{Messages from Within}

Listen to those messages from within your quiet mind and open heart:

{In Love and Sisterhood}

An Open Letter to the Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, and My Sorority Sister from College:

Dear Kay:

When I learned, only recently, that you are the governor of Alabama, I had the thought: What an amazing opportunity to shift the focus of leadership of modern politics from personal ambition and narrow-minded ego to a larger vision. A vision based on love and honor, respect and equality—indeed, a focus you and I pledged years ago during our college days, the essence of the sisterhood we share: “To hold truth inviolable, sincerity essential, kindness invaluable.”

I no longer live in Alabama, but memories of growing up there are dear to me, as are the family and friends who live there. Therefore, I was moved to write when I read your statements in an article from the Washington Post about Alabama senatorial candidate and accused sexual predator Roy Moore saying, if you were quoted correctly, that you would vote for the candidate because “we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate.” In other words, it’s “politics” first—before “truth, sincerity and kindness.” And although you were quoted as saying that you have “’no reason to disbelieve’ any of Moore’s accusers”—women of various backgrounds who shared their personal experiences as teenagers of being inappropriately pursued and harassed by Moore—your words suggest that you place less value on the lives of women and children than on ‘politics as usual.’

If my Alabama mother and grandmothers were still alive (women with core values of hospitality, beauty and humanity), they would not only have been appalled that this man could be representing their state and their families, but, in addition, they would have been horrified with the election last year of a self-professed sexual predator as U.S. president—a crude bully also known to be less than honest and trustworthy in his personal and business life. They would have raised the old-fashioned question of moral responsibility: How could we allow men accused of sexual misconduct on multiple accounts have the power to make decisions that will affect the lives of millions of women and children?

Men (or women who defend such abusive behavior) can no longer hide behind “Oh, that’s just how men are” or “Oh, that’s just locker-room talk”—it’s not and women aren’t putting up with that conceit anymore! Nor can we accept mean-spirited “girl talk” as the norm for women if we want a respectful and safe world for our daughters and granddaughters. I hear many people profess their “Christian beliefs” while judging or disrespecting another. How thin can someone slice their so-called “Christian beliefs” before their words and actions have nothing to do with being “Christ-like”?

“Love one another” is not always the easier thing to do; but it’s simply the right thing. When we have the courage to speak and act from our heart, then everyone wins. If we speak and act from fear and exclusion, resentment and hate, then we get the toxic world we have today. If the only remedy to fear is love, then each of us have a lot of loving to do!

Thank you, Kay, for your service. Please make it count for the well-being of all of us on this fragile and glorious planet we call home. (And I believe there is a place for our pledge of “truth, sincerity and kindness” even in the world of politics!)

In love and sisterhood,

Cornelia Powell

[Published on the Huffington Post December 7, 2017]

{Gratitude Kisses}

Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart 

and not in the mind.

-Lionel Hampton

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

-Gilbert K. Chesterton

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

-Aesop

{Meghan Markle: An Activist Since Age 11}

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle love many things about each other I'm sure...and one of those attractions is compassionate activism!

Meghan learned, with support from her father, that even at age eleven you can make a big difference in the world!




I love her speech at the United Nations Women's Conference in 2015 (in her role as UN WOMEN ambassador) where she shares the story! Enjoy....

...and remember, you don't have to be a princess to make a positive change in the world!

{Think Big & Strong & Beautiful}

{Choose. Love What You Choose. Move On.}

{Fierce Love}

"For a long time haters spoke and too many of us just rolled our eyes. Now, when hate speaks, it's very important that fierce love speak back."

~Marianne Williamson

author of 

A Return to Love, The Age of Miracles, Tears to Triumph

  

Marianne Williamson

{It's Your Day!)

Celebrating the United Nations' "International Day of the Girl"....every day!!

Enjoy these inspiring words and lovely artwork in "Girls Speak Out on Inequality" from the United Nations Population Fund website.

Hear these amazing voices of girls speaking out about "Girl Power" ... thank you, United Nations!

And I love the message of the Right to Play website. One of the girls featured is Khansa ... her love of playing soccer gave her the courage to say 'no' to any early marriage and to convince her parents to let her stay in school!

Go hug a little girl today!! xoxo

{Wake Up to Wisdom}

Wake Up to Wisdom quotes from Sadhguru...mystic, poet, globetrotter, mountain-climber, activist, man-on-a-mission: 

"If the youth of the world stands up for raising inclusive consciousness, we can address every problem on the planet."

"The mind is a powerful instrument. Every thought, every emotion that you create changes the very chemistry of your body."

"The planet is not in peril—only our lives are."

"Passion can choose. Compassion cannot choose—it includes everyone and everything."

"Intelligent ones wonder—idiots are dead sure."

"If we cannot keep our minds peaceful, how can the world be peaceful? The world outside is a reflection of the human mind."

"Love is not an act—it is a quality."

{Choose Your Heroes From Your Heart}

What to tell our daughters?

Have women like Louise Hay as your heroes!

"In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole & complete." 

~Louise Hay