Are you looking for your swagger?  Swagger Poet Olivia Romo shares her thoughts on finding yourself and expressing your voice. Listen to Olivia’s advice on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z42lBPQhKQo.

Thanks to Olivia for sharing her poetry and thoughts with The Girl’s Guide to Swagger.  Olivia’s inspiration comes from her connection to her roots and the land and water of Taos NM.

According to author Carol Lee Flinders in  Rebalancing the World, early humans lived in harmony with the land.  Flinders identifies a series of “values of belonging” that these peoples had in common.  One of the values is:

*intimate connection with the land to which one belongs. Not merely sentimental affection, but concrete knowledge of issues such as where the region’s water comes from, what kinds of grasses and trees flourish there, and what threatens it.

Olivia’s poetry reflects this value of belonging, as well as her life experiences, which includes joy, sorrow, outrage, and redemption. You can find out more about Olivia and her swagger poetry:

Introduction: http://www.girlsguidetoswagger.com/?p=1628

Woman empowering poem:http://www.girlsguidetoswagger.com/?p=1648

Sacred connection to land and water: http://www.girlsguidetoswagger.com/?p=1708

How can you stay grounded and know yourself in a world that is spinning so fast?

Olivia Romo, swagger poet from Taos, has found a way to stay connected to her roots, which include the language, the culture, the land, and the water of northern New Mexico.  Her poem about the water ways that sustain agriculture – called acequias- reflects her respect for her family and their traditions.  The poem also describes her experiences connecting with the water as a child, she says “water is a universal need for humanity – it also has personal and spiritual meaning for me.”

Olivia has a unique talent – respecting the past and finding the sacred in her connection with her history, while at the same time bringing in her own insights about the present, including threats to the land and water from newcomers and corporate interests that don’t understand the fragile system that has sustained the Taos Valley for hundreds of years. She says that the water is the sangria/blood of life for the magical people of Taos and she “swims in the tears of my people” as the ancient way of life is threatened by loss of understanding and respect.  She takes her place “a leaf on this family tree” and uses her art to bring attention to the sacred beauty of her home and the dangers that threaten it.

Olivia says, “I know where I’m from.  I step in front, hoping that my generations will follow.”

You can see Olivia perform her powerful poem about the land and water at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jMS4buSMno

What do you think of our culture’s narrow definition of beauty – you can never be tall enough or blond enough or thin enough? This definition excludes most of the world’s women, yet many suffer their whole lives trying to achieve an unrealistic body image.

Only 2% of the women on the planet consider themselves beautiful and the other 98% of us feel unattractive. Who created this unrealistic and unnatural definition of beauty?

Did you know that people over time and across cultures have recognized healthy, vibrant, and wide-hipped women as beautiful and desirable?

The current false image of beauty hurts women. By starving ourselves to be thin, many girls and women damage their bodies and become too thin, suffering from anorexia and bulimia.  We might undergo dangerous surgery to enhance our breasts, reduce our hips, or erase our wrinkles. Poor self-esteem can cause us to hold back, be quiet, not express our needs or our true voice.  If we don’t speak with our true voice – there is no one else to do it – we are unique and have a talent to give the world.  If we hold back, the talent and the gift is lost.

Poet slam champion Olivia Romo takes on the culture that makes us hate our bodies. When she recites her woman empowering poem – she gets angry and righteously so.  She says “I object to this objectification.” So do I – how about you?

Her solution is to draw on the strength of the women around us and the women of history.  She calls on the power of farm worker organizers, suffrage rights fighters, and queens and “contacts the women before us,” to help support our struggle to increase our confidence and swagger. Here is her invitation to us: “Ladies, listen to me! We can change this cycle and join forces with the moon.”

Watch Olivia recite her powerful poem on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0gS0ovQXiQ&feature=channel_video_title.

Warning: this poem contains righteous anger and adult themes and language.