Sisterhood of Success

From the get go, we are told you need to be better/do better than the person next to you. You don’t want to be left behind, you don’t want to be working a low paying/dead end job while everyone else is living their best lives, but what do we class as success and why do we not celebrate each other’s successes more? How come we have been taught to perceive someone else’s success as the failure of our own? Why do many of us take someone else’s success to mean there is less for us? We see it on the # celebrations and we will openly welcome and celebrate each other on the designated days, but then go about our daily lives grumbling about how much nicer her car is and how many more likes/followers she’s got. I’m not sure if it’s something we’ve noticed within the blogging community, while it is full of supportive women, it is also full of people sighing and wondering why it hasn’t happened for them. Explore with us as we share this brain dump.

One of the main reasons we began our blog, was as a way for us to bond as sisters, but also as a way to grow a sisterhood of friendships, common interests and of unwavering love and support for the countless women out there who don’t get near as much props as they should. We’re all prodding away, doing our thang and every once in a while, it would be good to get an “I see you”, “your work gets noticed”, “good job”. This is one of the main reasons that prompted us to begin our RnR Interview series, because every where around us, people have a story and we can draw inspiration from and support each other through all of life’s ups and downs. We don’t need to look to only celebrities or people of means for inspiration, it’s right in front of us. If we just talked and got to know the people around us on a deeper level, we could and would be surprised what advice and similarities we can find. As women, we are a force; we all have different experiences, but also have so very much in common and from our shared commonality, we should surround ourselves with the love and support a sisterhood provides. Through our very short time blogging, we have come across some very wonderful, supportive, inspirational women within our own lives, and want that for everyone!

It’s interesting, when R1 and I have had the opportunity to get together with other women in our lives for dinner, the conversation of women being “jealous” or “threatened” by one another is always at the spark of conversation. Maybe we are far too quick to judge and compare ourselves to each other, instead of accepting that we’re different and that it’s not a bad thing, our individual experiences is what makes us stronger. Sharing and showing our vulnerability allows others to empathize with us, see themselves in us and maybe even relate to us and well, that’s how bonds are formed are they not?

The power of community and feeling connected is a natural human trait, we are social creatures and in many ways we crave interaction of some sort, hence the hold social media has on us. Personally, I don’t really know when my drive for pushing for a connection through sisterhood began, especially since I am that person who has been betrayed in some form, on numerous occasions within some of my longest female friendships. I have been stung by so many women (men as well) whom I trusted and believed to be my real friends, but despite that I firmly believe that we are much stronger together, or maybe because of that I am a massive advocate for unity among women. I realized now, that it was a them issue and not a me issue. But, it also made me realize that maybe I was just able to mask my insecurities and put on the outer personality of an outgoing and self-assured person, when in fact I feel the very opposite- hence the opening up more.

We’re all fighting similar battles, no matter our colour, size, ethnicity, age- we are all going through or have gone through a variety of things. Let us band together and harness our joint knowledge and raise each other up, because if you succeed, then I succeed. Share with us your girl gang, who are the women whom you KNOW have got your back- through thick and thin!