Women Who Choose to Shine

Carrie is the lead author of Soul Shine. 

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As I began to excavate the layers of societal demands, a long list of “shoulds,” all the trauma that I have held onto, and all the responsibilities I shouldered that were not mine to bear, I began to see a light that I never even knew I had. With the reality that I have dimmed my authentic self since I was eight years old, I began to wonder about the breadth of shade from women, and I realized we all do or have diminished ourselves at some point during our lives. In that moment, clinging to the kitchen sink and the certainty that every woman has, in some way, dimmed themselves for others, I decided that this extinguishment was no longer an option. How many of us have missed the opportunity to shine at all? 

It was here that I decided it was my duty, my soul’s purpose, to shine a spotlight on this issue in our world. 

As you read the following memoirs, take the time to question yourself, and recognize where you are hiding your light, your gifts, and your purpose. Also, where you may have contributed to dimming others. 

This world is full of blaming others for the demise of oneself. We blame the patriarchy. We blame all the ~isms that divide people. We blame societal roles and rules. This is putting us all in tiny boxes until we find ourselves, darkened, all alone in this minuscule, fenced-in area because we identify every aspect of ourselves to make us feel unique and special. The truth is, like fingerprints, we are all unique, with a special shine all our own, a soul’s purpose specific to our very DNA. Once we realize this, we can stop drawing those lines and building those fences and start igniting each other with love, unity, and reciprocity.

So, it is my hope that you find a piece of yourself in each chapter and allow each discovery to ignite your own excavation to your lost light.

Start Shining!