The one about… Mothers and Daughters
My daughter has spent the last month paragliding over Indonesian clifftops, climbing mountains and descending into volcanoes whilst I've sowed seeds, pruned the roses and potted on cobaea seedlings and all's right with the world.
It’s a woman thing in our house -sowing seeds and being curious. Nurture in the home and adventure outside it. Every year on International Women’s Day we honour the women who shape our lives. But in amongst the posts about the pioneers who broke the mould, the women who refused to conform, who succeeded against the odds, the achievers there is a quieter story that that unfolds every day in the shared moments between mothers and daughters.
It’s in what is valued, what is instilled, what is encouraged and what is modelled by one generation to the next and so today I want to celebrate that.
My own mother left school at 15 and went straight into a job, her path shaped by the expectation that she would bring money into the house as soon as she was able. It left no room for her own dream of going on to college; her family couldn’t afford it. This limitation shaped her for the rest of her life. She made herself small and put others before herself, even when it made her unhappy. It’s a story that was played out in the fifties in working class households countrywide.
But something powerful happened. A seed was sown which she nurtured quietly– to dream bigger for her own daughters. Within her life’s limitations she showed resilience, acted courageously and stayed adaptable in the hope that these qualities would be passed on to the next generation. She modelled curiosity; she defended my independence; she gave me strong roots from which to flourish and encouraged my education – something she hadn’t been afforded. Above all she encouraged my choices. I grew up inside these quiet acts of possibility. Each conversation about confidence, each moment of encouragement, each challenge to old expectations became part of a larger story which will never make the headlines but is just as powerful.
Progress is not only measured in headlines, laws or statistics. Sometimes it is measured in smaller moments: in a mother telling her daughter she has a voice and a choice and in that daughter embracing it and paying it forward with her own daughter
It’s a powerful legacy from one generation of women to the next – the confidence to choose their own path, whether that’s growing a garden or organising and funding a hiking trip to Indonesia.
This year’s United Nations Campaign focuses on Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls highlighting the need for legal rights and gender equality worldwide. It couldn’t have come at a more crucial time. The global campaign theme of Give to Gain encourages people, organisations, and communities to support women by giving time, resources, opportunities, visibility and advocacy, recognising that when women are supported, society as a whole benefits.