Phenomenal Woman

You are a phenomenal woman. Yes, you are! Don’t deny it. Don’t hide your skills, strengths, light under a bushel. Yes, you are not a popstar, famous actress, or a Nobel Prize award winner. But those things are not the criteria for phenomenal-ness :-) It is just being the true, genuine you. ​

One of our favourite tv programmes is The Chef’s Table. Each episode profiles a world-class chef. And in each episode the turning points for the chefs were when they were true to themselves. When they stopped trying to be somebody else. When they stopped listening to what others told them to do and followed their own hearts. And it was by being their true selves that they released the greatness within them. We all have this within us. The phenomenal you. The wonder woman you.

To inspire you to be yourself, enjoy this amazing poem by Maya Angelou.

Phenomenal Woman
By Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,   
The stride of my step,   
The curl of my lips.   
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,   
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,   
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.   
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.   
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,   
And the flash of my teeth,   
The swing in my waist,   
And the joy in my feet.   
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered   
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,   
They say they still can’t see.   
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,   
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.   
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.   
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,   
The bend of my hair,   
the palm of my hand,   
The need for my care.   
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.