FIRST HAND WOMAN is not just a stage play. It’s also a state of mind.
As we start up rehearsals this week to bring the play down to FringeNYC (so excited!), it is my pleasure to introduce you to a new guest writer in our “Unleashed” series: Real-life Wonder Woman and FIRST HAND WOMAN, Dorine Nafziger.
She is ready to share how she said goodbye to being a second hand woman and hello to becoming a first hand woman.
I hope you enjoy this inspiring read. Make sure you get all the way to the bottom to get your very own call to action.
And as always…
Dream up,
~ Sarah Michelle Brown
First Hand Woman Actor, Playwright + Producer
FINDING YOUR SUPERPOWERS
Sometimes, regardless of how silly it may appear, we all need something or someone to look up to. We all need a FIRST HAND WOMAN to role model a larger version of ourselves back to us until we can fully step into our self. As a kid, Wonder Woman was my FIRST HAND WOMAN. I didn’t just see her as a twirling TV phenomenon.
She role-modeled a larger, mythic-proportion size me, that I could call upon for help when I wanted to lock myself up in inner-worlds upon worlds to keep my Self safe.
Joseph Campbell studied how mythology affected our human experience his whole life. I didn’t know anything about Joseph Campbell or the hero’s journey.
I was a little girl in Ohio trying to survive the horror and confusion of sexual abuse.
When I watched Wonder Woman twirl, she modeled to me a whole way of being; a method to survive this life with my Self intact.
She let me know that while I may be small, I had an important journey and superpowers to boot. Of course, I didn’t understand how to use my superpowers, but thanks to Wonder Woman, I knew I had them.
That knowledge was enough to get me through years of depression and torment. I had faith that a larger, mythic-size me would someday be safe and powerful enough to fly in and come to my aid.
Eventually, after many twists and turns, I became a mother of two beautiful boys. My joy was wild and my love was fierce, but the chaos of motherhood kept getting tangled up with my childhood trauma.
So there I was, filled with the wonder of these brilliant, beautiful boys and so anxious I wanted to die. I knew it was now or never. I had to find my superpowers.
I made the decision to get help. I required everything in my life – all my choices, my actions – to support one goal: to be anxiety free. I found my superpowers and I became a better, more sane and flexible mother.
Then I looked around. Anxious moms were everywhere. My clients, whether they came in with symptoms like insomnia, incontinence or joint pain or they had unresolved trauma related to birth or childhood were all experiencing great anxiety as a mother.
Our superpowers aren’t supernatural or out of the ordinary.
They are the most basic part of ourselves that we need to remember and call upon. That’s why I’m passionate about helping moms be anxiety free while their kids are still small. So they can become their own Postpartum Wonder Woman and model the heroine’s journey to their children.
~ Dorine Nafziger
www.postpartumwonderwoman.com
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Postpartum Wonder Woman is a 90 program to help moms calm and restore their nervous systems so they can find relief from anxiety, get out of sweatpants and feel confident about themselves, while getting dinner on the table. Postpartum Wonder Woman champions a new, integrated & fully functional model of motherhood (beyond the either/or, them or me paradigm) so that moms can enjoy a sane, flexible and fulfilling life.
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Thank you so much Dorine for sharing your story with us!
Okay, now, here is where you come in. I want you to take action now. What one choice could you make to help unleash your own superpowers?
Is it to run a marathon, seek help, quit that job, start writing that book?
Write down one baby step that you could make today, and then do it right away. Don’t wait. Be sure to leave a comment and write down that one simple superpower that you wish to unleash.
Dream up,
~ Sarah Michelle Brown
First Hand Woman Actor, Playwright + Producer
FIRST HAND WOMAN is one woman’s powerful story, told through five different parts of herself. These parts are the boisterous and unapologetic stages of loss. So the characters onstage are Denial, Bargaining, Anger, Depression and Acceptance. This is an exhilarating ride through the stages of loss and into redemption!