Women who inspire

It's imperative these days to have a woman, women, (or men) to look up to and who inspire you to be better people. I see people who get undeserved media attention (like the "Fat wog, skinny wog" chick who should be, pardon the pun, SHOT) and think to myself "If these are the type of people that get noticed, what hope do we normal, ambitious, hard-working people have?" So It's time to put the limelight back on those who DESERVE our respect, not just those who have become well known for idiot comments and idiot stunts.



My inspirational women are Catherine Deveny and Mia Freedman. I'm a huge fan of honesty and being blunt, which is where my love of Catherine Deveny stems from. She's so frank and brutally honest, verbalising what most of the population are too scared to. And she's great at giving advice. I'm currently reading one of her books (can't remember which one, will tell you when I do) of which parts of it resonate so deeply with the way I feel about a lot of things: parenting, life, family, relationships. Of course, she's hilarious too, which adds to her appeal. Last month I was involved with the Williamstown Literary Festival, and Catherine gave a talk about creativity and procrastination, with regards to writing. At the end of the session I asked her how she got rid of the guilt of sometimes choosing to write over spending time with her children, and she answered with this:
"If writing is a big part of who you are and what you love, you need to make time to do this so that you can be a better mother. Because if you don't make time to do what you love, how can you possibly be the best mother you can be?"



I'm a fan of Mia Freedman because she's ambitious and has had a successful career, as well as a family at a (relatively) young age. In a way I feel (like many of you, I'm sure) that I can relate to her, and I think that's what makes her so popular among young women, and mothers. I also love that she's funny, and so observant about everyday things, and I love that she's intelligent, and can tackle the controversial topics on her blog, as well as the mundane. As an ex fashion magazine editor, she also has a sense of social responsibility with regards to body image, and is involved in the National Body Image Advisory Group.

I guess ultimately, the qualities I admire in these women are the ones that I aspire to myself: success in family, success in career, strong, intelligent, funny, and honest.

What about you? Who do you admire and why?