This Week

There is nothing better than stumbling into some inspiration. This week a friend shared with me a podcast about love, and how fear is the opposite of love. Being the anxious person that I can be, this worries me. Right off the bat, I guess I am screwed, but I kept listening. I couldn't have heard something at a better time for me. I listened as the speaker spoke about inner peace, and we are only our best true selves when we love ourselves. She spoke about finding love in yourself for others, even when they are the most irritating to you -- especially when they are most irritating to you.

She also told a story about when she was a little girl, and she observed her stay-at-home mother, that she hoped one day to be more than her mother. She realized after though how important a role her mother's was. As women, many of us are caretakers and nurturing to our young. Females in the animal kingdom take care of their young. The females protect them and then send them out into the world, then the females continue to make the world a safe place for their young, even after they are not with them. Woman today, even if they don't have children, often find some way to continue to make the earth better, and safer. It is an interesting instinct, although in my opinion we could use some more woman with those strong instincts. The planet could use a bit more TLC.

Yesterday I took my daughter to see a film with a friend and her daughter. The four of us have gone to women's rights marches, and other political events together, in the past. This time we went to see “RBG", the documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It was so inspiring to watch this sitting next to our friends. The girls are nine and ten, and to have them see how Ruth Bader Ginsberg became who she was today will impact them. My daughter and I snuck a few elbow jabs and smiles through the film. At one point RBG talks about her mother being strict and loving when she grew up. She said her mother stayed on top of her about homework and practicing piano. That was a very helpful support to my parenting right there, worth the price of admission for that alone. She always gave her daughter this advice "She said two things: Be a lady and be independent. Be a lady meant don't give way to emotions that sap your energy, like anger. Take a deep breath and speak clearly." She took that advice and ran with it all the way to the Supreme Court.

Today, she says she ignores the haters, and gives the advice of becoming friends with people who don't agree with you. She and Antonin Scalia were buddies, in court and politically they had nothing in common, but they went to opera's together and made each other laugh. They agreed to disagree. She also advises to find a life partner who believes in you. Her husband was her biggest fan, and you could see it whenever he spoke about his wife. She also advised to care about matters other than work. She attributed her law school success to the fact that she was raising her infant daughter during law school. Once 4pm came and her Nanny went home, she played games with her daughter till she put her baby to bed, then she hit the books again. She allowed each part of her day to be a respite from the other.