It’s International Women’s Day as I write this and it made me think of how grateful I am to be a nerd!
Truly, it’s a beautiful and precious thing to have the right to be an educated person at all. One I do not take lightly. And it doesn’t take very many generations back to get to a place where a woman could not be as nerdy as she wanted to be. There’s still some road to go to make education opportunities truly equal for women and girls. And perhaps, even more, to remove the stigma around being an intelligent woman and what that means in our culture.
I’ve been surprisingly fortunate to somehow never acquired the mistaken belief that ‘girls aren’t good at math and science’. I remember first hearing it from my Grade 9 science teacher who said they were changing the curriculum so more girls would stay in science. I just stared at him (a very nice man) like I was just told that people were actually purple but we just can’t see it. It was absurd to me.
In all of the bits of culture that somehow didn’t stick to me, I’m so glad that was never one. I never remember being told women could do anything they wanted, it was just an assumed thing in my household. (Thanks Mom!) And when I looked around my corner of the world all I saw were girls getting the top grades and smart women everywhere I looked.
Smart is Sexy
Some of the culture that did stick to me was this idea that being smart is a detriment in the romantic department. The idea that men are threatened by smart women and you should feign a low IQ to get dates. I could see my peers in the 80s and 90s downplay their intelligence and having more dates than me. Though, to be fair, it was pretty easy to get more than zero. 🙂
Thank goodness this has changed as much as it has. And thankfully, I just was too feisty to hide my giant brain. As it turned out, my husband is a fan of brains.
So the right to be nerdy and feminine and that the two are not mutually exclusive is, to me, the essence of liberation.
Freedom is being yourself. Freedom is getting to choose. Freedom is having a voice and using it.
I went from Grade 9 right into science as my career path. I loved (and still love) biology and got a bachelor’s degree in zoology. And from there a career in environmental risk assessment and a Masters of Science in ecology. Ultimately to leave it all and start my Reiki business!
It was a bit difficult to leave behind the idea of being a trailblazer when I left my science job. No more ‘good for you!’ comments from others. Though I’m so very happy to also be blessed with the opportunity to take my destiny in my own hands. Being an entrepreneur is also a trailblazing thing too! Something I also do not take lightly. I’m very fortunate to have the circumstance of my birth and my family and my own feisty spirit.
Women are the Sparkle that will save the World
Women are naturally smart and fierce and powerful. Like a self-contained firework, an empowered woman is lit from within and creates change just by her beingness. When that natural power is encouraged, it creates space for everyone to be themselves including men and people of multi-genders. It’s a different kind of culture when feminine, yin energy is given space. One where everyone has a voice and is encouraged to find their own bright spark.
This is the bit where Reiki enters the story. Reiki helped me shine. It gave me courage when I was in my old job to be the only woman at the table for many years. It was the thing I could lean on to keep my spark shining bright. And I love that it always leads us in the right direction. When it was time to transition careers, Reiki led the way for me. I now help and coach others to shine bright in Energetic Eight Coaching and Reiki sessions and courses. I love seeing the sparkle in people’s eyes.
So, still very much a nerd! And very grateful to be one!! I’m sharing my gratitude with The Malala Fund and Kiva to support my two loves, nerds and entrepreneurs. 🙂
How about you? Leave a comment below to share with us.
Share this with the smartest woman you know.
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