5 Badass Women Who Have Shaped My Life.
It’s National Women’s History Month!
And that means we have to get real about the women who have (by their writing) shaped, molded, and impacted my life in the past few years.
I could honestly write a list of 100 women who have impacted me. Women are flipping amazing. I think of who I am and who I’ve become and truly I think of the women who have chosen to see me, invest in me, and call me into a truer essence of who I am.
But for the sake of today, I’m giving you my top 5 female authors and how they’ve changed my life.
1. Geneen Roth
Geneen Roth wrote the book Women, Food, and God and it was the first time anybody ever laid out to me the emotional, spiritual, and physical connection of food and body. Her book is amazing. She is in my mind the pioneer of dissecting emotional eating and giving us such a thorough look at why we are dispositioned to use food as a tool to cope with emotion. It’s epic.
One of my favorite quotes:
“Hell is wanting to be somewhere different from where you are. Being one place and wanting to be somewhere else . . . . Wanting life to be different from what it is. That's also called leaving without leaving. Dying before you die. It's as if there is a part of you that so rails against being shattered by love that you shatter yourself first.”
2. Meggan Watterson
Meggan Watterson wrote a book called Mary Magdalene Revealed and y’all this one was revolutionary for me. Meggan introduces her reader to the book of Mary, a long lost account of Mary Magdalene as she walked beside Jesus. As a woman who grew up in the evangelical world with an over-abundance of male voices, this book opened my eyes to a fresh perspective of Jesus and the feminine. It’s tender, enlightening, graceful, and so damn powerful. It’s a must read for anyone who grew up in basic white Christianity and is looking to have a fuller picture of Jesus of the gospels.
One of my favorite quotes:
“Sin in Mary’s gospel is not about a long list of moral or religious laws; it’s not about wrong action. Sin is simply forgetting the truth and reality of the soul—and then acting from that forgetful state. The body then, the human body, isn’t innately sinful. “Sin” is when we believe we are only this body, these insatiable needs, these desires and fears the ego conjures. “Sin” is an “adultery,” or an illegitimate mixing, a mistaking of the ego for the true self, rather than remembering that the true self is the soul. The soul lives in the silence, the stillness we have to meet with inside us.”
3. Linda Kay Klein
Linda wrote an amazing book called Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free.
Listen, if you’re someone who grew up in purity culture, this book is for YOU. Linda writes an honest and research approach account of the trauma and destruction caused by purity culture. Her stories are way too relatable, and in her writing she unravels the destructive narratives that many of us absorbed in purity culture and she helps navigate the messy space of rewriting our own, and true narratives when it comes to sexuality. She’s a voice to be reckoned with and a healing and validating perspective for so many.
One of my favorite quotes:
“The purity message is not about sex. Rather, it is about us: who we are, who we are expected to be, and who it is said we will become if we fail to meet those expectations.
This is the language of shame.”
4. Alisa Vitti
Alisa Vitti wrote the book Woman Code, and I always say she wrote what I consider the hormone Bible. For years I struggled with crazy PMS symptoms, mood swings, cramps, and undeniable cravings. No one ever told me that it was because of hormone imbalance. In 2017, I discovered Alisa’s work and it was revolutionary to me. She breaks down the hormonal system in a way that is so easy to digest, and she helps women understand how to support their bodies through food and practices that create hormone balance. If you’re looking to feel more connected to your body and have a deeper understanding of your moods and symptoms in relation to food, this book is a must.
One of my favorite quotes:
“Most women know very little about our hormonal biochemistry, and as a result, we’re making choices about our menstrual care, fertility, and libido that have long-term negative repercussions.”
5. Cleo Wade
I can’t talk about impactful authors without talking about one of my favorite poets, Cleo Wade. Cleo wrote a book titled Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life and I have gone to this book endless times to give myself the space to feel what I need to feel. Her words, her wisdom, and her deep understanding of the feminine rock me every time. She’s a remarkable writer and you can’t help but find yourself at tears and fully understood in her words.
One of my favorite quotes:
“And may your first love last forever.
P.S. You are your first love. Take care of yourself.”
That’s it! Five amazing women who have shaped my life with their writing! I’d love to hear yours! Send me a DM on instagram @bykaraelise and let me know what authors and words have shaped your life!
xx
kara
