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For years now I have had this strange and powerful calling towards being a “Warrior.” On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2018, I channeled the vision for Women Advocates Rising or “WAR” and realized when flipped on its head it spelled “RAW.” I strongly believe that being vulnerable, being raw, is the truest form of courage, of being a true Warrior. I have had vivid dreams of Women Warriors of past giving me messages for my leadership. During meditation, I have received clear messages of my purpose in this lifetime: I AM the Warrior Woman that Calls Forth Aliveness in Humanity. But what the hell does this mean in the context of our current lifetime, living and working in the privileged existence that many of us have? How dare I call myself a Warrior when all my needs are met in every way and when actual war is taking place in our world? As we are confronted with vivid images barraging us of women and children fleeing their country by foot with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, it is calling me into a deepening of what it means to lead WARRIOR SCHOOL and this movement of empowering women leaders and advocates to rise and embrace their feminine leadership, to embrace their Inner Warriors. These news stories make me weep with a deep grief. They call me to look at our current world and wonder: where the hell are we? How far have we really come? Depending where you are in our world, you can see current stories of an entire range of time all at once, like thousands of years are all spanning within the now. Some of us sitting in our privileged worlds, our cushy homes, on our strong internet, numbing our minutes with scrolling and wondering what we want in this lifetime. Others focused solely on the safety of themselves and their children, on having food to eat and shelter to keep them safe, on not being killed. When I look out my window at the beautiful sun shining and hear the birds chirping cheerfully, it’s such a contrast to these images of war on the other side of the world, and even to the impoverished reality many face in my own country. And I am equally aware that this sort of suffering in our human race is not new. War, survival, greed, and the infiltration of the patriarchy and white supremacy has been operating sneakily even in the most privileged corners of the world. This is not the first war in our lifetime and it likely won’t be the last. We are being faced with opening to and holding the tension of extreme PARADOX in our human existence. Our egos do not like this. Our egos want to compartmentalize our existence into neat boxes or buckets of “wrong or right”, “good or bad”, “black or white”, “light or dark.” The extremely uncomfortable truth is we are all of those buckets and every shade of grey in between. We are the victim and the aggressor, we are the joyful and the depressed, we are the generous and the greedy, we are the conquered and the conqueror. So when you find yourselves reading the news headlines and judging and blaming Putin or Trump or Covid or fill in the blank “bad guy” of the day, you are also judging yourself. Because everything on the outside is always mirroring what’s happening within. Of course, feel pissed and take action when injustice takes place, your anger is important. AND know that it’s never as simple as we want to believe. We search for ways to find the difference between the Putins, the Trumps, the Covids and who we are. We couldn’t possibly do such atrocities. What the hell is wrong with them? If I just hate them and bitch about them, than I am safe from my own darkness or “badness.” The truth is we also do this within our own lives, families and even within ourselves. Who is the current Putin or Covid in your own life? Is it your asshole boss or your impossible parent? Who am I currently making the bad guy that I can blame for all of my internal strife, all of my suffering? So how do we operate in this world without giving up and giving in, without curling up in fetal position and never leaving the soft covers of our beds (if we’re blessed with them)? How do we step up as the Warriors that we are and take responsibility for our short time on this Earth, for being of service in this world? If time is not real and outside is a mirror of the inside, we must start by looking within and fighting the wars that are raging within us. We must not succumb to the patriarchy, to the colonialism within us, to our Inner Conquerers. If we are privileged enough to not have to fight in a physical war, then we must contribute by clearing out and healing the wars within us. Even if I’m surrounded by no immediate “threats,” what are the threats or voices within me that will take me down if I let them? What are the fear voices? The blame voices? The one that tries to seduce me with “what’s the point, it’s all a shit show anyway?” or “you clearly aren’t important or useful, you’re just fooling yourself.” Being a Warrior means stepping up through fear or challenges on behalf of something you believe in, something you’re willing to fight for, something or someone you know is worth it. What is that something or someone for you? Being a Warrior means suffering through child birth for the sake of your baby’s life, it means cramping and bleeding and still showing up to that zoom call to lead because you believe in your vision and the people you serve, it means letting the fire of the pain and suffering of life heat you and melt you and burn you into a more discerning version of yourself. One that knows what is truly important, one that doesn’t waste time on nonsense, one that easily sets healthy boundaries and will not tolerate the seduction of fear so that they can lead and fight on behalf of love. The wars that occur are not just ones where villages are bombed and conquered. There are wars constantly at play on every level- the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, within us and without us. Here are five ways to embrace your Inner Warrior in times of actual war:
We need you, and you got this. With fierce loving, honor and respect, Tina xoxo 
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