A Personal Letter
What does it mean to be a Goddess? As I unravel my personality, I see complex layers each affecting the other, as well as the people around me. Life has put me on a quest to dig deeply into myself and pull out the best. In the process, even the ‘not so nice’ layers need to be looked at. 

I must confess I've gone through much disappointment and frustration trying to get my family and friends to recognize and acknowledge some of my deeper aspects. Through that unfulfilled desire, I had to face the challenge of validating myself and finding my own worth. I eventually discovered that I didn’t need to prove my value to anyone but myself.  

Urban Monk
For a while, I spent some time being a recluse and happened upon the wisdom of my body, emotions, mind and soul. That’s the first step in reclaiming your own power, which is to make the time to have a relationship with yourself.  

Inside Out
Reclaiming myself from the inside out was exactly that. I had to unravel all my sabotaging patterns and find the way to heal some old wounds to grow beyond them. I realized that life is a lot simpler than we may think. We complexify things to avoid responsibility for our own fulfillment and well-being. If we believe something is too complicated, it gives us an excuse to avoid the task of making the hard decisions that will better us. We overwhelm ourselves with the illusion that the undertaking is too difficult. So, we succeed in making ourselves feel weak, afraid and numb to take action.  

In Denial
We can certainly find ways and reasons to deny our problems or our potential. In that way, we side-step all our perplexing challenges and do nothing, hoping things will just get better or go away on their own. Denial is a manifestation of our conscious or unconscious decision to not take responsibility for our own lives.   

My Loser
In the end, I had to come to terms with my loser and learn to love that loser, embrace her, rather than hate, reject and deny that she existed. This was the first and most difficult step in breaking the loser's grip on me. The loser thrives on self-loathing and it relies on your self-loathing for its very existence. When you lovingly embrace the loser and expose it to your own love, it becomes powerless.  

Creative Communication
Now that the urban monk has left her cave, she has joined the world to share with others again. Life is a mosaic of patterns and layers. I enjoy re-creating this realization with my art, photography, and publishing. Embedded in all my pursuits is what I fondly refer to as a 'universal theory on human behavior'. I venture to share this through public speaking and writing—in my workshops, courses and books. In the past, I would hide inside my thoughts to escape my fears. I used to admire everyone but myself. Now I’m my biggest fan. No one will love you as much as you can learn to love yourself. For me, the final lifestyle change has been to make my dreams a reality, and to stop living in my dreams.

Birth of the Goddess
When I think about the words, "What will it take? Sister awake!" from a Tea Party song, I know that I need to vigilantly apply that passionate statement to myself. I have a desire to stand stronger for my opinions. I want to be more flexible during serious discussions and let go of pride when necessary.

When I feel disrespected, I wish to express this feeling freely and release my dread of rejection. That is one of the cornerstone fears that we all have to both face and overcome. It is the simplest and most difficult of truths and the foundation of inner and outer strength.

I am a continuous work in progress. I stay keen to observe my own behavior and take baby steps in holding my ground. This is somehow directly related to standing up to my own mother, father and stepmother. It’s taken years for me to feel ready to speak to them the way I can now. This has been the other essential cornerstone to reclaiming myself.  

Powerful Self-image
Presently, I want to reflect my new self-image with what I’ve discovered on the inside. I see myself as a Goddess, fully connected energetically to everything in the Universe. I need not worship other Gods and Goddesses, I acknowledge their metaphoric existence and attributes, but I feel that everyone is a Goddess/God, if only they can see their own magnificence.

In showing my inner Goddess to the outer world, I am naturally tribal and intuitive about being creative, colorful, and sparkly. Yet, knowing that I am an urban woman, I incorporate all these distinctions into a Goddess image as well. I have yearned to experience my tribal urges in a community that has these kinds of activities that I enjoy. The Urban Tribal Goddess workshops have been that outlet for me. During the evolution of these women's workshops (which my book is based on), I've solidified my vision about the value of using ourselves as an artistic canvas and being girls at play. It has been a fun journey painting our faces, styling our hair, coloring our nails and adorning our bodies. The best part for me has been doing it as a group and sharing this together. In the meantime, I’m continuously striving to expand and I value my own courage and perseverance to grow further into my personal feminine power. In this moment I trust that everything will unfold as it should.

One of the greatest tools we all have is self ‘WILL’. It is the fuel that will move you through your path, if you have the courage to use it.