Love Letters to 7 Wild Women I Admire

International Women’s Day has always been a day of honor and respect for the women that have paved the way for us so we can stand in our power today.  There is definitely still a long way to go, but women worldwide are a united with passion in their hearts. Today, I am honoring the wild women that have impacted my life in profound ways & because of them – I will never be the same.

Mother of all Wild Women, who inspired millions over the decades with her fierce and raw nature, Frida! Someone asked me once why I was so enamored with you and I don’t remember my response but I recall thinking about exactly what it was that has drawn me to you. I admire how much you loved yourself the way you are. Your works show us how strong, resilient and unique you were. Even in your own flaws and pain, you consistently made rules for your life and lived by them. You were a woman of a future yet to come. There was no path before you that you followed, you walked your  own. You have been an example to carve out my own path, to never look outside myself for validation, to love and accept myself as I am – with my flaws, imperfections and scars.

Many would not think of you as a wild woman, dearest Marilyn. For long, I also didn’t see you as one. I rather thought of you as a wounded soul who only wanted to be loved and accepted every kind of bad treatment for crumbles of love from people in her life. But I have been there, too and I know to live through that wound and overcome it, you have to be a fierce, badass woman with resilience and strength. You were ahead of your time, a new type of women that didn’t exist back then – a woman who created herself and went ahead and used her power to provide for herself and help other women as well.

Wild Sister Steinem, I learned most about feminism from you in my young teenage years. You taught me what it meant to disrupt the system, ask the right questions, protest and stand up for your sisters. You were not afraid of being sexy and intelligent the same time, you helped women to reclaim back their bodies that men in power sexualized in our societies. You helped me to understand how important journalism and our words are, that media is a tool to alchemize our power to uplift us all.

Miss Maya, you inspired me to write my very first poem and article, to send my short novel in a contest as a kid and share the world in me. I have not stopped writing and I have not stopped sharing my view on the world. You showed me the many ways of being a woman and the power I held in that diamond in between my legs. You showed me new ways of love, tenderness and perspective. This is how wild women share their light with each other.

While many of women don’t know about you, brave Theodora, I am here to enhance your reputation. I learned about you and your greatness while I was studying archaeology, and I was swooned by you. Coming from humble beginnings as an actress to become Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire is no small thing. Personally handling political affairs, building relationships with other foreign leaders was exceptional at your time. You were one of the first rulers in history to recognize women’s rights, altering divorce and property laws to give greater benefits to women, building convents for ex-prostitutes, introducing harsher penalties for rape and prohibiting the trafficking of young girls. I dare to say, you might have been the first feminist at a time when stating your truth often lead to mysterious deaths. Kudos!

You daring woman, Ida. My biggest inspiration when it comes to traveling and starting new things, is you! Being a solo traveler woman in the 19th century, and starting your journeys after you turned 50 showed me that everything is possible and it’s never too late to finally start with something, that it’s worth to stay authentic and follow your dreams despite what society says. You showed me that travel means much more than staying at luxury places for holidays, but it can be a combination of relaxation and learning. You revolutionized my narrow villager mindset and opened a world of adventures and possibilities for me, in a world where I can be anything.

Many people might only know you by your divine beauty, an actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood, but you are much more to me. You showed me in my twenties that it is possible for a woman to be everything at once – a glamorous movie star and a brainy nerd who invents the technology behind wi-fi. There are no stereotypes. You were unrecognized at your time and people only wanted to see you for what they wanted to see you, but you dared to go beyond. That is the spirit of the wild woman.

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