“Women are still in emotional bondage as long as we need to worry that we might have to make a choice between being heard and being loved.” Marianne Williamson wrote these words. She is also responsible for one of my favorite passages,

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. You were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I am writing this on the day before I leave for a retreat with the high school girls that I work with. As you are reading this though it will already be underway. One of the things I love about these retreats is the space it creates to reflect, to connect, and to let go. The girls don’t take their phones, and I, for the most part, keep mine tucked away as well. We spend time alone and together, in a large group and in small groups.

This retreat greatly impacted my life last year. And this year, as I go into it again, I’m changed even more by the fact that I’ll be starting my masters program in marriage and family therapy in the fall. This is what makes me vibrate with joy and purpose. This is just the beginning for me and my career path. I want to work with girls and women to remove that fear of making a choice to either be heard or to be loved. I want to work for a world in which we are both heard and loved.