The IAW International Community welcomes back Tempest Charles, Sophomore at Agnes Scott College, as its August 4th blogger! Tempest will visit the blog during the week to respond to your posts. Post your questions, encouragement, and stories here to initiate a conversation with Tempest and with our community around the world. Our theme this month is “Author Your Own Life”

My Real Life

“I can’t wait until my real life starts,” I would mutter under my breath sometimes while writing an unnecessarily long paper or hopelessly trying to find a ride to an event.  Before I knew it those words became my quiet justification for remaining comfortably idle. Who cares if I didn’t change my circumstances, it wasn’t my real life yet, right? It was not until this summer, that the universe whispered back “Tempie, this is your real life.”

Whether nineteen or ninety-nine, our “Real Life” is the very one we are experiencing as our minds interpret this blog, in this moment. Like the second hand on a clock, the decisions made throughout the day may seem fleeting, but each decision paves the way for the next moment in our lives.

In each moment we are given the opportunity to write the next line in our story. Under no circumstances should we allow someone else to write the story of our lives. To author our own lives means to create its purpose, to make changes wherever necessary, to dedicate it to whomever and whatever we wish, and to make the subject matter anything within our wildest imagination.

Rejoice in the beauty and power of Now. I say this to you in hopes that while I read and write my own words, they will root even more deeply within me. May we all, as fortunate beings on this planet, find the power to seek self-actualization now, not tomorrow, by picking up the pens we’ve been given, our thoughts and decisions, and writing down the truth of our lives so that all of the world may be inspired and blessed.

Tempest Charles Bio: Tempest is a sophomore at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. After college she plans to travel the world to gather women’s stories and views of beauty, sexuality, and holistic health. Tempest’s Buddhist practice encourages her to learn from and teach others. Her calling is evolving but will include helping women and their families reach self-actualization and pass the gift of good holistic health to the generations that follow them. Tempest’s current blog, “The Delicious Life,” follows her personal journey to discover a healthier, more fulfilling life. Visit Tempest’s blog at http://modernmariposa.wordpress.com.

The IAW International Community welcomes Tempest Charles, Sophomore at Agnes Scott College, as its July 7 blogger! Tempest will visit the blog during the week to respond to your posts. Post your questions, encouragement, and stories here to initiate a conversation with Tempest and with our community around the world. Out theme this month is “Loving Our Bodies, No Matter What!”

The Forgiving Body

I invite any woman who is having difficulty loving their body to find the nearest park, marina, beach or garden and sit. Sit right in the middle of nature and breathe deeply, look at the flowers, watch the bees and the ants move with purpose, imagine what may be happening in the dirt underneath your feet. Once you have taken in all of your surroundings, I want you to contemplate the connectedness of all things. Recognize that the same Universe from which the beauty of nature erupted, came wonderful You!

It was this realization that inspired my search for The Delicious Life. After years of being overweight and displeased with my body, I began to realize that this body of mine has only responded to the things I have put it through with forgiveness. I have fried, dyed, cut, locked, braided, straightened, and curled my hair numerous times and still, I have not lost any hair. I have been vegetarian, vegan, omnivorous, foodless and binged and my body has continued to function keeping all of my vitals in line. I have over-washed, not removed make up from, scrubbed, plucked at and pierced, my face and still, it has forgiven me.

For me, loving my body meant respecting it enough to work out two hours a day taking classes I love or jogging for the sake of my heart. It meant discovering the deliciousness of foods that came straight from the ground, drinking enough water to rid my system of toxins and polishing the mirror that is my spirituality by chanting daily and helping others. Through this journey I have discovered my love for being healthy, my confidence in myself, and the compassion to love, understand and cater to the needs of my beautiful body no matter what.

Tempest Charles Bio: Tempest will return to Agnes Scott College in the fall as a sophomore. After college she plans to travel the world to gather women’s stories and views of beauty, sexuality, and holistic health. Tempest’s Buddhist practice encourages her to learn from and teach others. Her calling is evolving but will include helping women and their families reach self-actualization and pass the gift of good holistic health to the generations that follow them. Tempest’s current blog, “The Delicious Life,” follows her personal journey to discover a healthier, more fulfilling life. Visit Tempest’s blog at http://modernmariposa.wordpress.com.