Because our culture was built upon and benefits from the control of women.

The truest, most beautiful life never promises to be an easy one. We need to let go of the lie that it’s supposed to be.

So my goal is to stop abandoning myself—and stay. To trust that I’m strong enough to handle the pain that is necessary to the process of becoming.

I have stopped asking people for directions to places they’ve never been. There is no map. We are all pioneers.

Parenting will require all of you; please parent with your mind, body, and soul.

Whenever I see a little girl wearing complicated braids, I think: She looks well loved. She looks well mothered. She looks like a little girl whose mother knows what she’s doing. Who once was a teenage girl who knew what she was doing, who had lots of friends in high school, who all sat around and braided each other’s hair and giggled. Who was Gold

don’t want to find comfort in the weakness and pain of other women. I want to find inspiration in the joy and success of other women.

I can use pain to become.

A woman becomes a responsible parent when she stops being an obedient daughter.