A challenge met
Over at celebrate_women, they've asked for posts about women of influence, of strength.
Okay, here goes.
Canadian Girls Kick Ass
Yes, toxicutie, I'm talking about you. vflick too.
toxicutie, believe it or not, I would not be the person everyone else claims to love, were it not for you. You taught me to embrace my inner redhead and bring her out to the surface. You taught me that drama is O.K., especially if you're on stage. You haven't given up on me, even when I'm hard to get hold of. You're stronger than you think you are. Even when going through hell, you're willing to give the devil what-for.
vflick. You're nuts in a totally good way. When you know what you want, you go out and get it, and when you don't, you either figure out what you want, or know it's not that important anyway. You might not think this, but it's true. You're willing to (and have) just pick up and move. If you want to go places, you're going places. You have the ability to prevent panic with your amazing calm. (And you really do look rockin' in that skirt).
And yeah, sunzflower... I doubt you're reading this, but thanks for saving my life. Literally. More than once. Don't hate me for hating you for having a killer job. You've worked for it. You deserve it. I'm just... trying to believe such things exist. I will take my revenge in the fact that you must now, occasionally, wear socks.
South of the Border, they've got style
thekatebeyond, jennukes, bets_cyn, raisintorte, rabbit_the_wise, _tweeter_, triciabyrne1978, daisycm83, catku, jennyannhass...
Wow, there's a lot of you. Together, you could take over the world. You certainly have the brains for it... you're just probably all too smart to want it, am I right?
thekatebeyond What can I say? I don't think LJ gives me enough room. You sought me out when I would have never had the guts to do such a thing, and your timing was impeccable. When it came to the point where my RL world was crumbling, you were there, here, holding me up when all I wanted to do was fall. You always look for the good in people, and have a faith I could only dream of. You don't just give lip-service to the virtue of charity, or make excuses that you would, but things are just a little tight, now; you find a way to help however you can. You're raising two fantastic kids, which is no easy task. You've had hand after hand of bad cards, but you seem to manage to stay in the game where other people would have quit, or claimed the dealer was cheating. You accept people and their differences. You admit when you're wrong... but you so rarely are.
jennukes. Who? That's right, Who. :D. You're the first online person who connected with me RL... even before your sister did. You manage to fit more living into one week than most people manage in three months. You're here, there, everywhere so much that it's like you have more than one clone. You're saving lives, building homes, and still fitting in more law school and now a full-time job (which, as a lawyer, is like full and a half). Quit saying you want a TARDIS, girl. You've got one in your garage. That's the only way you could make all of this fit.
bets_cyn. If you're evil... saints aren't that good. You're almost as busy as jennukes, saving the world one step at a time. You're the epitome of "Do you want to ask the man in charge, or the woman who knows what the hell is going on?" You know what's going on, because you're so often the one making it happen, and without you, it wouldn't. Period.
raisintorte. You are you, and that is who you are, and you are amazingly cool with that. You are smart, funny, and slightly evil (I swear I went home with my clothes fitting a little more snugly than when I went down. BTW, that cherry-chocolate cake? Also awesome in peach-vanilla. See what you've done?). You've got the great job, the wonderful husband, the sweet dog... and you're so incredibly nice, to boot. That takes a special kind of person, to pull that off. You have a talent for making people feel better about themselves.
rabbit_the_wise I feel privileged to share a brain-cell with you. :) You are brilliant, crazy (in a good way). You are wild, fun, and not afraid to say what you think. Bunny ears FTW!! You're a truck-drivin' computer-genius who can make almost anything funny. Did I mention you are brilliant?
_tweeter_ You are far, far stronger than you think. You can't compare yourself to everybody else, because the comparison isn't there. Marshall McLuhan once said that "Everybody experiences far more than he understands. Yet it is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behavior." Your experience is -- while maybe not unique -- not what everyone else experiences. You deal with realities every day that most of us would not want to even imagine. And yet you remain amazingly positive. Yes, you do. It's not the 'unbelievably positive' that has to be fake because no one is that upbeat, but it's an imperfect positive, far more inspiring for it's reality. So you're not all cheer, all the time. That would just make you insufferable. And you are certainly not that.
triciabyrne1978. Bounce. That's what comes to mind when I think of you. You're always willing to explore, share, learn and teach. Enthusiasm is your watchword. You have it, and you're willing to spread it around. You're not afraid to put yourself out there and just do things. You're not one to just sit by and watch.
daisycm83. You are such a happy, sunshiny person. You're right, that is you. In a world full of angst, you're defiantly holding up your 'fluffy bunnies welcome here' sign. You don't just look for the positive side of things, you hunt it down, bring it back and tell it to stay. When life gives you lemons, you not only make lemonade, but you make enough to share.
catku Where others might have gone mad, you've gone and done something about it.
There is a serenity and stillness about you that I can't help but envy.
jennyannhass, you're a fighter. When life tries to knock you down, you stand up and bloody its nose. You're tough. I haven't known you long enough to have more words, but that is what I do know.
A World of Awesome
rinkle, futma, _workinprogress
rinkle, you may realise how amazing it truly is, what you're doing and what you've accomplished. It's not easy to get where you have, it's even less easy to do it in the field you've chosen. You are intelligent, funny, and just really damn nice. Nothin' airfridge about you. ;)
futma. You are one of the funniest people I have ever met. I'd say in two languages, but it's probably more than that, and I only understand the one. You really kind of just take life as it comes. You don't freak. You just go with the flow. You're cool.
_workinprogress. You haven't just seen Hell, you've been there long enough to know the decorating scheme for multiple rooms. Yet, you haven't thrown up your hands and just given up, you're still holding on, looking for ways to make it better. You're making the hard choices, and plowing on when so many people would just have given up.
Anyone looking for rolemodels should take a look around. Possibly in a mirror. There is no need to look far afield. Everything is right in front of you.
Strength. It's amazing where you find it.
Okay, here goes.
Canadian Girls Kick Ass
Yes, toxicutie, I'm talking about you. vflick too.
toxicutie, believe it or not, I would not be the person everyone else claims to love, were it not for you. You taught me to embrace my inner redhead and bring her out to the surface. You taught me that drama is O.K., especially if you're on stage. You haven't given up on me, even when I'm hard to get hold of. You're stronger than you think you are. Even when going through hell, you're willing to give the devil what-for.
vflick. You're nuts in a totally good way. When you know what you want, you go out and get it, and when you don't, you either figure out what you want, or know it's not that important anyway. You might not think this, but it's true. You're willing to (and have) just pick up and move. If you want to go places, you're going places. You have the ability to prevent panic with your amazing calm. (And you really do look rockin' in that skirt).
And yeah, sunzflower... I doubt you're reading this, but thanks for saving my life. Literally. More than once. Don't hate me for hating you for having a killer job. You've worked for it. You deserve it. I'm just... trying to believe such things exist. I will take my revenge in the fact that you must now, occasionally, wear socks.
South of the Border, they've got style
thekatebeyond, jennukes, bets_cyn, raisintorte, rabbit_the_wise, _tweeter_, triciabyrne1978, daisycm83, catku, jennyannhass...
Wow, there's a lot of you. Together, you could take over the world. You certainly have the brains for it... you're just probably all too smart to want it, am I right?
thekatebeyond What can I say? I don't think LJ gives me enough room. You sought me out when I would have never had the guts to do such a thing, and your timing was impeccable. When it came to the point where my RL world was crumbling, you were there, here, holding me up when all I wanted to do was fall. You always look for the good in people, and have a faith I could only dream of. You don't just give lip-service to the virtue of charity, or make excuses that you would, but things are just a little tight, now; you find a way to help however you can. You're raising two fantastic kids, which is no easy task. You've had hand after hand of bad cards, but you seem to manage to stay in the game where other people would have quit, or claimed the dealer was cheating. You accept people and their differences. You admit when you're wrong... but you so rarely are.
jennukes. Who? That's right, Who. :D. You're the first online person who connected with me RL... even before your sister did. You manage to fit more living into one week than most people manage in three months. You're here, there, everywhere so much that it's like you have more than one clone. You're saving lives, building homes, and still fitting in more law school and now a full-time job (which, as a lawyer, is like full and a half). Quit saying you want a TARDIS, girl. You've got one in your garage. That's the only way you could make all of this fit.
bets_cyn. If you're evil... saints aren't that good. You're almost as busy as jennukes, saving the world one step at a time. You're the epitome of "Do you want to ask the man in charge, or the woman who knows what the hell is going on?" You know what's going on, because you're so often the one making it happen, and without you, it wouldn't. Period.
raisintorte. You are you, and that is who you are, and you are amazingly cool with that. You are smart, funny, and slightly evil (I swear I went home with my clothes fitting a little more snugly than when I went down. BTW, that cherry-chocolate cake? Also awesome in peach-vanilla. See what you've done?). You've got the great job, the wonderful husband, the sweet dog... and you're so incredibly nice, to boot. That takes a special kind of person, to pull that off. You have a talent for making people feel better about themselves.
rabbit_the_wise I feel privileged to share a brain-cell with you. :) You are brilliant, crazy (in a good way). You are wild, fun, and not afraid to say what you think. Bunny ears FTW!! You're a truck-drivin' computer-genius who can make almost anything funny. Did I mention you are brilliant?
_tweeter_ You are far, far stronger than you think. You can't compare yourself to everybody else, because the comparison isn't there. Marshall McLuhan once said that "Everybody experiences far more than he understands. Yet it is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behavior." Your experience is -- while maybe not unique -- not what everyone else experiences. You deal with realities every day that most of us would not want to even imagine. And yet you remain amazingly positive. Yes, you do. It's not the 'unbelievably positive' that has to be fake because no one is that upbeat, but it's an imperfect positive, far more inspiring for it's reality. So you're not all cheer, all the time. That would just make you insufferable. And you are certainly not that.
triciabyrne1978. Bounce. That's what comes to mind when I think of you. You're always willing to explore, share, learn and teach. Enthusiasm is your watchword. You have it, and you're willing to spread it around. You're not afraid to put yourself out there and just do things. You're not one to just sit by and watch.
daisycm83. You are such a happy, sunshiny person. You're right, that is you. In a world full of angst, you're defiantly holding up your 'fluffy bunnies welcome here' sign. You don't just look for the positive side of things, you hunt it down, bring it back and tell it to stay. When life gives you lemons, you not only make lemonade, but you make enough to share.
catku Where others might have gone mad, you've gone and done something about it.
There is a serenity and stillness about you that I can't help but envy.
jennyannhass, you're a fighter. When life tries to knock you down, you stand up and bloody its nose. You're tough. I haven't known you long enough to have more words, but that is what I do know.
A World of Awesome
rinkle, futma, _workinprogress
rinkle, you may realise how amazing it truly is, what you're doing and what you've accomplished. It's not easy to get where you have, it's even less easy to do it in the field you've chosen. You are intelligent, funny, and just really damn nice. Nothin' airfridge about you. ;)
futma. You are one of the funniest people I have ever met. I'd say in two languages, but it's probably more than that, and I only understand the one. You really kind of just take life as it comes. You don't freak. You just go with the flow. You're cool.
_workinprogress. You haven't just seen Hell, you've been there long enough to know the decorating scheme for multiple rooms. Yet, you haven't thrown up your hands and just given up, you're still holding on, looking for ways to make it better. You're making the hard choices, and plowing on when so many people would just have given up.
Anyone looking for rolemodels should take a look around. Possibly in a mirror. There is no need to look far afield. Everything is right in front of you.
Strength. It's amazing where you find it.