The end of a calendar year and the accompanying holiday season strike me as a time for gratitude to move into my life and take a front row seat. This is where it starts.
Among the many blessings of this year, I have felt the tremendous effect of so many phenomenal women in my life. They have buoyed me, sustained me, encouraged and also challenged me. They have written to me, spoken with me, made me laugh, made me cry and most of all they seem to understand me. Some of these women are family, some are old friends, some are new friends, some are acquaintances and some I have barely spoken with.
All of them have made me think.
They have made me think about myself, my identity, my reasons for being.
They have made me think about my now, my future and also about my past.
They have asked me to look at my practice – in my home, in my work, in my relationships – and see both my strengths and my shortcomings.
They have offered me examples, templates, their stories, their complexity without shame or reservation.
They have jolted my thinking and spurred me to action.
The have reminded me day after day how wonderful it is to be female and oh so human.
These women are old and young and in between.
They have ambitions and ideas and language that speak to me in multiple ways.
They are my role models, mentors and partners in crime.
They are educators, activists, entrepreneurs, tech mavens, scientists and artists.
They are all that and more.
They all have made me think. And think again.
And for that I am eternally grateful.
edifiedlistener 
Thanks for these beautiful thoughts, Sherri, and thanks also for being a phenomenal woman! 😉