The Strength of Her Convictions – A Reminder!

September 23, 2018September 12, 2020 / Penny L Howe / 2 Comments

Dwelling deep inside is an abiding nurturing spirit and lest you ever forget it, the strength of a woman’s will is of a most awesome and passionate kind. Reread history. Many, many females of the past and present have had to endure, suffer, survive and overcome (just for being a female) all the while nurturing, loving and protecting as she can.

She has always understood, within her very being, her distinctive and real human role. The role to help insure the survival of her (sometimes violent and brutal) species. Intellect, caring and loving are a huge part of that capability. Now is a good time for females to be reassured that the way they are made is not a “weakness” but a strength.

She IS the strength of her convictions and regardless of being handicapped by those who think and tell her otherwise, she still will always be the She who most will count on, from birth going forward! It is not a coincidence that Nature is called Mother Nature. The sobriquet for the greatest force on the planet is Mother. Think on that one for a minute.

All humans are flawed. Each of us come with our own personal set of shortcomings. When I speak of females I am referencing the universal understanding of the gender as a whole, not one sort of individual.

We are not only equal, we are ‘equal to’ the challenges now being presented to us.

For all the women out there: This post is for you ~ be you a mom, daughter, sister, friend or other. Inside us is a strength that has always been. In no way are we the “weaker” sex. We never have been …

~ Penny L. Howe

If You Are A Girl … BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE!

July 18, 2015 / Penny L Howe / 21 Comments

Jodie Foster by Annie Leibovitz

If you are born a female, as soon as you’re able to communicate, limitations are put upon you, solely for the reason that you are a girl. These limitations are reinforced in our schools, our workplace, our communities and our homes. For many girls, it doesn’t take long to add to these limitations. They become self fulfilling.

YOU ARE as equal as any other human on this planet. You CAN achieve anything you believe you can. And the very first thing to achieve (regardless of your current age) is your belief in yourself. It begins there and once you’ve planted the seed of self-belief, nurture it. Keep it growing, bigger, better, stronger.

Be all that you can be … You owe it to yourself!

And YES, #unstoppable – a very good word to emulate!

♡

With all my love, support and affection to each and every one of you reading this,

~ Penny

A Woman’s Strength

May 13, 2015May 13, 2015 / Penny L Howe / 38 Comments

“All too often the strength & endurance of a woman is hidden, surfacing as needed … but always there!” ~ Plh

* * *
I can not emphasize enough the fact that a woman has an astonishing capability when it comes to enduring that which life throws her way.

So … for all you ladies out there, who get up every day enduring, surviving and managing (through all forms of adversity) to thrive … I say Way To Go!

YOU ROCK! DONT STOP! You’re setting an amazing example for the rest of us.

Thank you.

~ Penny

Being Female ~ Man’s Dichotomy

April 9, 2015April 9, 2016 / Penny L Howe / 19 Comments

♡

The thing is …
we (females) struggle with our place, in the order of things, every day. And men struggle with it too.

We understand the biology of things regarding the female body and the emotion of things, regarding falling in love. Also the nurturing of life and the spirituality of things.

It’s the fourth aspect of things where we run into problems. That is to say “perceived vs actual societal roles” related to our own personal desires for ourselves.

And while we females work this out (and we are), it remains difficult and confusing for all of us.

Perhaps more so for men than women. Bottom line here (I love the term “bottom line” because it means we’re getting to the heart of the issue) I sum up in the follow haiku:

being female
independently human
man’s dichotomy

~ Plh

♡

Thank you for stopping by, have a great weekend, hang in there!

With affection
Penny

The Beauty of a Woman

March 18, 2015 / Penny L Howe / 26 Comments

The beauty of a woman is not an exterior thing. Although from a physical perspective there are many beautiful women. The beauty of a woman isn’t just an interior thing. Most women are amazingly loving, caring and giving. The beauty of a woman lies in the unique combination of genes that created her.

She stands alone on several fronts. It is a given that ‘needs be’ she can accomplish more in a single day than thought possible but even that isn’t the main beauty of a woman.

Her very essence and nature draws people together. Encourager of Humanity if you like. She is a nurturer and a teacher (regardless of her own educational level) she will immediately go into a teaching mode with another when seeing the need. For most women it is instinctive. She is a nurse and seems to know when and how to fix a wound, a hurt, an ailing part of another human being.

And while she may look for her place in the order of things and struggle to be recognized for her true value and worth … know this … it is already there built into her very being.

She is a female and this defines her better than any other. Mother of all and essential to life, not because she carries, gives birth and then nurtures us as children, but because she also sustains us as adults.

And she always will … regardless of the ever increasing roles and responsibilities she has in her life.

Thanks for reading, have a wonderful remaining week and always remember … take care of you!

with much affection,

~ Penny

At the Heart of the Matter

January 1, 2015 / Penny L Howe / 21 Comments

“At the heart of every flower

are nurturing elements that help make it so beautiful,

our souls are like that, I think!” Penny L Howe

How we feel about ourselves – how we feel about each other. There is a direct correlation, you know. We ALL need to feel needed, cherished, important, of value. And the less we feel this way about ourselves, the less apt we are to reach out to others, to share and shore up their weakness and needs through love and care … even as they do for us.

At the heart of the matter is – the heart. All our hearts, the universal symbol of love. And our heart needs constant attention and nourishment in the form of love. So where to begin?

Well, I’d say with love of self, only as it relates to you deciding you are a good and capable human being. Start there. Then begin to reach out to others. You’ll find your own self worth grows in direct proportion.

Remember we all need nourishment – not just from food and drink, also in the form of emotional love and caring to insure our well-being!

Happy beginning of your New Year ~ and do take care of you! 🙂

~ Penny

Haibun Thinking – A Mother’s Love … Endless!

October 21, 2014 / Penny L Howe / 15 Comments

A Mother’s Love

The distinction of being a mother, understood by almost every single female on this planet, is to be fore-sworn as needs be, in the protection of her children! She will stand strong with this understanding, as necessary, on this battling planet called Earth!

She will stand alone, if she must. But she will stand and if she is struck down then another female will come to take her place. She is a female and a mother and when none other will do – she will insure that … life goes on!

endless enduring

distinction of a mother

insuring life goes on

This week’s Haibun Thinking Writer’s Challenge is the writing of haibun using a photo or a drawing as the prompt. I have chosen the beautiful drawing by Anja for my prompt. This was probably the easiest haibun I have ever written because as a mother, who loved her mother and so forth and so on, I know the truth of the words I write (as it is found repeatedly in history and today around the planet).

For more information about how you can be a part of this weekly writers challenge click HERE! Join in! Try your hand at haibun writing. I know a few of you writers out there and I think you’d be great at this style of writing!

Hoping everyone’s week is proceeding in a positive manner, take care of you,

~ Penny

The Strength of A Woman!

April 8, 2014April 9, 2014 / Penny L Howe / 14 Comments

Tears of Compassion

Tears do not make one weak. The salty liquid flows freely into the wounds of our trials, increasing resolve and determination to make things better – equal – balanced.

When looking at one of the symbols for justice, you will see it’s represented by a blindfolded female holding the balance scale. I’ve always found that intriguing and representative of how a woman’s role has historically been viewed – still is.

It is increasingly obvious that it is not the woman who is blinded by what she is or isn’t, but rather she is blindfolded by those who see her as – less than.

Personal strength is not about being more physically capable (although all bullies consider it so), strength is also about character, determination, our individual willingness and ability to care. To balance all of our human attributes with greater awareness and understanding and always with compassion. When a woman cries she demonstrates this – crying is not weakness. I repeat – not a weakness.

The sad truth is, too often, weakness of character manifests into physical brutality by an otherwise weak individual – to get their way. Winning by being mean, physically/verbally abusive and in the extreme, killing other people (even in the name of war) is often the easy way out. War achieves first and foremost – death and misery. Power, and the misguided belief “might makes right” has been in existence since the beginning of our caveman days, and continues on today in many areas of society, government, and big business.

A woman’s compassion is one of humanity’s greatest survival strengths. A man’s physical strength poses for him some of his greatest’s blind-spots and handicaps. Most women want to protect all life, inherently a part of their nurturing nature, and a large part of their strength.

Those who view women as “lesser than” also tend to consider life as just another commodity to be used – as needs be. Again history bears this out. So does the repeated raping and brutality of women, children and the planet itself that we ALL live on.

Universally recognizing the female’s important and ‘completely equal’ half in the “human equation of life”, along with her amazing and natural strengths, can only assist mankind in truly becoming more balanced – it’s time for the blindfold to be gone.

“Humanity will owe its survival in the future – as in the past –

to those with caring compassion and tears.”

Thank you,

Penny L Howe, 2014

Some things need repeating – if you’re a woman!

March 5, 2014March 5, 2014 / Penny L Howe / 8 Comments

It’s your life – own it!

I first wrote this piece a little over a year ago, and I’m posting it again because I believe it’s a message that we (women) need to be reminded of – again and again!

More than half of the people on this planet are female (this includes you and I)! We are not a minority in any way and this is your life, we’re talking about here. You are the one that breathes in and out of your body every day. You are the one who should be deciding how you want to live you life. YOU!

In the following movie clip from Aliens the heroine “Ripley” definitely encounters more things than we can ever imagine having to cope with in our lives.

But there is a point here. When something needs to be done. She does it. She makes the decisions she needs to make and makes them count!

We may not be facing aliens but every day we face all sorts of things to be dealt with. Our choices, our life. This includes speaking out on our beliefs and rights and defending them if necessary. Decide and then make it happen. It is your life, Don’t let others dictate how it’s going to be!

In the meantime, enjoy probably the greatest sci-fi heroine ever! And yes, she definitely owns her life!

Thanks for your visit, remember stay strong and take care of you!

~ Penny

No Safe Side to Midnight – Scarier Sequel to earlier Scary Story!

October 31, 2013October 31, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 26 Comments

I wrote (for me) a scary story a few months ago. The Safer Side of Midnight. Being Halloween I was persuaded to write a sequel to this story. We left our heroine in a rather precarious situation, happily she manages to get away (that’s another story though). But for this story it’s Midnight and our heroine is …

Scary story, part 2

No Safe Side to Midnight

Was this hell? She couldn’t tell! Things were so unclear, she opened her eyes, only to be horrified by what she saw staring back at her.

“Do you see what I see, my pretty one?” He leans in towards her, his words smooth, a sinuous whisper.

She shudders, struggling in a futile attempt to move, trying to look away even as his hands and arms hold her securely. Staring deeply into her lovely green eyes he notices the gathering cloudiness as they fill with fear, dread … and … something more.

“Ah, yes” He thinks. He feels both her fear and her growing desire. He pulls her closer, sighing deeply. His hot breath flays her flesh, while his lips rest gently against her ear.

“I can feel it, you know” he whispers. “The evil without. The boundaries of your immaculate being contain an evil. Not inside your soul, mind you.” He pauses to laugh. “Not yet anyway!”

He laughs harder. A harsh sound, resonating like echoes from bat wings, flapping in a cave, wakening for a midnight feast. She closes her eyes, he continues to whisper, assaulting her other senses.

“The evil you wear without is of the finest veneer. A covering so paper thin as to have almost no existence.” His tongue savors her taste as he lazily laps an earlobe, pausing once again in contemplation. Her body shivers. He laughs. Playing with her emotions is such a delicious sensation.

“Yes, hardly there at all. This evil laid upon you in a previous life. You were so innocent, more easily tempted then, but it’s still there, your weakness. I feel this exquisite coating, layered upon the exterior of your soul. This ‘oh so slender veneer’ of evil calls you to me as does your purity.”

“Such a heady mixture of both, I can barely contain myself now that I have you, my ‘oh so’ pretty one.” His voice rich, sultry, seductive, playing with the nuance of each whispered word, hypnotic in its intensity of purpose.

She feels him staring at her again! Compelling! She opens her eyes. His look, piercing. She tries again to turn away. Her fear, the captured prey of a wild beast. A beast as surely he is, and yet there is a longing – growing deep inside her – a craving, a desire! The fear is real, yet so is the growing need. How to resist? She senses him, can smell his heat and her own, a dampness to her skin, she shakes with the intensity of need, panting …

Waking suddenly, she sits straight up in her bed! Another nightmare. They were becoming more frequent and certainly more realistic.

More than a year since her escape from the cemetery. A lucky thing. The ‘being’ that had first spoken to her had whisked her away from the others. She still wasn’t sure how he’d accomplished this feat. Her body and spirit still badly bruised from the ordeal. He had left her in another part of the woods. His final words were, “I’m saving you for myself, I’ll find you later, after I take care of Him”. She wasn’t sure what sort of creature he was, but grateful for her life, she had made her way home.

And then she moved, far away. Changed her name, did everything she could to leave no trail. Created a new life. The past had stayed in the past until recently – when the dreams began.

What was she going to do now? During daylight hours she had begun to recall previous lives. She remembered the constant running but knew there was something else. But what? She needed to remember in order to protect herself; and even more to the point – why?

Why were they searching for her? Who were they? If it came to that, who was she and what is so special that she can’t remember? And in the meantime – Dear God! She covered her face with her hands. A nightmare when asleep, a nightmare when awake. Too much for any mortal to take, and now she’s beginning to wonder – is she mortal? She doesn’t know anymore.

Looking through her bedside window she could see it was still dark outside. Did she even dare try to get more sleep? She had been safe during the day, since she moved. But now, he could find her in her dreams. And there were two of them chasing her, the creature from the cemetery and the demon he had summoned. It was all too much. Her memories of the past, her recent memories and now her fear.

What was she going to do?

“Perhaps I can help?” A voice said quietly, from the other side of her bedroom. There was someone there. In her room, sitting in the bedroom chair. Shadowy, indistinct but there, none-the-less … and she was awake.

No safe side to midnight!

~ Penny