to and fro

My lovely friend Sara emailed me this great talk by Sister Patricia Holland. This paragraph was particularly striking to me:


"We must have the courage to be imperfect while striving for perfection. We must not allow our own guilt, the feminist books, the talk-show hosts, or the whole media culture to sell us a bill of goods—or rather a bill of no goods. We can become so sidetracked in our compulsive search for identity and self-esteem that we really believe it can be found in having perfect figures or academic degrees or professional status or even absolute motherly success. Yet, in so searching externally, we can be torn from our true internal, eternal selves. We often worry so much about pleasing and performing for others that we lose our uniqueness—that full and relaxed acceptance of one’s self as a person of worth and individuality. We become so frightened and insecure that we cannot be generous toward the diversity and individuality, and yes, problems, of our neighbors. Too many women with these anxieties watch helplessly as their lives unravel from the very core that centers and sustains them. Too many are like a ship at sea without sail or rudder, 'tossed to and fro,' as the Apostle Paul said (see Eph. 4:14), until more and more of us are genuinely, rail-grabbingly seasick."


Full talk here.


Oh and chemistry GRE? So done with that. Scores to come in 6 weeks. I'm just glad it's OVER!!!!