Jo: Little Woman

“Never till I’m stiff & old, & have to use a crutch. Don’t try to make me grow up before my time…” That is Josephine March’s rebuttal to her older sister Meg’s nagging & agitated question of “When will you stop such romping ways?” Jo, as she is known, is well suited to her boyish nickname, as she revels in such activities as fence-jumping, tree climbing, & running about most unladylike.
Jo, the second oldest of the four March sisters in Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, has been beloved by generations. In her I find a dear kindred spirit & a very sympathetic soul, indeed – in fact, looking at Jo March is often like looking in a mirror.
Meg’s question has come at me many a time or two. I have enjoyed pastimes that others have deemed too frolicsome, futile, & silly. Climbing trees & jumping over things has always allured me, as well. True to tomboyish nature I have been known to run rather than walk.
Jo is also the writer of the family; scribbling stories as fast as they come to her mind. Louisa May Alcott based Little Women on her own sisterly crew, & Jo is most definitely a close representation of the author herself. I, too, have ambitions to be a writer – it is, truth be told, a very great dream of mine. If I could be a mile near as great a writer as Louisa May Alcott I would be pleased. Jo’s early troubled authorship is very like my own.
As Jo grows up (as she couldn’t stop it); she has a muddled time of it (as I suppose most do). But in her trials I see my own feelings unearthed – needing new horizons & adventures; being uncertain & angry at her family’s ever-changing state (as she loses a beloved family member & sisters marry); not wanting to be romantically entangled or matrimonially captured. She states, “Nobody will want me, & it’s a mercy, for there should always be one old maid in a family.” Yes, those have all been my feelings. Jo is my kindred literary counterpart.
We can read all of Jo’s story & no secrets are left to be had, but my story is still unfolding – and like Jo, I seek to face it & feel it & totally & completely live it, in order that I might see the details, secrets, & ending God has in store.
Quotes Taken From: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Grosset & Dunlap, 1993)

If You're a Jo, Too - You Just Might Like:

Here's a Jo-inspired Polyvore creation I quite liked:

Jo from Little Women by ♥charlotte♥please join my group on Polyvore.com