Fearless Woman vol. 1

I’ve decided that I’m going to start highlighting some of my favorite fearless women in this world. Because after all, we should spend as much time as possible lifting each other up.

For the very first installment, I am going to show you a video that I took with my friend Molly Mogren. You may know Molly from the famous podcast, Go Fork Yourself with Andrew Zimmern. They are quite the duo.

Even though I met Molly through Andrew, she and I have developed our own friendship… because she is pretty much the awsomest girl ever. I know that’s not a word but she deserves her own vocabulary to describe her.

She is funny.

She is smart.

She is kind.

She is thoughtful.

And she always helps me keep perspective through her humor.

And she recently started her own website called “Hey Eleanor!” in honor of Eleanor Roosevelt who once said: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” She also said my other favorite: “Women are like tea bags, we don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.”

One of the things on Molly’s list that scared her was to experience what it was to have to kill what you eat. So I took her hunting with me in Arkansas for the opening of dove season.

It was emotional for her and she was so fearless and beautiful. You can read more about her experience here, but my favorite part is this:

“The first dove I shot was no bigger than my hand. Just because it was small and a “dumb bird” didn’t make dispatching it any easier for me. I cried (as you can see in the video above), while I was doing it… then a few more times throughout the weekend and maybe even a little as I write this. I am not ashamed of that. Killing another being with your own hands is a big deal and it sticks with you. It was a difficult, but also an empowering, experience, not because I asserted my place at the top of the food chain, but because I actually did something I didn’t think I could do. I don’t think this is true for everyone, but for me, it was important to experience first-hand how my dinner happens. I ended up cooking that bird later (post coming soon!), and I don’t think I’ve ever taken more care with a meal. In case you’re wondering, dove nuggets are delicious.

Ladies, if you have even the slightest interest in hunting, I highly encourage you to do so. It’s okay if you cry (that goes for guys, too) and it’s okay if you’re scared. You are still doing it right! I’m a little pissed at myself for waiting so long to go, and even a little more pissed that I somehow talked myself into thinking I couldn’t or shouldn’t partake in this tradition. Trust me, if I can do it, you can too.” 

You can watch our video here:

And because I encourage people to use every part of the animal, she saved the feet of her dove, sent them off to this fearless woman and had them made into this:

She’ll never forget now and the meal tasted so much better that way.