Happy International Women’s Day!!!!!
And this year’s theme is #EachforEqual. It is all about taking action for equality, raising awareness against bias and celebrating women’s achievements.
Women have always been a great source of inspiration to me, especially in my writing journey.
I have always been a strong believer in the power of words, and how words can be used to teach, inspire, encourage, support and motivate others.
Thanks to the internet, especially social media, you do not need to go very far to get that inspiration and encouragement to keep you going in a very lonely and busy world.
In recent times, we have seen women rise up , using their stories, gifts and abilities to drive positive change around the world.
I have also been privileged to meet great writers online who are shaping and influencing their world positively, one word at a time.
I have been inspired to write articles while reading another woman’s words.
I have shed a few tears as I felt the emotions behind the words, while one woman shares her loss, grief or pain.
I have laughed out loud as another woman uses humor to lighten the burdens of other women.
I have received wisdom as women gave perspective to life’s issues and had deep conversations on their timelines.
I have learnt life lessons from other women’s stories and experiences, because they penned down their words for us to read.
I have stumbled on several articles and posts online which have been a great blessing to me, but some of them I probably never forgot. The words remained in my subconscious mind and I almost always refer to them.
I definitely will never forget this article, ‘When He Was Still Mine’ written by Marjorie Clark Brimley, an American mother of three. Her brutally honest words about the day before her husband’s death left me in tears.
Her words:
“So many years I’d laid on his chest. First as young lovers, so amazed by each other that we couldn’t stop physically touching anytime we were together.
Then as a young couple, happy to have each other in a world where it seemed there was so much else we couldn’t control.
Then as young parents, with our baby also on his chest and my face touching both of them. Then as tired professionals, happy to have each other at the end of the day. I knew his chest, and even if the cancer had weakened it, it still felt like home to me.”
Find link to the full post here:
She has also written about her father and how he has been a strong support in her season of grief. You see through her words how it takes someone who has been through what you have been through to understand what you are going through.
Read about it here.
Next would be a much older friend, Lisa Leshaw, whom I met online on Facebook. She called me once and told me I was a great writer, and that I should keep writing and never let anyone tell me less.
I stumbled once on her article whose words I also never forgot. She gives you a picture into the beauty and power of making memories as parents and the need to always choose gratitude in our lives.
Her words:
“Our morning ritual always began with Eskimo kisses (a throw-back to our early years) followed by his question;
“So where are we going to go today?”
This was my Dad’s way of looking at that proverbial glass as half-full. Although he was confined to a hospital bed he found a way to be grateful and joyous and appreciative of the littlest of things.
He knew that unlike most of the patients around him he still had his faculties and ability to speak and hug and be loved and enjoy a good steak sandwich or pastrami on rye (snuck in by me as often as I could).
His question about where we were going didn’t refer to a specific location (in the hospital) but rather of our shared memories. Each morning we would ‘go’ to a different place together and relive every moment of that time we had with each other.”
Read full post here:
I cannot go without writing about a strong woman, Nneoma Wokemba and how a story she shared led me to ask the question, ‘ How Inspiring is your life?’
It is a true life story about the power of sowing good seeds. That post was titled, ‘ SEEDS IN THE GROUND – A TRUE STORY ABOUT THE POWER OF GENEROSITY’ . I never forgot her words.
Read Nneoma Wokemba’s story.
I also remember Adejumoke Omobayo who supported me when I first started writing online. She helped me become a better writer. I remember her say, ‘ Write like you are having a conversation’. I have gotten better over the months. And this is me saying ‘ Thank you’.
I have also met amazing women on different groups where I have learnt, grown and have been inspired greatly.
Some of these groups and the women behind them are written below in no particular order.
The Right- Fit Marriage Academy – Modupe Ehirim
Hadarious Women – Oluwatosin Arodudu
The Motherhood Nest ( Active) – Chinyere Theresa
Online Entrepreneurs and Publishers Network – Edirin Edewor
Mumming Internationally – Adaeze Ijeh
Moms are Caring – Mercy Christian
Parent Right, Live Right – Ronke Posh Adeniyi
The Women at the Well Facebook Page – Hephzibah Frances
And many more that I may not be able to write down.
So while some women may choose to bring down, devalue and hurt other women.
I choose to celebrate every woman who is giving hope, building a godly home, raising great children, breaking stereotypes, dreaming big and influencing positive change in the world around them.
I celebrate that woman who is changing the world with her pen, one word at a time.
Ufuoma.
#IWD2020
#EachforEqual
