Aww thanks Carolyn! :hugs:
Biggest female influence in my life: my mum. When I was born, she had just turned 16 a couple of months before and was such a young girl, responsible for a baby before her own flower had bloomed entirely. She embraced motherhood in such a beautiful and graceful way and gave me, and my sisters to follow, her entire heart and attention....nurturing our own flowers to full bloom.
In the midst of a crazy, crazy upbringing, surrounded by crime and it's players (which my dad bought to the table, mum never wanted a part of it, ever) she created an eye of the storm for the three of us kids to shelter....which, looking back now, kept a large part of our innocence and childhood intact when it would have been torn away from us, if not for her. She doesn't judge people, she accepts others for who they are and is so calm, has such a beautiful heart.
In her presence, you feel as if you are lying in a field of sunflowers under blue skies, caressed by a gentle breeze and warm, mottled sunlight.
It's mum that shaped who I am the most. I think I'm not as gentle a person as she is, I can be more critical of things but she was the one I clung to as a child, like a koala bear to a tree lol....I hope I soaked up some of her sunlight along the way...
The other woman, who I am a lot like, is my nana. She was the other woman in my life, alongside my mum. My dad was in prison when I was born and my mum could'nt live at HER home as her parents opposed my presence in her swelling belly, so my dad's mum (nana) took her in. Consequently, when I was born, it was my nana's home that became my first home.
I was told that she was so proud of me, she would walk up and down her street pushing me in a stroller and show me off to everyone, just the proud nana. She, too, was such a beautiful, gentle soul....whenever I see or read Maya Angelou, she reminds me SO much of nana, it aint funny. She was active in many community projects and held a lot of jobs. She was a Justice of the Peace, she was an advocate to teenage offenders and streetkids (when they were arrested, she would be called in to act on their behalf and see that the police didn't treat them unfairly, if they didn't have a parent or guardian). She was a Salvation Army Officer, a published writer...amongst many things. She was so well respected and known around Melbourne....when she died, the funeral parlour was so packed that people flowed out onto the street and road. To see high profile people, police officers, judges and the like, alongside streetkids was a marvellous sight and made me so proud of her, that she had people who loved her from all walks of life. That she impacted on so many lives. There were some who stood up at her funeral and told of how she was there for them at their lowest, be it in prison or battling cancer....wow, she succeeded in her life, if just for that.
I got my writing style and abilities from her, our thoughts on things and the way we view the world is, reassuringly, like we are one and the same person.
She still influences me today, I feel her everywhere. Her favourite flower was the sunflower and everytime I see one, I can hear her voice saying "Hello Sweetness, I love you";reminding me that she is always close and is holding me safe.
Josh's mum is a relatively new influence. She is a strong, beautiful woman, has always been career-orientated but always made family number-one priority. Very intelligent, tuned-in woman, who I really admire.
Can't say any women in the public eye have directly and strongly influenced me but I draw from them a little and try to take some things on board. Maya Angelou's writing and way, I love.
Diane Goodall is another and any woman who has devoted their life to their passion and lived true to themselves, I find inspiring.
Btw, great question darl! :heart:
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