When I realised that today was International Woman's Day, I thought about writing a blog about brilliant women, okay, all women are brilliant, but I thought of writing a post on the Spice Girls - but I've done that, I was going to write one about "times up" and "Me too" may I would write about the gender pay gap or perhaps women's rights (like the right to vote) but then I thought to myself - why not get a guest blogger to write something for me? that's when I enlisted the help of The Ditsy Explorer, after all, it was her who inspired me to start writing a blog - after reading this post why not head over to www.theditsyexplorer.com and see for yourself just how good she is... anyway - over to The Ditsy Explorer
Keeping me, me: My Female Inspiration
2018 is a big year for women here in the UK. It marks 100 years since (some) women were given the right to vote; we still had a long way to go then, and in some respects we still do now, but it is never ever a bad thing to celebrate all things equality and female empowerment. And, let's be honest, women are amazing.
When Jack In The Blog approached me and asked if I wanted to write a guest post for his blog to celebrate International Women's Day on the 8th March, I was so excited and could not turn down the opportunity. However, he gave me so much freedom and scope I didn't know where to start! When I sat down to write, I was stumped, thinking about all the different and interesting areas I could cover, things I had seen in the news, everything. But then, I decided to keep it close to home and talk about the most amazing woman to me.
Empowerment, whatever your gender, age, sexuality, species, I believe, starts at home and from within yourself and those closest to you. For me, there is no one that has shaped me and helped me to develop into the person I am more than my mum. Sounds cheesy, yes. But, she really is the best thing ever, even before sliced bread, and she will always be my number one inspiration.
To be fair, she is an absolute lunatic and one of the early suffers of avocado hand after having a few drinks and deciding that taking an avocado stone out with a bread knife would be a good idea. But, oh well. She really makes me, me and always encourages me and challenges me to be the best person I could possibly be.
She knows everything bad and everything good about me, and it still doesn't change a thing. Even all the tattoos and dodgy haircuts, she looks past them all.
It's not all about me though. She is also an absolute legend in her own right. While we'll never know everything our parents did when they were younger/before we came along, what I do know about "Saucy Sabs" (a nickname lovingly bestowed on her by my young brother and his friends) is that she is brave, fearless and a character all of her own.
She's definitely faced hard times and a number of struggles, as many of us do, but she continues to grow and become more and more of herself every single day, showing perfectly that we are always, as individuals, a work in progress; we never stop changing and developing and that's not a bad thing.
Because of this, to me she is the best figure of female empowerment I could aspire to. Teaching me that I shouldn't be afraid to change and develop if I want to, but that I should always be myself and that's the most important thing.
While I have written this for International Women's Day and talked mostly about female empowerment, in this day and age, in a world of social media, butt selfies and reality stars, it's really hard to be yourself, no matter your gender.
It happens to the best of us, not feeling like we're good enough, being scared of judgement or not fitting in. But, sometimes it just takes that one person, family or friend, to keep you grounded and to keep you, well, you and, even better - the most empowered version of you.
For me, it's my mum. Who is it for you?