You own the business. But do you work with a sense of ownership?

Does ownership compel you to think outside the roles & responsibilities that come from doing things the "right way?" Consider the last time you needed to make a tough decision in your business: Did you call up your coach or pull up Google to find the right choice? Or did you go with your (experienced and values-driven) gut?

Last night, I heard the news that Osama bin Laden had been assassinated. The very first thought that popped into my mind was, “Ding dong the witch is dead. Rejoice, munchkins!" Then a brief 10 seconds later, it was followed by a heaviness in my heart. Everyone all over the US was celebrating. Twitter was all atwitter with gleeful cheering. Facebook was one big PAR-TEE. There were parties in the streets.

And yet, I found myself crying, not because the world isn’t better off without bin Laden in it, but because our reaction as a society breaks my heart.

Speaking my truth

So I wrote this post. And I tweeted it on Twitter. And I posted it on a Facebook. And I quoted Gandhi saying, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

And then people started un-liking me on Facebook. And un-following me on Twitter. And I started getting hate mail. And that just made me cry more.

Are you fed up with feeling like you have to dim your light so you won’t make other women feel bad? Are you frustrated when something AWESOME happens in your life and you don’t feel like you can shout it from the rooftops because you might trigger someone who is too insecure to hear your good news? Do you prefer hanging out with women who lift you up, collaborate, and blow pixie dust beneath your mighty wings, rather than those who compete, gossip, and drag you down?

If so, this post is for you because you’re a SUCCULENT WILD WOMAN, to borrow a killer phrase from my friend SARK (aka, Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy). Today is International Woman’s Day, and I was honored to have an International Woman’s Day award bestowed upon me (deep bow. Namaste, my sisters). So in honor of this powerful day, I wanted to honor the power within each and every one of you.

As many of you know, I’ve been suffering through a mongo identity crisis, both personally and professionally. I’ve been grasping for space, fussing over taglines, resisting the guidance that tells me to pick a “niche,” and generally making myself crazy because I know what I’m doing is incredibly valuable, and yet I don’t know how to explain it in a sound byte.