graciespeaks

strongwoman Lady Liberty

I’ve seen pictures of the Statue of Liberty all my life, and I could have recited that it was a gift from France in the nineteenth century, but I couldn’t have described her. 

I had a vague idea that she would be a comforting presence, saying, in the Emma Lazarus poem "The New Colossus,"

“Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/ The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,/ Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,/I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

But I did not bargain for her strength and power.  Sure, she is 111'1" tall and weighs 225 tons, but if she were scaled down to human size, she would be a formidable woman.  Wearing the robes of a warrior goddess, she is commanding as she offers care to the immigrants who approach.

I found this picture of her face on a postcard.   The photo was taken before she was assembled at Bedloe's Island, 1885.

face lift

More from Traveling with Pomegranates: 

SMK writes, "[T]he need to examine my face for lines and sags left me.  I recognized the growing permutations as more than the effects of time.  They became a poignant history--tracings of my experience and character, the passionate individuality of my soul, the story of lived life written in the tenderness of skin.  I began to find a worn beauty in all of that.  I knew I could never cut it away."

I can't say for sure that I'll never "cut it away." I'm aware of my own lines and sags as I approach my 45th birthday, and only time will tell how I will feel by 50 and beyond.  But I aspire to SMK's perspective, and to "worn beauty."

Tapping?

Many of the books I read and recommend mention EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique as a great tool for dealing with addictions, trauma, daily stress, pain, you name it. 

It's a combination of affirmations and psychology with acupressure techniques (the "tapping" part).  I've been trying it lately on some persistent issues with great success. 

Check out a movie about EFT, tryitoneverything, which tells the story of ten people who get together for  four days of tapping.  Interspersed with their stories are interviews with authorities on energy medicine who explain why it works.

I also recommend highly Carol Look's work.

Hi Gorgeous!

Operation Beautiful.