She.

Ah, women!

Are you soft and demure, or a bit of an introvert with a racy siren underneath all that reserve? Are you an extrovert, loud, opinionated, passionate, and fierce? Or have you embodied all of these at one time or another, and at other times, none at all? How dynamic, how multi-layered and yummy you are in all your shapes and flavors, all your predilections and passions.

Women are ethereal creatures of stardust and magic. The very essence of a woman draws you in, and you know the encounter will leave you changed, or even broken. Broken is good; it means magic can enter your cracks and make you golden. Who wouldn’t want an encounter like that?

Who is she that stirs the loins and the soul?

She walks into a room like she owns it because she probably does. Not just the room, but the energy, the undercurrent, the catch in your throat. She doesn’t knock politely on the door of change; she takes it off the hinges, reupholsters the furniture, and installs a flashing neon sign welcoming all.

History has always been too small for her. She's not a side character in a king's tale. She is as strategic as Cleopatra, as resourceful as Helen Keller, and as fierce as Naledi Pandor, all smiles, resolve, and strategy. She bears prophets and kings, and births generations. Her story is written and rewritten; and recast a thousand times because the truth of who she is is a challenge for the patriarchy to bear.

She is all things, everywhere, all the time. She leads in heels in boardrooms and bedrooms, in boots or slippers, barefoot on cool tiles or along hot desert sands. She is adaptable and entirely alluring in her wholeness. She leads with spreadsheets and speeches, with lullabies and labour pains, with protest placards and poetry.

She is red lipstick and golden locks. She is belly laughter and a sharp tongue. She kisses and curses with her unyielding mouth, and her language is laced with love or with lust. Yet, it is in her silence that she speaks the loudest.

This isn’t about soft versus strong. She is both. She is more. She is steadfast in her faith and unwavering in her belief. She is gentle with her children, savage with her principles, and terrifyingly calm when the world starts to unravel. This is the becoming needed in today’s savage world. She will keep her house standing with one hand and tear down the systems with the other. There will be time once more to be pretty and demure, but for now, she needs to be fierce and fighting…fists in the air, taking to the streets, until balance is restored.

Every revolution that has ever stuck its landing has had a woman in its roots:

• The grandmother who smuggled secrets under her apron.
• The mother who marched.
• The sister who screamed.
• The lover who whispered.
• The daughter who dared.

This soul of the world wears bangles, keffiyehs, hums freedom songs, and tells truths most aren’t ready for.

So follow her.

Not because she needs your obedience, but because your salvation lies in her steps.

Are you ready for the becoming?