Playspace
This is a space where, once a month, I post things that are important to me or inspire me. I hope they inspire you too!
And if you like what you see here, and/or you want to read a little more Signy Unplugged, please come on by to my blog, Team Signy, where I tell tales of the cancer journey, challenge your perspective and generally get you thinking in different ways.
This piece was written by Lindsey Richardson, a young woman in Grade 11, who attended the Minerva Learning to Lead event that I emceed in May of this year. She read it out loud and the whole room of 100 women were left deeply touched and speechless. Keep going Lindsey!
I Am
By Lindsey Richardson
I am not perfect and have never claimed to be
I am not the heiress of a future with a written destiny
I am not silicon injected
Trying to be respected
I am not dying to be thin
Nor am I self-medicating trying to hide from an existence I have fashioned for myself
Riddled with reasons for rejection of a normal life
I am not the portrayal of perfection
I am possibly perfection in preparation and
I will not succumb to someone else’s idea of what beautiful should be
Because if society’s definition of beauty gets any thinner, no body will fit in
I am nothing more than what stands before you
Nothing less than those who believe themselves to be better
But I am more than a possibility
I am potential waiting to be turned into action
I am restless inside this womb
Trying not to become what is taught to be acceptable
But I am more than what stands before you
More than words spoken
I am action provoker, peace seeker
Filled with intention of action today to enhance tomorrow
I am more than daughter
Sister
Niece
Friend
I am stressed
Overworked
And I am tired
But I am perseverance and persistence
And I will push until peace is evident
I am the blood, sweat, tears of generations that have gone before
The creation of a lifetime struggle for equality
I am the product of a pilgrimage for a better life
The emergence from dark days of oppression
I am the hope for a brighter future
I am Laura Secord
Sevren Suzuki
And I am Nellie McClung
Forceful feminist searching for justice
I am patiently waiting and determining dreams
Women striving for sufficient success
While learning to navigate the matrix we call progress
True believer
Thought provoker
Freedom fighter
The ghosts of ancient hardships
Fighting to be free from foes who would oppose
I am refugee from an inevitable refusal
And I am optimist seeking opportunity
Forced to forget fears
A revolutionary waiting for a reason to revolt
I am warrior with the spirit of success and a compassionate heart
Wishfully writing hope on the street corners of dreams
A family of love
And the desire to defy
The expectations evolved from early enlightenment
Outraged by the injustices I see around me
I am perplexed by the plethora of people gasping for truth
Through six feet of lies and sleaze
And I am compelled to continue to resist conformity
Despite the constant barrage of bombastic belittlement
The creation of anticipation
Waiting to see what lies ahead
Curious and ready to conquer corruption
I am standing at the doorstep of resistance ready to story through
Never awaiting the arrival of acceptance
It is my responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless
To address the downtrodden aspirations of women who can not
Hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
I am reluctant reverie
Female ferocity
And I am confident without conformity
I am a constant like
The night sky above the earth
A visionary soul living on stargazing wings
Afraid to fall yet never reluctant to jump
A force to be reckoned with
I am power waiting to be proven
Unlimited potential for a future free from
The need to fight
Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws
him, and then choose that way with all his strength.
–Hasidic saying