She strutted by in all her strength and glory, invincible,

eternal, and when I stood to clap (because who wouldn’t have),

she bowed and posed like she knew I needed a myth—

a woman, by a river, indestructible.”

From Ada Limón’s “Wonder Woman“

At the end of my life, I want to feel like Wonder Woman. I would not mind feeling like Wonder Woman right now, but feeling like Wonder Woman even later in life would be amazing. The squeaks and groans, creaks and jolts, rasps and rubs have already started in my 50 year-old body. The sound of the steamboats lingers in my memory. The memory of river mud lingers between my toes. I learned early on that river fog often clears by noon, river sounds haunt at night, the river runs faster in the springtime. Raised in a river town, you don’t forget the river.

I can see that young women from the poem standing beside the river reminding me about Wonder Woman. I feel a little rocky and unsure and unsettled. Change makes me anxious, yet I choose it continually. Growth excites me, yet failure scares me. Motion engages me, yet stillness soothes me. Placing that image of Wonder Woman by a river takes me back to what I know for sure.

I am blessed. I learned about Wonder Woman at the river’s edge. I learned to just keep going. I learned to be curious. I learned a diagnosis doesn’t define me. I learned the value of practice. Perhaps Wonder Woman is a myth I told/tell myself — a shallow depiction of strength as a super power outside of my true self? Maybe that myth is helpful to sustain me through times of fear and doubt? Understanding Wonder Women is about knowing that, at our core, our indestructibility is about the strength we remember and build in falling apart and coming back together. Ultimately, super powers look more like vulnerability, persistence, and kindness, than tiaras, lassos, and bracelets.