Solange Knowles Accepts Her Journey and We Should Too
In five minutes and thirty-three seconds, Solange Knowles summed up womanhood.
At age 31-years-old, she summed up what it’s like to be a woman who leans in. A woman with ambitions. A woman who is sensitive and vulnerable. A woman who carries her own load as well as the weight of those around her.
As I watched her accept her Glamour Women of the Year award with solemn gratitude and at times her sentences stunned with melancholy, it reminds me of triumphs and trials of womanhood. Here are some of her best quotes that reminds us all how to appreciate and accept the good and the bad of our personal journeys.
Understanding What it Takes to Achieve
“When I was about eleven-years-old someone told me, ‘You got to shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land amongst the stars,’” Solange said as she dismissed the notion of taking this route to success. “I was interested in the journey there. How does one shoot for the moon?…Did they slowly evolve into the divine beings that they are and were they afraid? As I journey on into my own evolution, I’m grateful I never found the answers and I’m grateful I probably never will. I simply stopped needing to know.”
Letting Go of the Pressure
“We as women are told the second we come into our own that we need to be shooting for the moon, hold the moon in the palms of our hands, turn it until the sun comes to morning, nurture all of the rings around our orbits and look and feel like a goddess with crown and glory while doing so.”
Be Fearless
“I’ve embarked on a new set of challenges before me, and I’ve been afraid. For I know that fear is ugly but fear has no face. It stares at you from many dimensions but it’s worst angle is dead on. I’m looking forward to the day I greet fear wholeheartedly, nose to nose, and tell it ‘You have met your goddamn match.”
Accepting the Good, Bad & Ugly
“My journey has been a rise and fall, it’s been ugly, it’s been loud, it’s been disruptive, it’s been long, it’s often been painful, but it’s been FREE, it’s been beautiful, it’s been mine!”
Unlike Solange, I wanted the answers, the map, and directions to get to the moon and have the stars, too. It took me a long time to appreciate my journey but, I still struggle to take time to appreciate the small steps, smell the roses and take in the progress I’ve made while trying to live in my purpose. It takes courage and maturity to want to experience a journey. One’s journey can have crossroads, detours, mountains to climb, rivers to swim and obstacles to overcome. The challenges that lie ahead make us fear to reach our potential and shooting for the moon that we all aspire to land on. It’s the very thing that prevents us from even trying or taking that first step. In the age of instant gratification, people forget that all great things don’t come easy. No one just lands on their achievements, successes, and wins. Like all things, there is a process to go through and a journey to experience that prepares us to receive the things we pray for.
The obstacles Solange has faced while building her career out of the shadow of her superstar sister Beyonce is just one of the many things that she has faced while on her journey. However, Solange recognizes that without life’s lemons, it wouldn’t be the journey she was meant to walk. It was her path to take and it was her decisions to make that has led her to this very moment in her life. It was her acceptance of the good, bad and ugly that allows her to stand tall, hold her head up and live in her truth.
How are you going to be more accepting of your journey in 2018?
Photo credit: Getty