international women's day · michelle obama · women's history month ·

Artist Inspiration - International Women's Day

Michelle Obama - BecomingHappy International Women's Day! My world is full of women who inspire me as a person and as an artist. I wanted to highlight one woman in particular today who has been a major inspiration recently: Michelle Obama, and her beautiful book Becoming. I read it in early January, after the long holiday rush of shows and back-to-back-to-back get-togethers with family and friends. Each morning for two weeks I'd sit with my coffee, the sunrise, and Michelle's stories. It brought me such peace, clarity, and renewed creative inspiration. 


I knew I'd love the book before I read it; it was inevitable. What surprised me was just *how much* I loved it. I hung on to every word, every story pulled up something new in my heart. There's no way I can do the book justice (if you have been wanting to read it, may this be the gentle nudge to go do so...!), but here are a few quotes that stood out:

“Even if we didn’t know the context, we were instructed to remember that context existed. Everyone on earth, they’d tell us, was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some tolerance.” 
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“What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.” 
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“I've learned that it's harder to hate up close.” 
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"It was the power of nine hundred girls striving."
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"All we could do then was put our faith into the effort, trusting that with sun and rain and time, something half-decent would push up through the dirt."
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“For every door that’s been opened to me, I’ve tried to open my door to others. And here is what I have to say, finally: Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.”

 

Thank you to the women in my life who have lifted me up and inspired me, held my hand as I stumbled through the dark, believing fully that I would find my way through it. Thank you to the women in generations past who fought so we could occupy this space. Thank you to the women who fight today to keep that space. Thank you to the women who sing at the top of their lungs in public, and to the women who prefer to live quietly, hoping no one will hear them. You are beautiful. Thank you for sharing with the world what no one else can <3 

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