Blessings for My Girl, I

For a while now, I've been wanting to record a series of blessings for my girl, so she has them for the rest of her life. This is the first.

A Blessing for my Daughter from Sarah Winfrey on Vimeo.

The text, in case you can't hear:

My darling one,

I have no doubt that you will excel

in the things our world calls feminine,

that you will

nurture the future when it lies in your arms 

and make your peace with 

the daily tasks

that give small ones a place to grow

and encourage him

to get out of bed tomorrow. 

But if there ever comes a day

when you must fight,

by word, or wit, or weapon

against injustice,

to defend the ones you love,

in the name of those who have no name,

know this:

the warrior-spirit

can call a woman's heart its home

and lie at peace beside

the quiet spirits

you also find inside.

There is no inherent contradiction

to rest in one moment,

work in another

and fight in the one after that,

and there is little that can stand against

the fire in a woman's heart.

May you tend the flames

and control the fire within

so you can say,

when you dust your hands on your apron

and sheathe a knife in your boot,

"This is woman, too."

Small one, I hope you never have to do true battle. But if you do - no, when you do - may you fight well and never feel like your fight is in contradiction to the rest of your nature or your life. May you feel as much peace changing the world with Eowyn and Cordelia as you do with Anne and Emily. May you learn, like Jo, to live in harmony with yourself, all of yourself, and may you love the life you lead, treasuring every moment, even the hard ones.