Celebrating Sisterhood

I’ve spoken about this so many times on my Instagram and I thought it was time to do a little blog post and get your feedback.  Till now this blog has just been filled with pretty things, reviews, style tips and for the most part superficiality but that’s not enough for me, so let’s chat.

I thought we could have a little girl talk (I hate to use the word girl because we’re all women here but it just works better).  Also that entire sentence makes me feel like Miss Norbury from Mean Girls but she definitely had a point and I think it would use a refresher.  Of late I’ve been really open on Instagram about how we as women need to support one another and the other day it dawned on me that maybe you’d like to start but you don’t know how.

These are three things that I try to put into practice when I’m scrolling through social media, meeting up with friends or even just casually stalking people on Instagram (we all do it!).  These may seem simple to you but making an active effort to implement them everyday is actually pretty tough, and takes some practice.

01.  Celebrate.  We all know this well – that feeling of jealousy when someone get’s something you think you want/deserve/have worked for.  Immediately you start thinking about all the reasons why you should have been chosen instead of them.  You know what that is?  Comparison!  I compare myself to other women so much that I sometimes can’t even identify that I’m doing it.  Here’s something different, why not try to celebrate with the person, and genuinely feel happy for them.  If your first thought isn’t about yourself it allows you to actually be happy for the other person.   On social media I often find myself comparing my life to everyone else’s show reel – most of us just put the good things on Instagram.  But just because someone else is doing well doesn’t automatically mean you aren’t – allow yourself to be proud of your accomplishments.  This quote by Theodore Roosevelt is so true, and it’s annoying but it really has helped me with this: “Comparison is the thief of Joy”.  So next time you’re comparing, think about the fact that you’re actively stripping yourself of joy.

02.  Support.  This might be your family, friends or work colleagues or it could even be someone you follow on Instagram.  By support I mean being genuinely invested in what they’re doing, how they’re doing and caring for them.  It  could be as simple as liking a picture or leaving an encouraging comment.  We as women often don’t support and uplift one another because we think it will impact our chances or take away from our opportunities.  Stay in your lane, there’s no need to look to the right or the left, run your course.  We can all succeed, and if someone else does, why not be genuinely happy for them.

03.  Encourage.  This takes a new level of selflessness and it’s damn hard to encourage other people when you secretly want what they have.  It’s about caring for someone other than yourself, which is hard but it’s definitely worth doing.  I’m really bad this one but I am trying, I promise!  We all know how good it feels when someone encourages us and how it kind of gives you a push – well why not be that for someone else?  It’s about spreading positivity and love, not in a creepy way but if you do it, it could inspire someone else to.  Imagine we could change the way that we think and react to each other as women.  By nature we’re bitchy, rude & competitive but we can choose to think and behave differently.

I don’t know if this has helped you at all or even if it’s just sparked a thought, that’s great!  I just want to see women coming along side other women instead of being critical & harsh.  So this is my way of making a change, by first looking at what needs work in myself & then using this platform that I have to start a conversation or educate women.

So if you have any feedback or comments please leave them down below, I’d love to chat more about this.

All images by Paige Wood Photography