“Mother’s Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family,as well as motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society.”
In celebration of Mother’s Day approaching I thought I’d take this opportunity to recognise and show my appreciation for the strong, empowering women I’m lucky enough to have in my life! I’m lucky enough to have three maternal influences in my close family; my Mum, my Mamma and my Granny as well as many other important women who have all taught me how to love myself, speak up for myself and believe in myself.
Many speak about their mother’s being their best friend and I completely relate to this; my beautiful, kind, strong and wise Mum, Madeleine, is my best friend. I envy the way she moves through each day with such fearless prowess, she doesn’t let anyone get to her and never lets the small things in life faze her. I hope that one day my children look up to me how I look up to my Mum. Not every day is daisies and roses and we have our arguments but who doesn’t, isn’t that just real life! They say that you argue as much as you love!
Along with my Mum both my grandmothers are generous, thoughtful and caring women. They both support me through all my studies, extra-curricular activities and always just ask how I’m coping with everything I do. I am beyond blessed to still have them both with me and do not ever take that for granted. Any time I can spend with my Mamma or my Granny I’ll take. As humans it unfortunately takes a life altering event for us to realise how lucky we really are. I remember a couple of years ago going to a funeral for the Nan of one of my best friends. During my friend’s speech something she said really hit home and it has stuck with me ever since. She said, “So many of my friends are embarrassed to go to the shops with their grandma’s and I’d give anything to just do that one more time.” It was right in that minute that made me realise how special and influential our grandparents can be.
As well as the emotional and mental support systems my Mum, Mamma and Granny are for me they have also made me the person I am. I know that sounds corny and cliché, but they’ve taught me so many life-long lessons that I can never repay. I’m constantly told that I am such a beyond my years in terms of the ‘motherly duties’ I’m able to do. I can cook, clean, wash clothes, do the ironing, bake, sew, answer the phone and ring others in a professional manner, write an educated letter or email, do an entire food shop, meal plan, write a shopping list, manage my finances and be responsible for my actions. These are all daily tasks that each of the women in my life have taught me over the years. I am so prepared to move into my adult years already knowing all of this, I’ve been raised to be a self-sufficient, accountable young woman. I am forever grateful for these lessons that they probably didn’t intentionally mean to teach me.
On a completely different note I want to make a point about how important it is to find a group of friends that you call family. My girlfriends are my everything; we support each other through the rough times, we celebrate even the smallest achievements, we constantly let each other know that we are all beautiful and to love ourselves, we all band together in times of need and we always, always fix each other’s crowns. There is so much negativity and bullying that occurs in today’s society through social media and technology, gossiping and the pressure of conforming to society. One vital lesson I’ve learnt is to find your queens, stick together then divide and conquer! To my queens out there you know who you are and I’m so thankful for each and every one of you!
I’m so blessed to have an incredible support system of kind, wise and resilient women with me every day. I guess the whole point of the blog post is to stress the importance of finding your tribe…find people that support, encourage, love and believe in you. They don’t have to be family, but they can be as well. Find an amazing group of friends that one day you can call family, a group that will be with you through the bad times as well as the good, a group that will lift you up to your highest yet bring you back down to earth when you need to be.
Remember,
“Your friends represent you: all your actions, all your thoughts and all the things you aspire to be. They are a collection of all the things you’re meant to be, and they were put on this planet to guide you, so use them, find them, they will show you the way and they will teach you how to be free.” - R.M. Drake
Lots of love, B
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