queen
kwiːn/
a woman or thing regarded as the finest or most outstanding in a particular sphere or group.
This is just a quick hat tip to a few amazing friends who are outstanding humans. These people are the real deal. Quietly brilliant but boy do they dazzle!
Hats off to the unicorn whose hair looks like a rainbow and would put a mermaid to shame. As any mermaid should, she is swimming across Lake Malawi this weekend to raise funds for a couple of organisations that do good things for good people. She doesn't look like a typical athlete but her body, like her mind, is ridiculously strong. Like, unfairly powerful. Of course, she's not immune to the goosebumps that come with any challenging endeavour. "I've overshot," she panicked to me a week or two ago. Total overshoot, but what's the point of life if you don't do amazing things that scare the crap out of you every once in a while? What is the actual point? I don't know. I really have no idea because that's not how I roll. I am constantly biting off more than I can chew and I'd like to believe my life is better for it. May we always overshoot and surprise ourselves in so doing!
Hats off to the titan who is a sexual and reproductive health facilitator for young people, a single mother of two conscious, thoughtful children while studying for a masters degree, and who happens to be writing three books like, right now. One of her books is a science fiction novel set in Africa and I am jumping up and down in excitement. Yes, please and thank you! I cannot wait to read a book of the sci fi variety about Africa by an African and the fact that she's a boss lady of a gyal dem is just the cherry on the cake. One of her other books is a joint project with yours truly. She keeps me in check, questions and challenges me and forces me to read things that make me angry but that after a bit of simmering, help me to clarify my own voice, even if it is in disagreement to her ideas. A complete powerhouse of a woman who exudes a quiet, sensual, intellectual and slightly irreverent energy, she is the epitome of still waters running deep and frankly speaking I am scared for and sympathetic toward anyone who doesn't know her and is foolhardy enough to underestimate her.
Hats off to the dreamer who is truly inspiring in her ability to believe and expect only the best. Her husband has received a devastating diagnosis of brain damage and the company she works for is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. She supports multiple family members financially and her life is punctuated by daily visits to the hospital, sometimes twice a day. She never knows on any given day whether the person she loves will even recognise her face. But you should see her and you should hear her talk. Grace is the only word that fits. She dreams hard; she dreams in colour; she dreams in velvet textured feelings. She dreams so hard she can can smell her future and run her fingertips along its smooth edges. I get off the phone with her feeling inspired to take a little time to dream a little better. It's a skill I have been in desperate need of developing since somewhere along the line external circumstances led me to expect the worst in life. I am working on it and I can't even begin to describe how important my dream guru has been in not only reminding me to do it but in coaching me how to dream a compelling dream.
Then there's the stunner in Harare who is an attorney specialising in family law, who no matter how scorching hot and dusty the day, always looks like a tall glass of water, cool as you please. Easily and by far one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen in my life, she decided that actually she would like to be a plus-size model now. Thanks. And also, since she has a heart of gold, she figured in addition to practising family law, being a model and volunteering at church, why not start an NGO that addresses the needs of women and girls who are at risk of or have been victims of human trafficking. She's the most humble and unassuming human being you could imagine as she makes the world a little safer for women and girls, stands tall as a testament to the transcendent beauty of good people and unwittingly leaves a trail of shattered male hearts behind her as she simply does her thing.
I chose to celebrate these queens because they aren't your obvious game changers. On the surface they don't present as the ones to beat. These are people you can only appreciate if you silence all your noise, set aside your preconceptions, sit down, watch and listen. They are glorious! But no-one is paying attention. They're not getting accolades, aren't rolling with the cool kids, getting retweets or follows and actually wouldn't be as awesome to me if they were. I can't wait for the world to one day behold these dark horses in the splendour I already see!
kwiːn/
a woman or thing regarded as the finest or most outstanding in a particular sphere or group.
This is just a quick hat tip to a few amazing friends who are outstanding humans. These people are the real deal. Quietly brilliant but boy do they dazzle!
Hats off to the unicorn whose hair looks like a rainbow and would put a mermaid to shame. As any mermaid should, she is swimming across Lake Malawi this weekend to raise funds for a couple of organisations that do good things for good people. She doesn't look like a typical athlete but her body, like her mind, is ridiculously strong. Like, unfairly powerful. Of course, she's not immune to the goosebumps that come with any challenging endeavour. "I've overshot," she panicked to me a week or two ago. Total overshoot, but what's the point of life if you don't do amazing things that scare the crap out of you every once in a while? What is the actual point? I don't know. I really have no idea because that's not how I roll. I am constantly biting off more than I can chew and I'd like to believe my life is better for it. May we always overshoot and surprise ourselves in so doing!Hats off to the titan who is a sexual and reproductive health facilitator for young people, a single mother of two conscious, thoughtful children while studying for a masters degree, and who happens to be writing three books like, right now. One of her books is a science fiction novel set in Africa and I am jumping up and down in excitement. Yes, please and thank you! I cannot wait to read a book of the sci fi variety about Africa by an African and the fact that she's a boss lady of a gyal dem is just the cherry on the cake. One of her other books is a joint project with yours truly. She keeps me in check, questions and challenges me and forces me to read things that make me angry but that after a bit of simmering, help me to clarify my own voice, even if it is in disagreement to her ideas. A complete powerhouse of a woman who exudes a quiet, sensual, intellectual and slightly irreverent energy, she is the epitome of still waters running deep and frankly speaking I am scared for and sympathetic toward anyone who doesn't know her and is foolhardy enough to underestimate her. Hats off to the dreamer who is truly inspiring in her ability to believe and expect only the best. Her husband has received a devastating diagnosis of brain damage and the company she works for is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. She supports multiple family members financially and her life is punctuated by daily visits to the hospital, sometimes twice a day. She never knows on any given day whether the person she loves will even recognise her face. But you should see her and you should hear her talk. Grace is the only word that fits. She dreams hard; she dreams in colour; she dreams in velvet textured feelings. She dreams so hard she can can smell her future and run her fingertips along its smooth edges. I get off the phone with her feeling inspired to take a little time to dream a little better. It's a skill I have been in desperate need of developing since somewhere along the line external circumstances led me to expect the worst in life. I am working on it and I can't even begin to describe how important my dream guru has been in not only reminding me to do it but in coaching me how to dream a compelling dream.
I chose to celebrate these queens because they aren't your obvious game changers. On the surface they don't present as the ones to beat. These are people you can only appreciate if you silence all your noise, set aside your preconceptions, sit down, watch and listen. They are glorious! But no-one is paying attention. They're not getting accolades, aren't rolling with the cool kids, getting retweets or follows and actually wouldn't be as awesome to me if they were. I can't wait for the world to one day behold these dark horses in the splendour I already see!
