Gertrude Bell, an amazing woman I recently encountered through another excellent Werner Herzog film, Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman.
In the film, Queen of the Desert, Gertrude Bell models a sovereign woman. She was an English writer, traveler, explorer, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She was a woman who thought outside the box of convention and culture. She didn’t follow the rules of what a woman could aspire to within the confines of being born female in this time and place. She has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia. In the desert, she said that she found herself.
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Do you know many sovereign people, male or female…the ones who have mastered themselves to such a degree that they are free to live the lives they have chosen and crafted?
Gertrude Bell sounds fascinating and the movie seems like a good introduction. Personally, I always think of Patti Smith when I think of someone who feels so free to be herself and create her art. I’ve always been rather in awe of her.
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Thanks, Danielle…for the reminder that there are actually many sovereign women out there–great models for women in their quest to be and create freely. Patti Smith is certainly a woman to admire! A list of these women and what we admire about them could be useful to have when we have doubts or wonder what a sovereign woman looks like. She looks like any one of us…when we remember.
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