The Dare Dreamer Movement by Julene Fleurmond

Soul Inspired is a word of inspiration from women and creative minds who have overcome obstacles and lived & dreamed boldly.

This Soul Inspired is about how blessing can come from anywhere, even hardship, if you choose to see it. I often have to remind myself to view the blessings in a situation whenever hardship occurs, and to overcome my dark times in order to be able to live more fully.

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.”
– Alice Walker

Herstory
Alice Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an author and civil rights activist. When Alice Walker was eight years old, she lost sight in one eye when one of her older brothers shot her with a BB gun by accident. She went on to received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 for her critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple.

“Is it not true, then, that my life with all its limitations
touches at many points the life of the World Beautiful?
Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I
learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content…”

“Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes Hope with a sweet, sad smile and whispers, ‘There is joy in self-forgetfulness’. So I try to make the light in others’ eyes my sun, the music in others’ ears my symphony, the smile on others’ lips my happiness.”

– Hellen Keller, The Story of My Life

Herstory
“Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 � June 1, 1968) American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college. What is less well known is how Keller’s life developed after she completed her education. She was a prolific author, was well traveled, and campaigned for workers’ rights, women’s suffrage, and many other progressive causes.”

Biography Source: Wikipedia

Ever been overwhelmed by all of your passions, and had no idea how to fit everything you want to do into your life? I’m one of those people who has so many interests that it took changing my major about five times to settle down with one. From business, to design, journalism and medicine, it’s sometimes hard balancing all of my interests. A while ago I picked up this book from the library and couldn’t put it down:

Wow! his book described me exactly, and the advice in it shows how you can still pursue every one of your passions, even if people around you discourage you. I loved the tips for students and entrepreneurs. With enough balance and planning throughout life you won’t be a “jack-of all-trades and master of none”, but a real Renaissance woman.

The book gives examples of “Renaissance Souls” throughout history, like Dr. Maya Angelou who has done everything from acting and producing, to writing and being a civil-rights activist. I loved this book so much that I was taking notes, re-reading parts and had to renew it 4 times (the limit) and held it hostage for another few weeks or so raking up some library fines. It was worth it though! You can find out more at the author’s website or pick up a copy at Amazon. I think I may have to buy it because I still haven’t finished it.

One more way to become the essence of a Renaissance Woman.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed by your problems, think about the people around the world who are in situations much worse than yours. Instead of dwelling on your problems, find a way you can help someone else with theirs…

“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.”

Here are some inspirational words from who I think is
The Epitome of a Renaissance Woman – Dr. Maya Angelou

“I don’t know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, ‘well, if I’d known better I’d have done better,’ that’s all.”

“So you say to people who you think you may have injured, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then you say to yourself, ‘I’m sorry.’ If we all hold on to the mistake, we can’t see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can’t see what we’re capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one’s own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that’s rough. But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don’t have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as heck we should never teach.”

-Dr. Maya Angelou