us. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you visit again.
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The future you sounds very much like my grandmother! I can easily see you becoming that woman because there isn’t too much difference, from what I can see, between present you and future you! 🙂
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Thanks for the shout out, Jenny! I am going to add the Blogfest list to my blog too–that’s a great way to showcase other blogs. 🙂
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Lovely post!
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Thank you and I’m glad you stopped by.
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Great idea, to put the woman you will be.
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Lovely writing! I really like your take on this and also your forward thinking. I’m sure you will meet her when the time comes. 🙂
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The woman you want to become–very lovely Jenny! 🙂
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What a great reminder to focus on being a beautiful person in the inside where it counts most, and to work on the things people will remember about us long after physical beauty fades.
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I want to be that woman too!
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I have no doubt you will become someone much like her if you haven’t already. Sometimes we already are what we want to be. We’re just too blind to see it. Thank you for stopping by.
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Love this! If you are brave enough to envision it, you are brave enough to achieve it!
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That’s what I’m counting on. thank you for stopping by
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Oh, that was awesome, Jenny! I love that you have a beautiful vision of yourself; and totally agree that you are already well on your way to being there. Words to aspire to – and yeah, I’d hang out with you, too! 🙂 xox
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🙂 Thanks. I’d like to hang out with you, too. Hope you are feeling better today.
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I love that you are already imagining this future you.. She sounds delightful, like someone I would like to know. Does she like to dance?
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I love that you are picturing the future you — and all her strengths. I want to hang out with this woman. Does she like to dance? 😉
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Oh, yes. All the time. 🙂 Music, sunsets, Asti Spumanti, warm breezes. She loves them all.
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What a lovely take on this! Your view of what beauty is and striving to be that kind of beauty is huge.
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Awww that was nice. I like that. I have confidence when you look in the mirror you will see her 🙂
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She is slowly beginning to emerge. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by.
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You know what…. you already are her. You just stick her in a closet once in a while. Keep that door ajar. She likes to be free.
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You’re so sweet. I’ll be sure to keep the door open.
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Prop it open and weld it there. 🙂
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done! 😉
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I love what you will become, but I have a feeling you may be already there! What a fantastic post 😀
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Thank you, Dianne. I’d like to think I’ve made great strides in the right direction.
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Jenny, what a cool take on this blogfest. 🙂 She sounds like an amazing lady. And I have every confidence you will bring her into being. 🙂
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Thank you, Kourtney. I’m praying so hard you’re right.
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If you’re already dreaming of her, you’re halfway there. 🙂 Lovely addition to the blogfest!
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thank you. I’d like to think the same. She’s always a work in motion. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
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