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Italy.

Been there, done that.  But I didn’t buy the T-shirt, so I have to go back (like anyone would need an excuse).

My first visit was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. At the Rockefeller’s artist retreat in Bellagio, on Lake Como in Northern Italy, I was given the most gracious introduction to the Italian way of living.  I was only 29, yet somehow managed to never take for granted one precious moment of the months-long experience there.

Fourteen years later, the context was different, but equally memorable.  Sent to Rome on a writing assignment, I met and had Valentine’s dinner with a real live prince.  It was one of those moments when you realize that if you are lucky enough to be born into freedom, anything can happen.

And now, seven years later, I’m going back again.  I’ve been invited to be the keynote speaker at an international event hosted by USA Girl Scouts Overseas, celebrating the 100^th year of Girl Scouting and the legacy of Juliette Gordon Low — a woman ahead of her time then and still blazing trails today.  No pressure, right?  There won’t be another 100^th in my lifetime or yours.  So, what I say up there on that stage matters, and I know it.

For months I’ve been thinking and dreaming and tweaking and revising, all the while wondering what JGL would think of my presentation.  But then I finally understood.  It doesn’t matter what she’d think.  All she’d want is that I pump every ounce of my heart’s blood into this thing.  To stand on that stage not hoping but believing that my words will inspire, inform and move the audience of people assembled there to feel honored and privileged for being a part of Juliette’s great journey.

No pressure.  Right.

Being a Girl Scout CEO threw me enough challenges and curve balls that I know I can do this.  I’ve done so much public speaking it no longer makes me nervous.  Yet this time, it feels different because it IS different.  Am I anxious?  No, but I do take comfort in what Juliette said to her early Girl Scouts about practice, recognition, and responsibility:

  “Every badge you earn is tied to your motto.  It is not a reward for something you have done once or for an examination you have passed. Badges are not medals to wear on your sleeve to show what a smart girl you are.  A badge is a symbol that you have done the thing it stands for often enough to be prepared to give service in it.  You wear the badge to let people know that you are prepared and willing to be called on because you are a Girl Scout.  And Girl Scouting is not just knowing but doing, not just doing but being.”

I won’t earn a badge, but I’m prepared and willing to be called upon to say what I know and be what I am:  grateful for the courage of a woman who could easily have led a comfortable, easy life in provincial 1912 Savannah, Georgia.

Instead, she took a big risk, broke the stereotypical mold for women, stepped out and stayed there until she was able to create sustainable societal change for girls.  Juliette went to the edge when very few women would or could.  In Italy, I’ll go there with her, because she paved the way.  I’ll celebrate Juliette and the millions of girls and women who have also gone to the edge and found the courage to stay there.

If you have any doubt that Juliette’s legacy lives on in the most influential way, check out this list of Girl Scout alums.  Pretty impressive!

I’ll try to touch base from the road.  In the meantime, March 12 is the day to tip your hat, or raise a glass, or buy (and enjoy!) a box or ten of Thin Mints.

Here’s to you Juliette!  May the next 100 years of Girl Scouting be your best yet!