We are all like Catherine Morland in our own way, wanting to be the heroines of our own story--not necessarily the lead of a Gothic Romance nor the Damsel in Distress of another story, but a Heroine nonetheless.  But what does it mean to be a heroine?  To pluck her from the novel pages you devour and find her in your waking life? 

She is a woman who is at once both graceful yet flawed; otherworldly in her strength but utterly human, full of heart and full of might.  She takes charge of her life, learns to negotiate the pitfalls and relish the pleasures, as any good heroine must. She is most certainly is not the sidekick that lives in the corners of her experiences, silently looking on as others make mistakes, dream big, learn lessons.  No, a woman must always be the key player in her own story.  That other role is too safe, too tame for the life you want to live, for the life you look for between the covers of a book.

Being a heroine is about hope: the hope for change, the hope to stay the same, and yes, the hope for a little romance.  You must greet each day as if you are always on the brink of a marvelous adventure, the promise of something new to dazzle your senses and inform your mind.  It is about greeting the world with curiosity and refusing to be cowed by the villains that cross your path; about making friends and leaving enemies in the dust; about recognizing that we have the unique ability to craft our own story.

And what a story it is.