There is a season of our womanhood that has been unaccounted for. It’s a time when we have an adult generation below us—whether it be our own children or people we have mentored in some form; our moon courses are ceased or ceasing; if there had been kids in the home, they are grown and we’re no longer in active parenthood; we’re seasoned in our vocations and avocations; there may be broad streaks of silver in our hair, more-than-fine lines on our faces and a thickness in our middles.

We’ve grown into ourselves. We know ourselves. We continue to grow ourselves. We have thrown off the masks of younger decades and are turning towards the reality that life will continue to live beyond us. We have more years behind than likely before us and yet we haven’t earned the wise stripes of the Crone, who is possibly still 10, 15, even 20 years away.

We also live in a society that glorifies youth and erases women once they are “of a certain age.” As an Emergent Elder, we have the opportunity to build a different attitude within ourselves and culturally. We have the opportunity to embrace ourselves as the Emergent Elder by casting off all the imprinted paradigms and stepping with gusto and grace into vibrant wisdom and soulful maturity.

A DAME is an honorific title for a woman in recognition of something of value that she has done over a long period of time. A DAME earns this honor for the value she has brought and the service she has offered. It is not a title that is hereditary or one that she gains in proximity to anyone else. A DAME has stepped into a degree of maturity and has cultivated a life of distinction. She embraces this moment, knows who she is and what she has to offer now and well into the future. And, it’s true. There ain’t nothing like a DAME.