Today is International Women’s Day, and it’s time to reflect on the strength of incredible women around the world. I keep seeing touching Instagram posts and its made me think about the women in my life. These women may not always appear to be strong, but boy are they resilient, brilliant and inspiring in their own way.
I’m not here to complain or moan about the cards life has dealt me, but honestly, the women in my family have been through a lot. Yet, they continue to fight back and use life’s challenges to make them stronger. Just thinking about how inspiring these women in my life are is making me well up a little.
Recently, my sister in particular has been my rock. We haven’t always been close, which is why I appreciate the help she has given me, despite the issues and problems she faces herself. We sometimes forget to appreciate the important people in our life. Lately I have really been appreciating everything my sister does for me, but I am yet to tell her that myself. So here goes.
To my dear sister Kalina
You may not think much of yourself. You may feel that you are worthless and unable to do the things that normal people do, but to me, you are incredible. You lost your father when you were just 15, and on top of this, together we battled challenging family issues.
This prevented you from growing up. Now you’re finding it tough to carve your path in the world, but you will get there, I promise. You will find someone who loves you and cherishes you like you deserve. I can’t see how anyone can fail to love you. You are so naturally beautiful, and whoever ends up with you will never have a dull day in their life. You are literally the most interesting person I know.
You will eventually be rewarded for all the wonderful artwork that you do. There really is no one out there who paints in the way that you do, and conveys so many colourful emotions. You are so brave to just put everything out there. To say ‘I am depressed’ and splash your raw feelings all over a painting.
Your determined spirit and aspirations to change the world one bit at a time blow me away. I know this big, bad world makes you so so angry, and I can totally see why. If there were more people like you we wouldn’t be in this sticky situation in the first place.
You are the coolest person I know. You break the rules, don’t care what other people think of you, and challenge everything. Don’t ever stop doing that. I wish I was more of a free spirit like you. It’s true that when our world exploded we might have been pushed further apart initially rather than closer together, but now I feel things turning around.
Don’t stop fighting for your happy ending. Life can be shit and awful and cruel, but as you know, it can also be amazing. Chase your dreams, don’t stop being spontaneous and let go of the things that are holding you back (easier said than done I know). I picture you living in an eco home like a hobbit in some far away land, and showing your children how to live without harming our precious planet.
I feel that we are a force to be reckoned with, and we are both grateful that we have been through so much, because it’s shaped the people we are today. I’m so glad you are coming back into my life and we can conquer the world together.
I know I rarely say it, but I really do love you. Geeze, I should not be writing this in the library, I want to burst into happy tears. I feel so lucky to have a sister like you, and I can’t wait for you to be my Maid of Honour on my wedding day.
Lots of love always, big sis.
***update***
So my sister just posted a sort of reply via Instagram, and I thought it made sense to share it here too. As I mentioned, she is of course, a pretty damn epic person with strong and powerful views to share. Give her a follow.
Ladies, you are not strong beautiful or amazing today. You are all of those and more EVERYDAY. My sister @thecontentwolf wrote about me for her today, sweet but I wish she’d picked herself.
Today is all about projecting the strength and beauty we see in other woman but what about your fucking self? If you don’t love who you are or what your doing then how can you support your fellows around you?
Don’t celebrate your unique amazingness just today, you are that EVERYDAY. No matter if you’re a woman, man, Syrian, black, Christian, gay, old, young, rich or poor.
It doesn’t matter. We all struggle with indifference and inequality to an extent, leveling the playing field won’t come from a day of awareness but rather an ever lasting desire to love and respect ourselves enough to be able to make a change externally.
Don’t pick a woman that inspires you today, be your own fucking inspiration, each of us are fantastically mesmerising in every little way, you just gotta show the universe you love it enough to share it, to make a change. No matter who you are.
Kiri, there’s a shard of irony in your post. You wish to show me all the things I’m good for but you so frequently forget you are all of them too. Everything you see in me, I see in you. It’s not perfectly aligned but similar.
We all forget to admire ourselves, I read this and I cried because I forget about those best bits of me, just like you forget your best bits, and so does everyone else. We all need to try and focus our healing inwards and see the best versions of ourselves.
My point is, I am eternally grateful you think so highly of me and thank you for choosing to write about me today, but, as I sure you wish I would, you should be your own woman of inspiration. Do you not remember we’ve had the same shit thrown at us? Do you not see that you have had just as many if not more struggles than me?
Yet you are the one who has found love, happiness and your own strength to go on without realising it. I admire you think so highly of me, I just wish you thought it of yourself. Just like I wish everyone would start admiring and respecting themselves everyday, not on these darn silly international holidays.
We all need to make a conscious effort to love ourselves everyday in order to make a better tomorrow. Sure it’s better together, but there is no together if there is no you.
Lovely words from two of my very favourite women