Hello, I'm Trista.

With my eyes closed, I see before me a sea of women, past, present and future. Some of them I recognize as my ancestors, others are familiar faces, and others still are unknown. My story is for them, is for you. Is for us. 

 

In April of 2021, I almost died while giving birth to my son, Elijah. It was a rare medical emergency that burgeoned into a moment of transformation. Through this life-altering event, it became crystal clear how precious life is. I felt that I was now on borrowed time and that I needed to get to work on what I came to earth to do. For me, I call that urge or voice God, but you may have another name: Universe, Spirit, Higher Power, Allah, Jesus, Yahweh, Buddha, etc. Whatever the name, I’m guessing at some point you have felt something higher (or deeper depending on how we look at it), a voice or feeling guiding you, leaving impressions on what might be found, cultivated and brought to fruit in your life. 

 

I am guessing this because otherwise you would not be here reading this now.

 

My story hinges upon the difference between compliance and submission. Compliance implies a giving away of power in order to be loved and/or accepted. For me, compliance shows up as doing what *most* of the women in my line before me have done: defer to the male of the house/community. This is not a cut at men or masculinity. I have a deep respect for the other half of the equation and believe each person needs both healthy masculinity and femininity to create balance.

 

What I am saying is that for me compliance has been a necessary form of protection and came from a fear of abandonment and labeling as hysterical or crazy. Sound familiar? Compliance has run my life in many ways ever since I can remember. The need to be loved sometimes felt so pressing that it would squash self confidence and belief that I could offer something greater. Compliance was the piece that came into focus after my son was born. The piece to be understood, held, and integrated.

 

Submission has a different connotation. For clarity, I am using the term “submission” here to talk about a connection to something bigger than ourselves, the higher power I mentioned before. You do not need to be religious in order to work with submission, it is a spiritual understanding to which all of us have access. 

 

We women are incredibly powerful by nature. Lest we forget, we embody the ability to create life! But too often we’ve forgotten how to access that innate wisdom. Submission is the art of learning how to trust that deep and profound intuition that is your birthright. Submission to being a clear container for truth and light is what I’m arguing is the key to remembering how to truly stand in our own power. 

 

But that individual connection is only half of the equation. The other half is remembering that I/You are not alone. I/You do not have to do it by my/yourself. This is the great lie of the 21st century, and it’s what keeps us small and contracted: compliant even. In my experience, a great wisdom and power comes in the form of being in community with others. No matter the difference and division we have been sold, the truth is we need each other and we need the agitation of differing opinions and lifestyles (however difficult they may be) in order to grow. And in interacting with fellow women, more common ground and empathy is more readily available than we may at first assume.

 

This is why I made Draw Your Power. I made it for you. For us. Because I know from personal experience that the power we seek is already a part of us and that the nature of the feminine is creativity. Therefore we have a direct method we can use to reconnect and heal these millenia-old wounds. The line of communication to that deep knowing part of us is always open, all we have to do is be brave enough to listen. There are many ways to reconnect and remember. Draw Your Power is a way of listening with a pencil, marker, chalk, etc. 

 

I sincerely hope you’ll join me as together we uncover and begin to heal. Sure, we do it for ourselves, and we also do it for the wellbeing of that beautiful sea of women: our families, communities, and outward from there. We do it for the generations before us and ahead of us, and so on. We do it together, we do it because it’s time.

 

With great love and respect for you,

 

Trista Miller