women: what’s now, what’s next
She A Collaborative Artwork by Sara Hiris 2015 & Sara Donatelli (my younger self & former name) 2003. I painted the face in 2003, at the beginning of my professional journey, and the background in 2015. I completed the piece in 2015 for a show which explored the multiple identities of art educators. Each ray represents the characteristics and ways of being that give She her identity and power.
Being a woman with multiple roles and identities (mother, creative professional, speaker, teacher, writer, wife, sister, daughter, friend, community member...), and being an engaged observer of what affects people's sense of self and well-being, I naturally am curious about how women identify, feel, and interact in the world.
These interests and observations have led me to notice that almost every conversation I have with a woman--regardless of age, orientation, life situation, or socioeconomic status--turns into a conversation about transition. As women, it seems we often feel like we occupy the space-in-between: career-wise, identity-wise, body-wise, spirit-wise, relationship-wise, style-wise, and other-wise.
To live and breathe is to be in a state of transition. Everyone is always in transition all the time. To be in-between means we are growing, learning, and evolving (all good things!), so why does this sense of being in-between take up so much space in women’s minds and emotions?
I am sure you have lots to say about this topic, so let's talk (more) about it! Let's investigate this idea of transition, what we notice while we are in it, what we have learned from it, what we think it means for us as individuals, as well as women as a whole in our evolving society, and what we want to change or explore further.
Currently, I have been investigating this topic through Mindful + Holistic Personal Styling for women going through life changes and transitions, style-wise, body-wise, or other-wise. Click here to learn more!
Sign up for my newsletter below and follow along @women_now_next to stay tuned!
In the meantime, allow yourself to be in-process because we are never “there.” We are always in-process, in-between, in-transformation.
To Process + Progress,
Sara
“Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don’t get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It’s a very tender, nonaggressive, open-ended state of affairs.”
- Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
“All things are incomplete. All things, including the universe itself, are in a constant, never-ending state of becoming or dissolving. Often we arbitrarily designate moments, points along the way, as "finished" or "complete." But when does something's destiny finally come to fruition? Is the plant complete when it flowers? When it goes to seed? When the seeds sprout? When everything turns into compost? The notion of completion has no basis in
wabi-sabi.”
- Leonard Koren, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers.