Читать книгу Silenced and Sidelined - D Lynn D Arnold - Страница 18

The last category is her description of her body when she feels silenced. Body, heart, and soul include stories that give a more in-depth insight into the impact of silencing. For instance, a senior faculty member at a university stated, “I refer to that time as living with sandpaper on my soul.” I’ve heard women describe heart-sickness, heartbreak, along with soul-dying, and body-trampling pain when silenced. These are not random experiences that leave this sensation, but ongoing, continuous periods.

My real estate–selling sister is three years older, and I idolized her as a teenager. I remember blasting T’Pau’s 1987 song, “Heart and Soul,” in her brown Chevette the summer after her freshman year of college. I would sing the lyrics about giving a little but not begging for love in the process.

I believe at the root of my being that leadership is a call for courage, heart, and soul. We have to be somewhat in love with the purpose that calls for our leadership, and when we lose our heart, we can begin to feel like beggars.

So, who are these villains and silencers who would evoke metaphors of fights, death, isolation, and loss of heart or soul? I would love to paint them as dark felons who relish in criminal behavior. I wish it were that simple or true—because then we could put them in a category that we believe they belong and turn the key.