March has
already marked International Women’s Day and Mothering Sunday is just around
the corner; both of these occasions are wrapped up in what has become known as
Women’s History Month - all put in place to highlight and celebrate in some way
the ‘achievements’ of women, not just in the here and now but also through the
mists of time.
As I consider ‘women
of achievement’ a number of names and faces pass through my mind, from Rosa
Parkes to Spine Race Champion Jasmine Paris with a host of politicians, activists,
sportswomen and charity workers all jostling for position in my thoughts, but the
one that seems to want to stand out is the single figure of an African woman transporting
her jar of water or basket of produce.
In her
surroundings she will be a woman of ‘achievement’ as she takes the journey to
find the basics of life to keep those around her nourished and well looked
after.
This in turn
brings thoughts of how as a young woman my image of myself was about wearing
those ‘hats’ of being a wife and a mother, decisions and choices were made around
achieving that ‘goal’, even though as I reflect there was a part of me that wanted
to fight against the stereotypical – the fear of being the only female in an
otherwise male dominated ‘O’ level woodwork class led me to the misery of music
lessons that ended in failure; a perceived notion that as a female officer in
the Boys Brigade I was only good enough to attend to the ‘motherly’ duties
meant I didn’t take the opportunity of the time to grasp hold of the more ‘gritty’
outdoor pursuits that have since become a way of life. My fight was always with myself, fear and
what I understood, even in those ‘New Romantic’ days of the 80’s, to be the way
ahead as a female.
On many
occasions Mal has talked about the untapped, pent-up potential that he saw in
me and as I write these words what stands out is that all those years ago there
was a different person fighting to get out, held back by a host of negative
mind-sets (some nurtured, some formed by circumstances, others from my own
misconceptions and fears).
So where am I
now as a ‘fifty something’ standing on the precipice of what can often be
classed, for many women, as the ultimate challenge and change leaving behind
those ‘child-bearing’ years?
Well, I am a
woman: whose voice, even when it may not be right or agreed with, is allowed to
be heard without constraint or disregard; who after years of not understanding
or appreciating has come to an affinity with self-value & worth - learning
to forgive and love herself; that desires to live in the fullness of life that
she was created for – being creative, audacious, gentle and successful.
And what of those
successes?
In amongst the
moments, where no awards ceremony would roll out the red carpet, there have
been many achievements, beyond the everyday getting up and doing life, that ‘the
young girl from the Midlands’ would never have thought would appear on a roll
of honour – those trips through mines and caves that enabled the attainment of
a Local Cave & Mine Leaders Award in 2018, 50th birthday year; visits
to numerous crags and climbing walls for work, fun and training, culminating in
a Rock Climbing Instructors Award being obtained in ‘pandemic year’ 2020; miles
of fells that have been trod, through wind, rain, snow and sun as part of a
journey to accomplish the 214 Wainwrights of the Lake District; the paddling of
canoes on both open and white water that have also led to days of being out in wild
places on expeditions that have tested both the mental & physical; and then
there have been the countless lives, from every age & corner of society, that
I have had the privilege to speak words of hope and encouragement into.
As for the ‘hats’
of wife and mother, well, with a few tears here and there, they have been
stretched and re-shaped over the years, making room for the welcome addition of
‘grandchildren’ and leaving me having learnt the lesson that I can take these
off every now and then and just wear the ‘hat’ of Marion – no labels, no roles –
just the person God in his wisdom, grace and love created me to be.
Marion
