Our book Queen of Your Own Life started because my feet were hot. I went on the Internet to see if it was something fatal and I discovered that I was a “crone.” I thought, well maybe I don’t know what that word means. So I looked it up and it meant exactly what I thought it meant. It’s a derogatory term. It means “dead flesh,” based on the French word, carrion. And, here you go: “Every woman over 40.”
So I told Cindy, and she didn’t want to be one either. We didn’t want to go off into the woods to be crones. So instead we had a crowning ceremony.
We like to think that you don’t have to be twenty to have your whole life ahead of you. Here we are at the midpoint of our lives. We’re wise, we’re smart, we have a little money to spend. We want to show up and be counted.
I remember the first time I realized that I wasn’t born knowing how to be happy. It’s something you have to practice, like the practice of faith. So we practice. We literally say to ourselves, every day, at least twice a day, “I’m glad for -.” “I’m happy I’m awake.” “I’m happy I have teeth.”
Many of us have difficulty finding that one thing to be glad about. We wake up in pain, we’re hurt, we’re wounded. There’s a lot of tough boulders in the road. We’re always saying “We’ll be happy when we’re thin, when we’re rich, when I have a better life.” We say be happy now. Don’t wake up and waste that time.
Queen of Your Own Life is a VN Book Club pick! Click to learn more and join the conversation.
i use a combo of shea butter and aloe vera moisturizer. Works great. I use shea butter on my lips, around my eyes and nose (dry areas), My father swears by vasoline.
p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
I have had hot feet since I was in my teens. Have used a cooling peppermint lotion ever since, keep my feet up as much as possible when I’m sitting, and GO FOR IT~!
Having a good day and thus a good life is a decision. Keep making the right little decisions and soon your life adds up to joyFULLness. This will carry you on the days of greater challenge.
Remind yourself to see the beauty in little things like a butterfly swifting by, a puffy pure white cloud, a twinkle in someone’s eye, a chuckle in someone’s voice. They all come FREE of charge and no one can take them from you without your permission. Soon you will be the one sharing a chuckle w/someone else who needs it too. (Chuckles gathered up become belly laughs~!)
According to author Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen in olden times a “crone” was a wise woman , a revered older woman in the circle. This meaning has been lost in modern times and replaced by the definition you mentioned. An older woman is a font of wisdom and a vibrant creative force! I love this, so clever! She also points out that a more realistic cycle in women’s lives is: maiden, mother, crone…and urges her readers to “embrace your inner “crone”. Her book : “Crones don’t Whine: Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women” is an excelent read.