The Fearless Girl

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My sister lives in New York City. I had visited the Big Apple a few years back but had not since the “Fearless Girl” statue had been constructed and raised in 2017, to stand mighty on Wall Street, NYC.

Originally, she stood facing the famous 7,100 pound Charging Bull statue, at the oldest park in New York: Bowling Green (circa 1733). She was placed directly in front of the bull on March 7, 2017, the night before International Women’s Day. The statue was commissioned and designed by Kristen Visbal, as part of a marketing campaign for a gender-diverse index fund.

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Kelly Spencer – Happy Healthy YOU

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The bronze Fearless Girl statue measures much smaller than the bull at approximately 50 inches tall and weighs about 250 pounds. She was placed facing the bull and seemed to be staring the bull down.

Since then, the Fearless Girl has been relocated, making her stand outside the very temple of American capitalism. That is where we found her on our visit. The hands-on-her-hips statue has become a spunky symbol of feminine empowerment, now at her new permanent home, on the street facing the New York Stock Exchange.

I was excited to meet her.

Visbal, as printed in USA Today, said she “made sure to keep her features soft; she’s not defiant, she’s brave, proud, and strong, not belligerent”. She modeled the sculpture on two children, but many of the distinguishing features were removed so that it would be universally appealing. A child who would represent all children “so everyone could relate to the Fearless Girl.”

It was a perfect reminder at the start of a new year.

“Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears.” – Richard Wilkins.

We can all stand for a little more non-belligerent, non-defiant confidence that allows us to be brave enough to manifest our dreams. The Fearless Girl inspired me to think about how children live. It has been said that children are closest to God, whatever that might mean for you. What we can all agree on is that children embody purity, love, fearlessness and freedom.

Unfortunately, as we live, experiences as we grow and receive messages from those that we love, as children we shift, often we lose these powerful qualities. Adults, in our conditioned state, unconsciously transfer or project our learned fears, doubts, anger, shame and guilt, onto children. Unfortunately, children act as powerful vibrant mirrors that reflect our imposed limiting beliefs and fears we have consciously or unconsciously placed on them. As adults, we protect ourselves within and often, we project without, sometimes onto the fearless and pure child around us.

So how do we tap into our fearless child within? How can we seek them, while stripping back the imposed limited belief systems, so that we can tap into that non-belligerent, non-defiant confidence that allows us to be brave enough to manifest our dreams, at any age?

Just think about it for a moment. If you create your reality; if you practice self-leadership of your own universe, then you are in control of what happens in your life. Remember all the imagining and manifesting you did as a kid and how much fun it was to make pretend? Can you recall how we would do anything to get what we wanted as we believed it to be so important? When did we stop believing that we create our own reality or that our goals are very important?

We may have been taught that the power is outside of us by parents, teachers, bosses, religions, governments and other authorities. Each of have a set of conditioned concepts about the outside world and about us that we have accumulated through years of experience; as well as conditioned emotional responses that include fear and pain. While we have developed our own beliefs there are often the beliefs of others who are influential in our lives.

But if we had more power than that? What if the fearless empowerment we seek is inside of each one of us, just waiting to be acknowledged and accessed?

“You have had the power all along my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself.” – Glenda, the good witch from Wizard of Oz.

Here a few tips to tap into your power and inner fearlessness:

1. Be present. When we spend too much time in the past, replaying old stories, we are not present. If we are worried about the future or always planning, we are missing out in the present moment. Mindfulness practices such as yoga, meditation, tai chi, mindful walking or even a few slow deep breaths, bring you back to this moment. The only current reality.

2. Go inward. If we are constantly looking externally for our power, then our power may be found temporality but can be taken away from us at any given moment. Our true power is within ourselves. Our insights, our intuition and our dreams start right within ourselves.

3. Be aware of fear in your life. Before we can begin overcoming fear, we must admit and accept that we have it. For some, fear is a “normal” state of being, and that is quite a bit to overcome all at once. Write down some aspects of your life where you feel fear. Give them some space to be validated and acknowledged. Perhaps read them over each day and see if the size of them can be diminished.

4. Use your imagination. If you could have anything, what would you want? Fear can be the number one barrier to living confidently. If you were not afraid, what would you do? Can you find the power within you that deems your dreams more meaningful and significant that your apprehension?

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt.

5. Adopt a mindset of gratitude. Whenever you feel fear, try to feel grateful instead. Grab a gratitude rock, make a gratitude journal or simply shift the thinking to what you appreciate in your life. You can also imagine the dreams your desire as already manifested and try to feel gratitude for them.

If you are interested in learning more about releasing fear and learning tools to find your fearless empowerment within, join me at a Manifest Your Dreams workshop on Sunday, Jan. 20. For more details email kelly@indigolounge.ca.