A Story of Mentorship, Vulnerability, Affirmation, and the Courage to See Another Woman
Let me explain where TRUE sisterhood strongly resonates.
Most of my life, I lived in a particular place concerning females and how they treated me unfairly. I was kind and friendly to most, yet I couldn’t explain why, in my past, there had been so much sister hurt.
As I grew older, this continued to surprise me.
I was a good friend. And I knew this because I genuinely liked people. I loved helping them, gave them the benefit of the doubt, and welcomed new friendships easily.
I thought everyone did this.
Turns out—they did not.
One day, I asked my mother what she thought my college major should be, and she promptly replied,
“Jennifer, you should be a counselor or something.”
I thought about it and considered, Hmm… she’s right.
I do like giving advice, and I enjoy it when others help me out with the same.
You see, I’ve moved around quite a bit. And whenever I entered a new environment, I challenged myself to find ways to make friends. Eventually, I discovered that one of the best ways to do this was to level up and create my own thing.
This meant I would start my own book club, organize a writing group, offer my services to a sister struggling to write her own book, or even go to Meetup.com to see what groups I could join as I entered a new city.
I have survived.
Though I endured some tough times, I figured I would take on the challenge of risking the beginning of my own group rather than always joining another. Because if I failed at it, at least I could say I tried.
And I wanted to make sure that my own personal experiences with sister hurt did not become something I reflected onto other women.
I wanted to be a healer, not a hurter.
At first, I simply became depressed about not finding friends in my new city.
And then I had a thought from the Spirit:
“Well, why not just invite them to what you’re already doing?”
As soon
Above is a photo I took with my sister in 2005. I was the most vulnerable human being; and it was during one of the hardest years of my life, for several reasons. One of the women I chose to honor on this venue, I didn’t even like very much – but for the life of me -(could not understand why!) So I chose to honor her and her story and give her a platform to speak. I still looked up her, and this was the best way for me to let her know. I chose a group of women I admired took photos of them and gave them a platform to speak about their successes. Some were business women, mothers, community leaders, friends. my sister, women of other faiths and some I had heard were doing awesome things in the community and I didn’t even know them . It was my first community conference , in Syracuse NY. We all had one thing in common: Success. On the table in this photo , are their photos- and highlighting their lives in this way and their friendships, their faith and courage helped them to view themselves differently, as well. It is human , to AFFIRM. It is also human to be Grateful. If you are not affirming someone in your life, ask yourself why – then ask God, the Universe, or whomever you believe brings things opportunities to rise, to give you the opportunity to share. Then watch what happens.❤️ Peace.✌🏾
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