For as long as I can recall I have been smitten with dragonflies. Their beautiful wings beget a sense of WAH!  So graceful, beautiful, and fragile at the same time.
        The dragonfly begins life as a mud and water-bound insect with gills that limit it to living in water for one to five years. Twelve or more times it sheds its skin; each time remaining water and mud bound.
        After some time and great effort, it crawls out of the muddy water, makes its way toward the light, and rests on the top of a reed or a rock. There is a final shedding of skin as it transcends all earlier limitations and obstacles. With a long slender body and graceful, iridescent wings it takes flight as a beautiful dragonfly.
        This awe-inspiring creature we see flying around comes from the most ordinary of insects. Constantly shedding layers that are no longer useful, it works hard to pull itself out of the mud and water to embrace a new life. Without this shedding, it could never truly realize its beautiful self. Left clinging to old limitations, afraid of growth and change, or waiting for someone else to free it, the dragonfly would never evolve and recognize the beauty of its true nature.
        I believe the experience of women aging honestly can be as inspiring as the evolution of the dragonfly.  When we recognize,  and work to remove, our limiting self-concepts we allow ourselves to realize our inherent true nature. We transcend all that once bound us and, we too, can inspire a sense of “WAH!”