International Day of Women and Girls in Science

“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity.”

Mae Jemison, physicist and astronaut

“I was afraid of being rejected
Until I learned to never reject myself
I was afraid of being abandoned
Until I learned to never abandon myself
I was afraid of the opinions of others
Until I learned that they held no more weight than my own
I was afraid of painful endings
Until I realised that they were also new beginnings
I was afraid of appearing weak
Until I realised how strong I truly was
I was afraid of being seen as small and unimportant
Until I discovered my true power and potential
I was afraid of being perceived as ugly
Until I learned to fully appreciate my own beauty
I was afraid of failure
Until I learned that it was an illusion
When viewed through the eyes of love, growth and learning
I was afraid of feeling low
Until I learned that it was the birthplace of brilliance
And where my greatest transformation occurred
I was afraid of change
Until I realised it was an inevitable part of life
In a world full of things temporary and fleeting
I was afraid of being alone
Until I learned to fully embrace and appreciate my own company
I was afraid of my uniqueness
Until I learned that it was where my greatness lay
I was afraid of the darkness
Until I remembered that I was the light
And I was afraid of life
Until I remembered who I was.”

Tahlia Hunter

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

Alice Walker, writer and activist, born on this day in 1944

Image: Alice Walker speaking at End the Wars Spring Action, Oakland, 2018

“Oh when, when, when will we ever have enough
of whining and defining? Haven’t champions
in the weaving of words been here already?
Why keep on trying?

Are not people perpetually, over and over and over again,
assaulted by books as by buzzing alarms?
When, between two books, the quieting sky appears,
or merely a patch of earth at evening –
rejoice …

Louder than all the storms, louder than all the oceans,
people have been crying out:
What abundance of quietude
the Universe must yield, if we screaming humans
can hear the crickets, and if the stars
in the screamed-at ether
can appease our hearts!

Let the farthest, oldest, most ancient
ancestors speak to us!
And let us be listeners at last, humans
finally able to hear.”

From Uncollected Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926)

“No one is useless in this world.. who lightens the burden of it for any one else.”

From Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870), born on this day

Sámi National Day

“Think of me every day
Tell those southerners about me
Tell them how they’re breaking me down
bit by bit
piece by piece
Tell them about the folk up here
about how we live
about our struggle, hands chilled and souls on fire
Tell them about the workers and the pit
the half-year’s darkness, the drink that ensnares
Tell them we sometimes have no strength to spare
when colonialism makes good neighbors rare
Tell them about the plagues of midges
the chilly summers
the health care gaps
Then when they ask why you want to return
Tell them about the rays of the midnight sun
the murmur of the waters
the shimmer of the northern lights
Tell of the coffee that’s always simmering
the fire that’s always crackling
the smell of fresh baking
Nan’s Finnish lilt and ciggies, part of childhood
Tell of the fire that never fades
in activists, workers, retirees
Sing my songs, the ones we all know up here
Show me to those southerners
Tell them about all the tongues that are mine
all the nature that’s mine
and say:
if I’m not the greatest wonder they’ve ever seen
Then they have no business here
for my forests, ore, and water aren’t theirs to take.”

To the Girl Who Moved South by Rönn-Lisa Zakrisson

“The journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step. So we must never neglect any work of peace within our reach, however small.”

Adlai Stevenson II (1900 – 1965), US diplomat and Unitarian, born on this day

International Day of Human Fraternity

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear… I learned to put my trust in God and to seek Him as my strength… God has always given me the strength to say what is right… I had the strength of God and my ancestors with me.”

Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005), civil rights activist, born on this day

“My hope rises when I find that the inner heart of a human being may remain pure, notwithstanding some corruption of the outer coverings.”

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821 – 1910), first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States and first woman on the UK Medical Register, born on this day

Feast of Candlemas

“O God, give me light in my heart
and light in my tongue
and light in my hearing
and light in my sight
and light in my feeling
and light in all my body
and light before me
and light behind me.
Give me, I pray, light on my right hand
and light on my left
and light above me
and light beneath me.
O Lord, increase light within me
and give me light
and illuminate me.”

Ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection