Who are your role models? – Dana
I pace the floor with this question.
I spent years cramming the girl I was becoming into the mold of a girl whose world had already been charted for her. It was expected to emulate those around you who were Right. Role Models were those who had not messed up. They had a “testimony” which hadn’t been mussed.
On the other side of freedom from religion, I finally have the chance to chart my own way. To learn from my own mistakes. And I have stopped following anyone and anything blindly.
Perhaps I should have learned early on that it is all right for role models to be flawed, but I did not. Any failure I saw in those whom I held in high esteem, broke my heart. It meant that they were not “fit for service” and they were doomed to be “put on the shelf.”
All this lingo. I’m sorry. It’s just in my blood.
Is it important for children to have role models? And/or for us grown-ups to have role models?
I don’t know. Maybe it depends on if you are simply looking at people for inspiration or if you are attempting to echo their journey perfectly. The danger being in the latter.
There most certainly are people who inspire me!
My family is full of people who have traversed horrible situations, worked through intense heartbreak, and still kept a smile on their face and a purpose to do the best they can do no matter what is happening. My parents truly inspire me with their hard work, open hearts, and genuine love for me (and my boys).
And there are also people whom I admire for various reasons who strike a chord in my heart and cause me to dream big. Some of my well-known favorites are: Jane Goodall, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Julia Sweeney, Neil Gaiman, Meryl Streep, and Jennifer Hudson.
Perhaps my true role model is the person I imagine I want to be. And each learning place is a small step towards becoming her.
I’m taking part in a blogging group called Reverb Broads that will be suggesting daily blogging prompts this June. If you want to join in, feel free!