How do I want to be remembered?  This is the question I found myself pondering over, after reading about the Beautiful Women of North Dakota exhibition.  The article caught my eye because my cousin, Sandra Leyland, was chosen as one of the 22 exceptional women to be a part of it.   It’s one of those questions that sends your mind reeling, analyzing if you’ve done enough with your life at this point; if there’s more that you could or should be doing, and if so, what?

This idea all started when Billy Black, a development director for The Forum, was raising his two young daughters.  Seeing the influences that the media had on girls, he wondered what message they were sending to his kids.  He knew that there were wonderful women out there, who weren’t being recognized for everyday things that they do, even though they were truly changing the world and making it a better place.

He and his wife, Chris Linnares, an author and psychotherapist, decided to take the first step towards a nationwide effort to redefine our narrow perception of beauty by creating a book.  There will be a book release and art exhibition on Sunday, November 22nd at 2p, FREE and open to the public, at the Routke Art Museum  in Moorhead so be sure to check that out and learn more about this beautiful project.

Linnares is hopeful that “Beautiful Women” books and media will someday be a part of classroom cirriculums, to show girls the importance of inner beauty.  And she envisions the day when every state will have it’s own Beautiful Women book.

Take a look at this video and I think you’ll agree that we just don’t take the time to look and realize all of the good women around us, including ourselves, and all that they/we are doing.  Hearing the one women explain how she was telling someone that she would be in a book about “beautiful” women, and then feeling like she needed to explain that it wasn’t about the outer beauty, made me kind of sad.  Her friend remarked that she knew what she was talking about because she knew she had a beautiful heart.  Women are so used to taking care of others and doing for others, that we don’t even realize how the everyday things that we do, really do make us beautiful!  It’s time for each of us to appreciate each other and to take care of ourselves so that we can continue to make this world a better place!

So, how do you want to be remembered?