How to Be a Modern Day Wonder Woman
The new Wonder Woman film is an inspirational story of having the courage to follow your path even when the odds seem stacked against you.
From early in the film we see that the protagonist, Diana Princess of the Amazons or as I shall call her Wonder Woman, has it in her nature to be a warrior. She is naturally drawn to watch the other girls training and you can see in her eyes that this is the path she not only wants to take but, will take.
So many of us have a natural draw to things when we are younger but get pulled away from our dreams and goals when we are told to be quiet, conform or other life circumstances lead us on a different path.
The symbolism of a “mist” is used in this film to depict a hidden, beautiful landscape untouched by darkness and this can be likened to the lifting of the “mists” in the Mists of Avalon.
In both films when the mists are lifted the most beautiful lands are discovered. There are waterfalls; purity, innocence, and treats of nature. We could ask why is such beauty shrouded in mist? Are we, as a society, so far removed from the true beauty of life that we live beyond the mists?
As in all myths, the protagonist has a journey to travel and has to fight many dragons on the way. Wonder Woman in this film deems Ares the God of War, the evil to be defeated. She considers herself to be a “bridge” between good and evil.
Like all good teachers we meet on our journey through life when Wonder Woman does meet Ares the God of War, he forces her to brings out the best in herself and demands that she fight harder in order to ultimately defeat him in the end.
Throughout the film, Wonder Woman refuses to be drawn into any story where she would have to hide her light nor does she shrink from fear. She walks out of a trench and into territory she is told is impossible to get through. She looks at her co-stars in awe when they talk about it being “impossible”, instead she sheds her ordinary clothes to step out over the front line and into dead man’s land and, ultimately into her power.
In our own lives, sometimes we may have to walk right into what seems like dangerous or enemy territory and, this can be tricky. When we believe so strongly in something that forces us to walk straight into the line of our enemies fire we may wonder what on earth we are doing. But if we have the strength of character and keep walking in our authenticity, dodging their bullets we will get to the other side. We too like Wonder Woman can develop the strength and courage, we just need to believe we can.
When we don’t doubt ourselves we can achieve so much
Ares may represent War and the darker side of life that Wonder Woman has never encountered but she discovers, even through her friendship with her dashingly handsome co-star, that all humans have the potential for both good and evil inside of them. She realises we all have choices in life and some of us are more prone to taking the good choice whilst others are more prone to the evil side.
Like Ms. Poison and her boss who are trying to invent the nastiest of bombs to cause as much harm and misery as possible. AND they almost manage this only for the intervention of a man (the dashingly handsome guy mentioned above!) whose soul purpose seems to be to find the good and bring peace to the world. It is like he just can’t help himself. No more than Ms. Poison seems to be able to help herself!
Wonder Woman completely stands in her power throughout this movie, even as a child it is like she knows her destiny. Instead of letting it frighten her she follows her gut. She surprises the men in “no man’s land” when she declares “No” she won’t let the innocent suffer, she jumps out of the trench and takes on the enemy using all the tools she has in her power to do so.
What lessons can we learn from Wonder Woman?
We don’t live in the mythological realm and we aren’t chasing Ares, God of War but we all have our own internal and external battles to fight each day. We can draw our own similarities with the mythological and the ordinary realms.
There are many lessons we can take and bring into our own lives. Wonder Woman shows us how to be powerful and feminine. We don’t need to fight or flee our feminine nature. We can work with what we have and the power we were born with.
The words in the song Titanium .. “Fire away fire away …… I’m bulletproof” spring to mind.
We are not all bulletproof in every situation and words can hurt us, they can pierce like Cupid’s arrows in our heart.
Each of us has our own journey but we can take the wisdom from the movie that feels good for us, the essence of standing in our power and going for what we believe in, really believe in.
Sometimes in life, we are tricked into seeing one person in a different way then who they really are. We may want to believe someone to be a certain way and we convince ourselves we can change them, but alas it’s not our job to change anyone but ourselves.
We can allow ourselves be like Wonder Woman and enjoy our journey and rejoice in our own uniqueness. We can chase our dreams and never be frightened by what it is we want.
If something does frighten us we can learn to face it and not hide from it, we can become enchanted with it, we can let it sit a while and be playful with it. It could be the best thing that ever happened to us. It’s our inner glass ceiling waiting to be smashed into smithereens and transcended beyond our wildest dreams.
Go on .. just go for it, you have the power inside you!!!
Until next time … keep the faith and keep living the dream
Dolores Andrew-Gavin, Author, Energy Therapist, Soul Care Practitioner, Founder IrishHealthHour and Assertiveness Coach.
