My mother was a Leo, in every sense of the word, and would’ve celebrated her 91st birthday today. She was confident, charismatic, fiery, loyal, bold, expressive, self-assured, creative, passionate, protective, and strong. I loved her with all my heart, and like all mothers and daughters, we also had our ups and down, periods where the disagreements escalated. It was her inner beauty and faith that made people gravitate to her naturally, and subsequently, she became everyone’s second mother, and what always endured was her fierce love and unwavering presence.
In a world obsessed with visibility, where likes and followers seem to measure worth, we’ve forgotten something crucial: not all power is loud, and not all beauty is seen. My mom embodied this truth, and she taught me that You don’t have to be the face of something to be the heart of it. This particular insight hit me hard, given all the reconstructive surgeries I underwent, and my mother stood steadfast beside me. Your scars will bear witness to true love, she told me over and over, because you will know that like me, you are loved for the being the heart of the home, the circle, or the project. Someone once remarked this was a cruel thing to say to me, but it gave me the motivation to fight back against all the public dismissals of my appearance.
My mother’s lessons remain with me, and in this day and age of AI, virtual realities, we fall into the trap of being drawn the superficial beauty, conveniently forgetting that sometimes, the most influential person in the room is not the one with the microphone, but the one whose quiet presence steadies everyone else. It’s the one who holds space, who nurtures, who sacrifices without applause, and whose strength isn’t in showing off but in showing up again and again.
Every family, every community, every team has a foundation, that legacy who who anchors it all. Often, that role goes unrecognised, because it’s not flashy. It’s not the “face” of the success story, of a brand. If you ignore everything else I write in this blog today, please walk away with one thing: the heart of the hearth is what keeps the home warm. Without it, there is no light, no comfort, no place to return to when the world gets cold. So don’t dismiss or diminish those who pour themselves into their families, parents, caregivers, grandparents, mentors. Their names may never appear on a poster or on social media, but their love and labor are etched into the very walls of what they’ve built.
There is immense power in being the lion’s heart of a family. The lion doesn’t need to roar to prove its strength. Sometimes, the strongest thing you can do is keep loving when it’s hard, keep showing up when you’re tired, and keep believing in the good—even when it’s nowhere in sight. Empowerment doesn’t always mean taking centre stage. It can mean choosing your battles, setting boundaries, being a safe place for others. It can mean healing, holding space, or simply refusing to shrink in a world that keeps asking you to.
In today’s culture, where image is currency, it’s easy to believe that worth is something we wear or sculpt. But the most precious things in life are intangible. You can’t Photoshop integrity. You can’t inject compassion. You can’t filter wisdom, resilience, loyalty. True beauty is felt. It radiates from those who live authentically, who choose kindness when cruelty is easier, who lift others up without needing the spotlight. It’s the inner fire that keeps burning through storms, the soft gaze that understands without words, the soul that never gives up on love.
Not everyone is chosen to be the face of the brand, the family, or the movement. But without the heart, the face means nothing. Know this: your worth is not tied to your visibility.
FrogDiva Thoughts 