✨ I GO! | Edition 18: Sovereignty— Reclaiming the Wolf, Restoring Feminine Power

This Week: Osaka-London-Paris-London (in 6 days…June, I gave you my all!)

But faring on, he spies
A galled spot on the mastiff’s neck.
“What ’s that?” he cries. “Oh, nothing but a speck.”
“A speck?”—“Ay, ay: ’t is not enough to pain me:
Perhaps the collar’s mark by which they chain me.
“Chain! chain you! What! run you not, then,
Just where you please and when?”
“Not always, sir; but what of that?”
“Enough for me, to spoil your fat!
It ought to be a precious price
Which could to servile chains entice;
For me, I ’ll shun them while I ’ve wit.”
So ran Sir Wolf, and runneth yet.
— The Wolf and The Dog, Jean de La Fontaine

This week, despite the whirlwind, a realisation as I walked alone across the vast stage of the Carrousel du Louvre. Under the lights, in front of hundreds of people, and with a strong sense of calm, purpose, and quiet joy, I felt something rise inside me with complete clarity:

I now, finally, fully own my sovereignty.

It has taken 46 years. The journey has been treacherous at times. It was well worth it.
As this is it.

In our increasingly fragmented world, we talk a lot about sovereignty in a geopolitical sense — nations asserting autonomy, rewriting alliances, defending borders.

But what about personal sovereignty?

Also known as self-ownership, it is the authority over your own life, emotions, and boundaries.
It is the decision to belong to yourself.
To create your own law.
To be the source.

Wolf > Man > Dog: Derrida’s Wild Metaphor

In his lecture series La Bête ou le Souverain, philosopher Jacques Derrida uses a howling (?) metaphor to explore the paradox of sovereignty:

Wolf > Man > Dog

The wolf is sovereign — wild, ungovernable, feared. It exists above the laws of man.

The dog is domesticated — obedient, loyal, within man’s law.

Man, trapped in between, is the only creature who creates laws — yet lives bound by them.

This triangle speaks volumes about how we, especially women, are conditioned to fear our wildness and over-identify with our tameness.

We are taught to:

Be obedient.

Sit still.

Smile politely.

Be a “good girl.”

Because a wild woman, like the wolf, is dangerous. She threatens the man-made order. That’s why, for centuries, she was burned at the stake.
Today, she is still shamed, exiled, misunderstood, called selfish, emotional - or mad.

But true feminine sovereignty lives in reclaiming the wolf — not as violence or chaos, but as freedom, personal responsibility, independence.

Sovereignty, a Deeply Personal State

To be sovereign as a woman is to belong to yourself.

It’s:
– Trusting yourself even when others don’t.
– Making decisions aligned with your values.
– Living unapologetically — not selfishly, but with intention, clarity of purpose.
– Carving your own space, instead of waiting to be invited into someone else's.
– Shaping reality to reflect your own needs, desires, and destiny.

And it’s sharing your mastery — not to dominate — but to empower others to rise.
Because true feminine power amplifies. It nurtures. It radiates.

The Tools of Sovereignty are:

Self-trust: The rarest currency in a woman’s life

Discernment: Knowing what is truly for you

Solitude: The sacred space where clarity returns

Boundaries: Not walls, but gates — selectively opened

Creative fire: Your deepest feminine intelligence, alive in what you make, share, and protect

In myth, she is Artemis — goddess of the wilderness, bow in hand, protector of women and children, free from the gaze of men.

In history, she is Queen Elizabeth I — unmarried, unbothered, unconquered:

In poetry, she is Maya Angelou — radiant and grounded in her full presence:

“I am a woman / Phenomenally. / Phenomenal woman, / That’s me.”

A sovereign woman:
– May mother, or not.
– May love wildly, or walk alone.
– May speak gently, or roar.
But she always knows what season she’s in — and does not betray it for anyone.

We are in a threshold moment — personally, culturally, geopolitically.
Old systems are crumbling. New possibilities are emerging.

But to seize them, we must trust ourselves.

Empowerment still implies someone gives you power.
Sovereignty says: I am the source.
I govern myself. I belong to myself. I am enough.

With fire and reverence,
Charlotte