“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. … And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
–Marianne Williamson
I have found with women that so many of us “fear our own light” or “play small.” Yet, when the stakes are high, like when we are going for a new job or facing a crisis, we then pull out all the stops and shine! My child was sick for a time. Long story short, in 2006, he was diagnosed with a seizure disorder called Landau-Kleffner Syndrome. I promise you this sad time in my life was a time when I shined—when I did EXACTLY what I needed to do to ensure he was given every opportunity to get well, which included pissing off doctors and insurance companies in the process while simultaneously bringing homemade cookies to the nurses to win some extra “love.” Hell yeah, I shined.
I had the opportunity to interview another woman that shines for this month’s Naturally Inspired feature, Long Island mother Karen Serva. If you read nothing else in this issue, read her story, because it is her faith and perseverance that to this day inspires me as a woman and as a mother.
The May issue is filled with an abundance of ideas for women’s wellness and offers many ways to shine. So do it! SHINE! Don’t wait for a major opportunity, or worse, a crisis to show you are brilliant, talented and wise beyond what anyone sees. Live your life shining. Every day, be the same gorgeous “selfie” that you post (or don’t post) on Facebook.
Women’s wellness to me means shining our own light, and in so doing, giving permission to other women to do the same. Could you imagine a world in which everyone, and I mean everyone, caught the contagious virus called “shining”? What a bright and beautiful world that would be. The guitar you want to play, the screen play in your basement you want to finish, the coaching you want to be involved in, the garden you want to start, the modeling you want to do, the art
you want to bring to the world, the joke you want to tell, or the story you want to share—do it! Share it with the world! Shine. What are you waiting for? When the Universe reacts in return with even more awesomeness from other women, bask in what you started. Because “playing small” does NOT serve the world and perhaps the woman next to you is simply waiting for you to show your light before she can show hers. Help her out, SHINE!”
Happy Mother’s Day
Malama Pono! 
Kelly Martinsen, Publisher
