Courage, Leadership, Independence, Wisdom

A few months ago, when I was working my way through the Firestarter book by Danielle LaPorte, one of the best exercises was one that I gather is classic life coaching material – choose your top heroes or heroines.  And then, you note what qualities draw you to these people, and this is a clue to your own values and strengths.

It didn’t take me long to make a list of eight, and then to narrow it down.  My top four were – Queen Elizabeth I, Malala, Joan of Arc and Hildegard of Bingen.  And, yup, they all basically share the same qualities of courage, leadership, independence, and spiritual wisdom and/or intelligence.  I neglected to add my own grandmother, Winnifred Wilton, who was one of the first two women lawyers in Manitoba, Canada.  She and another young woman had to break through Manitoba’s “glass ceiling” at the time, a law on the books that said that only “persons” could be lawyers under Manitoba law, and women were not considered persons.  Read that again: women were not considered persons. This is just about exactly 100 years ago.  Because of the conventions of the time, Winnifred had to give up any hope of a career once she married and children were on the way.  But she shared all four qualities and I am proud to be her granddaughter, and to have her as one of my heroines.

Last night, I watched the video, “He Named Me Malala.”  Media coverage of Malala’s life didn’t do justice to her experiences; the movie bowled me over. This young woman is absolutely extraordinary.  Her courage was and continues to be off the charts.  When I think of the level of courage it has taken me to click “publish” on this modest blog, I cringe in embarrassment, and I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I want to say!  The different literal and psychological dangers/challenges faced by women who speak out, in different countries and situations, and of different generations, are hard to compare.  But Malala, who is still only a teenager, has far more to teach me than I believe I could ever in a million years teach her, and as the only contemporary heroine on my list, I hope that perhaps I will have the opportunity to meet her in person.