When I was in Bismarck I had an opportunity, albeit far too brief, to visit with my pal Mary Senger.  Mary is Burleigh County’s emergency manager.  I don’t get to see or visit with Mary often enough.  She is my roomie at IAEM conferences, but that is only for a handful of days once a year.  All my other Mary interaction is sporadic – here and there when I am in her area or when she is in Fargo. 

Visiting with Mary when I see her so infrequently is like an information smorgasbord. We always have so much to share and talk about on so many fronts that we just bounce from this to that and back again.  Mary is one my favorite fierce girls – she is a take no prisoners, what you gonna’ do about it, kind of gal – you don’t mess with Mary (at least not if you are smart).  She has more backbone than the 90% of the human race. 

Well, you know that I am a fan of fierce girls.  There is a sense of self in fierce girls that is unmistakable and undeniable.  I revel in the spirit of fierce girls…I see the full range of possibilities in their determination and courage…I understand the fortitude evident in their confident stride.  Fierce girls live in their fierceness – not necessarily without fear, but definitely without retreat.

Mary gave me a little gift when I saw her on Thursday.  She gave me a tin of mints that says FIERCE on the cover.  That tin is a small but powerful reminder of the sisterhood that exists between fierce girls everywhere – an understanding of a reality owned by fierce girls – the reality of purpose.  Fierce girls know what they want to do and they do it.  Sometimes that is accomplished with a quiet perserverance and other times it is accomplished with a charging roar…it has so much less to do with the approach and so much more to do with the soul of a fierce girl that is evident across everything she does.  Fierce girls are the thread through society that keeps the peace and rages righteous wars.  Fierce girls are the fighters, the survivors, the rule benders, the change makers…they are the greatest expression of truthfulness to self.

I love my little tin.  I know I will keep that little tin long after all the mints are gone and the paint has all worn off.  I will keep it because I will know no matter what it looks like that it stands for something that matters to girls like me and Mary – it stands for the freedom to live in our own truth dictated by our own terms. 

A shout out to all the fierce girls – keep living large in your spirit and teach the young ones how to grow into their own fierceness – the world is a better place because fierce girls are in it.  😉

Day six hundred and seventy-six of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C