8 Day Superwoman Challenge: "...I came away from my experiences feeling full & grateful. It made me see how my fear has been holding me back..."
When female students are struggling with becoming empowered over themselves or their circumstances, I give the Superwoman Challenge. This means I encourage the student to dress like Superwoman for 7 days in a row. This student did an extra day! Making it 8 days!
Somehow when women embody the Super hero concept their resiliency kicks in and they remember their own power.
Here is one person's account.
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Superwoman Challenge
Before
Before the super woman challenge started I felt excited- yet also a bit intimidated. I live in a small community and there was a sense that it would be more vulnerable for me to do this challenge where I live now then some big city where you see many people passing by on a day-to-day basis. On the other side, I love dressing up in costume and was excited to be able to take on this challenge. I also thought about how it would be on days where I would prefer to have less social interactions with others. I would be a magnet for people’s eyes, projections, and questions. What if I just wanted to keep to myself and felt put off by people that day? I worked to trust in the universe that whatever happened during the challenge was meant to happen and broaden my life in a way that fostered self-growth and empowerment.
During
During the challenge I'd notice that the most difficult part of the day was getting dressed and ready. Once I had my super woman outfit on things seemed to feel easer. It was the anticipation of what would happen that day that was the hardest part for me. Who would I see at Safeway when I went to go pick up groceries? Would I run into a client who would ask me personal questions? Would I meet little kids that I would get to connect to? Every morning I would start to come up with all these hypotheticals and have to tell myself to take a deep breath, put on the outfit and just go do what I wanted to do for myself. I could never predict what would come my way that day, and found myself being pleasantly surprised by all the wonderful interactions that would have been impossible to come up with in my mind. As the week unfolded the challenge of putting on the outfit became easier and easier. I began to trust more in the unfolding of the unknown. People who I may have assumed to be put off by me, actually cheered for me in parking lots, grocery stores, and gas stations.
I decided to be very authentic in my responses when people asked me what I was up to. I shared what others may feel is very private information to complete strangers without hesitation. I was received with love, warm wishes, and admiration.
One interaction with a baby really amazed me. This baby was less than a year old and had absolutely no concept of “Super Woman” from the movies due to her age, however, as soon as she saw me, this huge smile spread across her face and she began to bounce up and down. It was clear to me that the bright colors, smile on my face, and energy I carried with me, was the embodiment of what a super women is, and she could understand that completely without even needing to know the character. This interaction left me feeling so full of warmth, happiness and power. The initial worries of being unsure what the day would hold began to shift into questions of who I would get to interact with that day- who I would have the pleasure to connect with.
Afterwards
Thinking back now on my experience since having completed the challenge and having had some time to process the lessons I’ve learned, feels so different than the anticipation of what I had initially expected.
I learned that even on days when I felt less like interacting I came away from my experiences feeling full and grateful.
It made me see how my fear has been holding me back from allowing myself to experience all the beauty of the world.
That allowing myself to trust in the universe can be extremely fruitful and rewarding. I also know I can take this challenge again in my life as I feel the need come up, and having this experience helps remind me why these challenges can be so rewarding.
If I could do it over-what would I do again differently?
If I could do this challenge over again I would like to spend time making a couple different super woman outfits to be able to feel comfortable in different settings. I actually bought 2 costumes and would have preferred to have had the time/money/energy to make a couple to fit my body for my different needs. The first one I bought was more revealing and I felt it would have been very uncomfortable for me to wear to some public spaces. The second one I bought was a onesie that covered my whole arms and legs, which ended up becoming too hot on some outdoor adventures that I went on during my challenge week. I wanted to honor the challenge and get started as soon as possible- however, that made me rush a little more in picking outfits that sometimes had a less then ideal fit.
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