“One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, ‘My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
‘One is Evil – It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
‘The other is Good – It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.’
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’
The old Cherokee simply replied, “‘The one you feed.’”
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What is the part of you that you keep locked away? The intimate, secret place that you only let out into the open every once in a while? Like the story of the two wolves, in women, there are two sides to ourselves. We have the responsible, professional self which deals with the day to day adult things like going to work or raising a family, and the other side which is wilder, the part which longs to be free to live the life we’ve always dreamt of. It’s the mare in an enclosure who more than anything wants to run fast and hard toward the horizon, to feel the wind in her face, and know the strength in her muscles can carry her wherever she wants to go.
Yet, knowing this, we keep our wild spirit hidden away, locked in our boudoir, saved for an intimate moment with a special someone. And for some people this is a choice, we can choose to reserve our wildness for the opportune moment, but for many, the women who long to be free, this reservation feels like a prison, and we don’t know how to escape.
How to Feed Your Wild Spirit
Contrary to what you have been told in the past, you don’t have to always do what you’re told. You don’t have to always make the “responsible” choice at the expense of your happiness, buy the sensible shoes or work in a job you hate because that’s what others have told you to do. You don’t have to keep your intimate, secret self locked away. You don’t have to feed the part of yourself that feels the need to conform, listens to harmful criticism, or tells you that you can never have the life your dream. Instead, feed the other part of yourself, the wild spirit who assures you that there is something more to this life than just doing what’s expected of you.
It’s a powerful, transformative thing when a woman recognizes her own value, and begins to treat her wild spirit as a sacred, motivational force that will launch her on the path she’s always longed to be on.
For me, this is one of the best parts of Boudoir Photography, watching woman bloom like wildflowers and reveal the intimate parts of themselves that they kept hidden inside, because they were afraid of what would happen once they let them free. And then, once they’ve released that fear and tension, their faces light up and they leave with a profound sense of confidence that’s untamed and incredibly powerful, and they are renewed.
