7 Inspiring Quotes from Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés and Art that awakens the wild feminine.
Updated: 3 days ago
Hi! I’m Naïma, a French artist inspired by the wild feminine. My artwork weaves together women, nature, wildlife, and poetry.
What is the Wild Woman?
There is a calling, a little voice inside every woman who is ready to remember her wild soul.
To break free from the cages of perfection and reclaim her instinct, her intuition, her deep feminine knowing.
Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ book Women Who Run With the Wolves has inspired millions of women to reconnect with that inner power: the instinctual, creative, free feminine spirit.
Each of the following seven quotes have moved me as a woman and as an artist. I am sharing my favorite quotes and my personal reflection on them....finally each reflection is paired with a piece of art I created inspired by the journey of a wild woman.
7 Inspiring Quotes from Women Who Run With the Wolves
1. The Wild Creature Within
“Within every woman, there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing.”* - Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés
My experience as a wild woman and artist:
For many years, I lived far from my own wildness. I grew up in a family where women had to suppress their femininity and their genuine selves. They were simply not free. But the wild woman in me never stopped burning. It took me a long time, and many tears, to find my way back to myself.
One step at a time, I began creating, following my intuition, and choosing what sparked something alive in my heart. And one day, I decided to live by my own rules, follow my heart, and most of all, believe in myself. That's when I began bringing my dreams to life. I stopped waiting for validation. I supported myself, worked for myself, and slowly became the woman I had always wanted to be.
2 - The Power of Tears
"Tears are a river that take you somewhere. Weeping creates a river around the boat that carries your soul-life." - Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I've cried quite a lot on my journey, and I don't think I would be the woman or the artist I am today without those moments.
For a long time, I thought I had to be strong, find solutions, and keep moving forward. But sometimes, no matter how much we try to hold everything together, our emotions need a little space.
I've come to see tears differently. Sometimes, they arrive when we're sad, sometimes when we're exhausted, and sometimes when we finally allow ourselves to acknowledge something we've been carrying for far too long.
I don't think every tear needs an explanation. Sometimes, we simply need to let it happen.
When I read these words by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, I imagine our tears carrying us gently through emotions we don't yet know how to put into words. They don't necessarily take our pain away, but they can help us move through it.
I find something comforting in that idea.
As women, we don't always need to have everything figured out. We can be sensitive, uncertain, emotional, and still be strong. We can have difficult days and still be moving forward, even when we don't realise it.
Sometimes, letting ourselves cry is simply a way of coming back to ourselves.
3- Your Wild Nature
“When women reassert their relationship with the wildish nature, they are gifted with strength, intuition, and joy.”- Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I think one of the most beautiful things we can do for ourselves is to learn to trust our own instincts.
For years, I spent too much time wondering what I should do, what others might think, and whether my choices were sensible enough. I often looked outside myself for answers instead of listening to what was happening inside me.
Becoming an artist has changed that.
When I paint, I don't always know exactly where I'm going. Sometimes, an image appears in my mind, a colour catches my attention, or I feel drawn to a particular animal or symbol. I begin with an idea, but the painting often takes me somewhere unexpected.
I've learned to leave a little room for that mystery.
I don't need to control everything. I can experiment, make mistakes, change direction, and see what happens. Some of my favourite discoveries have come from moments when I stopped trying so hard to get things right.
I think this is also true in life. We can spend so much time trying to make the right decisions that we forget to ask ourselves a much simpler question: Does this feel right for me?
Of course, intuition doesn't mean we will always know the answer. But I believe we become more confident when we give ourselves the chance to listen.
For me, reconnecting with my wild nature is about this: trusting myself a little more, allowing myself to be curious, and remembering that I don't have to follow someone else's path to find my own.
4. Accumulating Debris
"A body that has lived a long time accumulates debris." - Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I love this quote because it makes me think about all the things we carry without even noticing anymore.
As we grow older, we collect so many experiences. Some are beautiful, others are painful, and some leave traces we don't fully understand until much later.
We also collect expectations. Things our families have taught us, ideas about how women should behave, and beliefs about what a good life is supposed to look like.
Sometimes, we hold on to these things simply because they have always been there.
I know I've had to question quite a few of them myself. Growing up, I learned to hide parts of who I was, and it took time to understand that I didn't have to keep living according to those old expectations.
Little by little, I began letting go of what no longer felt right for me.
I don't mean that we need to forget our past or pretend that difficult experiences never happened. Our stories are part of us. But I think there is a difference between learning from our past and allowing it to decide everything about our future.
I sometimes imagine this process as clearing a room that has been full for years. We open the windows, let some fresh air in, and start looking at what is really worth keeping.
It takes time, and we don't have to do it all at once.
But there is something wonderful about realising that we have a choice. We can honour where we come from without carrying every belief, fear, or expectation with us forever.
And perhaps, as we make a little more room inside ourselves, we also make room for new dreams.
5. The Sensory Nature Within Women
"There is a being who lives in the wild underground of women's natures. This creature is our sensory nature, and like any integral creature, it has its own nature and nutritive cycles." - Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés
This quote makes me think about something I often forget when life gets busy: we are part of nature, too.
Living in the south of France, I'm constantly reminded of how much the natural world can influence the way I feel. The changing light, the trees, the warmth of the sun, the colours of the landscape — all these little things can bring me back to myself.
I can spend hours observing something as simple as the way light falls across a flower or how the wind moves through the trees. These moments might seem ordinary, but they often give me ideas for my paintings.
They also remind me to slow down.
I think we sometimes expect ourselves to be productive every day, to have energy, to feel inspired, and to keep going no matter what. But nature doesn't work like that. There are seasons of growth and seasons of rest. There are days full of light and days when everything feels quieter.
Why should we be any different?
As a woman and an artist, I've learned that I need moments when I do nothing in particular. Time to walk, observe, dream, or simply enjoy being alive without needing to turn every moment into something useful.
And I've noticed that when I give myself this space, inspiration often comes naturally.
For me, honouring this part of ourselves means paying attention to what we feel, what nourishes us, and what we need at different moments in our lives.
We don't always have to push harder. Sometimes, we just need to come back to our senses and let life happen around us.
6. Remembering who you are
"Where are the places that must be remembered...must be blessed?" - Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I find this quote particularly touching because it reminds me of the importance of looking back at the person we once were...to remember the things that made us feel alive before we started worrying so much about what was expected of us.
What did we love as children? What made us curious? What did we dream about before we began telling ourselves that some things were impossible or unrealistic?
For me, these questions have a lot to do with art and nature.
Somewhere along the way, I realised how much I needed to create. Painting wasn't simply something I wanted to do when I had some free time. It was something that made me feel connected to myself, something I wanted to give more space to in my life.
Finding my way back to art was, in a way, finding my way back to a part of myself I had forgotten.
And I think this happens to many of us. We get caught up in our responsibilities, our relationships, and the lives we are building. Without even realising it, we sometimes leave little pieces of ourselves behind.
Perhaps we stop drawing, dancing, writing, spending time in nature, or doing the things that once brought us joy. But I don't believe those parts of us disappear completely.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little curiosity to find them again. We can start by asking ourselves what we miss, what we long for, or what we would love to explore if we weren't so worried about getting it right.
For me, remembering who I am is not about going backwards. It's about bringing those forgotten parts of myself into the life I'm creating today.
And I think that's a beautiful thing to do at any age.
7. Where transformation begins
"The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door. If you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door." - Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I love the idea that the things that touch us deeply can become doorways to a different life.
Sometimes, it's a difficult experience that makes us stop and question everything. Sometimes, it's a dream we can't seem to let go of. And sometimes, it's simply the way we feel when we look at the sea, walk through a forest, or discover a work of art that speaks to us in a way we cannot explain.
For me, art has always been one of those doorways.
My attraction to women, wolves, nature, and symbolism comes from a place that is difficult to put into words. I know that these subjects move me, and I feel a need to explore them through painting.
When I paint a woman alongside a wolf, for example, I'm often thinking about the different parts of ourselves that we try to reconcile. Our softness and our strength, our need for connection and our desire for freedom, the parts of us that want to feel safe and those that long to run wild.
I don't always begin with a clear message. Sometimes, I simply follow a feeling and allow the painting to reveal something to me along the way.
I think life can be like that, too.
We don't always need to know exactly where we're going before we take the first step. Sometimes, we just need to pay attention to what keeps calling us.
Looking back, I realise that my desire to paint, my love for the natural world, and my need to live more freely were all connected. They were little clues, showing me the direction I wanted to take, even before I fully understood it myself.
Perhaps transformation begins when we stop dismissing those feelings and start taking them seriously.
We don't need to change our entire lives overnight. We can begin with something small: following an idea, making time for something we love, or giving ourselves permission to imagine a different future.
And who knows where that first step might lead?
For me, it led to a life filled with painting, creativity, and a deeper connection to the wild feminine that continues to inspire me every day.
The wild feminine is not something we need to become. She is already here, beneath the layers of who we were told to be. When we see her reflected in art, we remember. Naima
If something in these words awakens something in you, come wander into my world…
Stay Wild! Naïma
About the Artist
Naima Namaste is a French contemporary artist whose original paintings explore the profound relationship between women, nature and the wild. Inspired by symbolism, intuition and the beauty of the natural world, she creates soulful, collectible artworks that invite moments of reflection, connection and wonder. Every painting is created by hand in her atelier in the south of France.
