By Rosie Moore

How many people do you know that are phenomenal? Not many, I would guess. But what does phenomenal mean? In the dictionary it is described as a rare occurrence. So, a phenomenal woman would be a “rare” woman, wouldn’t you say? Which comes down to the fact that I don’t know many “rare”   women. In my lifetime I believe I knew one or two of these rare ladies. However, they didn’t write books, or poetry, or essays, they were just rare in the way they lived their lives, full of kindness, always being there when needed, never being judgmental, projecting happiness in all their walks of life.

Even if I didn’t know anyone phenomenal close to me, I was glad to be able to enjoy the works of  other famous phenomenal people. Such as Maya Angelou.

This lady was an American author, poet, and civil  rights activist. Born 1928 in St. Louis, she passed away in Winston-Salem, May 28, 2014, a little over a year ago.

She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and was credited with a list of plays. I’m going to quote a few verses from her poem, “To A Phenomenal Woman” because they are so earthy and true.

“When I was in my younger days.

I weighed a few pounds less,

I needn’t hold my tummy in

To wear a belted dress.

 

But now that I am older,

I’ve set my body free;

There’s comfort of elastic,

Where once my waist would be.”

 

You can read the rest of this delightful poem if you have a computer, find her on Google.

Here are some other quotes from her:

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.

No, we can’t all be poets, writers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, but we can be phenomenal in our own right. Believe in yourself! We women are phenomenal–yes we are!

 

Thought for the day: Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us. Oscar Wilde

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