Hello dear Substack Family,
I hope this letter finds you well.
I want to first wish you a very happy International Women’s Day. Here in Ireland it is a very important celebration and for me personally I find it as important as it gets.
To be a woman in this chaotic crazy yet beautiful world is a very important role to hold right now. My personal feelings on the craziness at the top is that wars would never happen the way they do if women were involved and secondly I personally believe peace is only possible if women are at that table too. But as we know that is never truly going to happen, not in the near future anyways, so onwards we go while keeping our faith in the fact that each day we, the women of the world, can bring peace as we move through and around our lives. We are indeed the brightest campaigners of hope, peace and light and we do not need to be on top of no ladder to do that on the ground each and everyday :)
In my few words today, I wish to share my love for so many important pieces of history and present day magic that can only happen because women’s voices and actions were and are involved. I also want to take this moment to recognise the importance of what women bring to the table of life each day and how in so many situations we are the calming hand of peace and the leaders of a gentle approach when things get out of hand whether on big scale stuff or within a family or between friends. Wherever conflict exists if a woman of good nature and a kind heart approaches, I can promise you, whatever is going on, will be resolved in a soft sensible way.
“A woman is like a teabag, you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” Eleanor Roosevelt
I have been blessed with many amazing and inspirational women in my life particularly my mam Olive, my grandmother Nancy and of course my wonderful sister Claire. I choose these three women to thank for they have been truly inspirational to me in the way I live my life. In their own unique way they have shown me that women play such an important role in life, in family, in friendship, in good times and in bad. They have been inspirational in so many ways and no matter what has come to their door, they have always remained steadfast in their calm approach, kept their minds open and their loving hearts soft and gentle. Those three characteristics which women possess in a very special way are exactly the traits we need to lean more on in a world that seems to have become sharply dark and negative. The darkness seems to be taking over the headlines and we are seeing more and more sadness in the world when what we truly need is more love, more light, more leading women.
“Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not too difficult.” Charlotte Whitton
I hope you enjoy the video I’ve included from one of my favourite women - Granny Nancy - and I think her wisdom of a thousand words is worth a billion of mine.
Just a final note before I go. If you are a woman reading this or you have women in your life inspiring you, I would truly recommend you tell them. Speaking as a woman myself, modern life tends to lead us to believe that good people know when they are good. But that is not the case. In the olden days women would have been tighter in ways and more vocal in their support for each other. I find nowadays because of phones, less community opportunities and life being so fast and busy -whatever that actually means (I am an advocate of slow living and always will be), sometimes we forget to tell each other when we see a good value/trait or characteristic in another. I think this International Women’s Day, if you can over the weekend or over the next week, maybe as a little practice of gratitude, you might tell/text or call a woman in your life and tell her how wonderful she is. Women’s work more often than not goes unnoticed and taken for granted and I don’t think that part of the story will ever change. I think of Irish mammies and mammies all over the world when I write this statement. Their endless and unconditional love for their familes and loved ones is out there on its own. I know as you read this if you are or were fortunate to have a good mammy, you will know what I mean. Also for all us women who don’t have children or who aren’t in that role, we too contribute to this world in a very magical and mostly unrecognised way - we are the carers of loved ones, the aunties to nieces, the best friend to the busy and we are most inportantly soft, gentle and unconditionally ‘there’ for all who need us with an open heart, an open door and a kettle on the boil.
“Women hold up half the sky.” Mao Zedong
Women - we are only half of the story of course and I would never want to forget the strong, soft, kind men in our lives and in our world - without men we would not be the beautiful race we are together-but for today, it is about highlighting, admiring and loving the magic of women in this world!
Just a few of the women who inspire me:
My mam - Ollie
Stevie Nicks
My sister
Audrey Hepburn
My grandmother - Nancy
Mother Theresa
My dearly beloved friends
My Facebook Family
My aunts
My cousins
My nieces
Marilyn Munroe
Helen Keller
Rosa Parks
Sinéad O’Connor
Dolores O’Riordan
Grainne O’Malley
Countess Constance Markievicz
Katie Taylor
Nicola Coughlan
Rachel Blackmore
Kellie Harrington
Sarah Lavin
Maeve Binchy
Marian Keyes
Muireann O’Connell
Eimear Crehan
Catherine Leydon
Catherine Connolly
Saoirse Ronan
Mary Fitzgerald
St. Brigid
YOU!!!!
Lots of love,
Lou & Granny Nancy x
P.S. In the comments you might share who you see as an inspirational woman in your life? I’d love to hear x Also I hope Granny Nancy leaves you smiling, she never failed to lift my heart and even though I haven’t been able to look back at any of our videos in the last while — it just makes me so lonely for her - I pushed myself to find this one and rewatch and instantly I cried like a baby but my heart filled with so much love and joy. She will always live on with me in everyway and for that, I bless myself when I say that because she was such a blessing in my life xx I will never not miss you Gran x
You might like to buy me a cuppa here if you enjoy my work and my words x
Thank you for always being here dear Substack family x
PS. A special shout out to my beautiful Facebook family and substack supporter Teresa Doyle of County Waterford who sent me these cool desk flowers to my home on Friday. I only opened the package today and what a beautiful surprise to get. I just love them. I am blessed to be surrounded with such thoughtful, kind and inspirational friends. I have never met Teresa, nor even spoke to her and it is this kind of magic that women bring to the world and the reason I keep doing what I do. Thank you for believing in my Teresa, your support means everything to me x Someday we will meet I promise x
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