By Elisabet Medina
Resilient after colonization.
Resilient after dictatorship.
Resilient after displacement.
Resilient after deportation.

Resilient in the aftermath.
The catastrophe was not the end of us. 
"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed...
Perplexed but not in despair;
Persecuted but not abandoned;
Struck down but not destroyed"

Resilient light in the face of darkness.
Not overcome by the fear of what may come, 
But filled with possibility of all we are becoming. 

Dreaming in the midst of struggle. 
Thriving in desert land. 
​Doing good even to those that intent to harm. 

​We are resilient. 

By Elisabet Medina

Let us not teach our daughters that their strength is bound to how much they can carry without breaking. 

Resilient doesn't means pretending that the load isn't heavy. 

Let us not teach our daughters that it is their obligation to do the emotional toil that others are not willing to do because the work is too hard. 

Resilient doesn't mean avoiding conflict.

Resilient doesn't mean being silent again or swallowing the words you are eager to say but others may not be ready to hear. 

No one is less than for not being able to endure. 
No one is less than for giving voice to their struggle. 
No one is less than human. 

Resilient is like the sun shining again after a dark night. 
Resilient is like a butterfly emerging after it thought it had died. 
Resilient is pulling yourself back together after falling apart. 
Resilient is finding yourself all together new.
Resilient is like realizing your body still remembers how to dance.