The Importance Of Women In My Life

As it is International Women’s Day today, I thought this would be the perfect excuse to talk about the female relationships I have in my life. As I’ve just come off my Hen Do as well, it seemed like a very fitting time to talk about all of the amazing women that make me complete.

I’ve always been surrounded by just girls from a young age; I went to an all-girls primary school and then onto an all-girls secondary school, meaning the relationships I made in that period of my life were 99% with the same sex. When I was growing up, I always hated the fact that I was constantly surrounded by girls, but now I’m older and have had time to reflect on that period of my life, I’ve come to realise that I was incredibly lucky to be able to have lived my childhood with such strong female influences, and it helped me carve my path to being a strong, independent woman – cue Destiny’s Child!

It’s strange when you look back to think that you have no real say as to who you want to form relationships with from a young age; apart from putting who I wanted to be in a class with in secondary school, it was luck of the draw who we were put into a form with. Although we could chose who we wanted to be friends with, we had no real influence in the initial stages of who we would want to take a choice from.

But I made some incredible friendships from my school days, and have continued to nurture them for years to come. The people who have known you since you were younger have watched you grow and become the person you are today, and you’ve been through a lot of the same crap as each other, which only brings you closer.

Even when you go to university, you have no idea what to expect when it comes to your course mates or who are you going to be living with, and you almost get thrown in at the deep end, especially if you don’t know anyone. For someone who suffers with an anxiety disorder, it was quite daunting to be in a situation of not knowing anyone, after 7 years with the same group of friends day in and day out.

But this can also make you as an adult. Although you may not know anyone at first, you have the same interest in learning a particular subject, and that already binds you together and sets the precedent of being able to form relationships with others. My course was 95% girls too, which meant that most of the people I became friends with were of the same gender, something which I didn’t think would happen after my school days.

Since starting a career, it has become apparent how many good friends I have made through work. I’ve had a number of jobs, and worked with countless different people, but the ones who have stuck by me through the thick and thin of it all, I am proud to call some of my best friends.

When I started my first ‘real’ job all those years ago, I was really nervous about the type of people I would meet and whether I would make friends, but when you are around the same people every day, the friendship part becomes easy: You learn so much about their lives, are with them through the ups and downs, and if you’re lucky, you make some incredible friendships along the way – I know I have!

And then we get to this little slice of the internet. Blogging has not only given me some amazing opportunities, but it’s introduced me to like-minded individuals, who have opened my eyes to new things, and made me realise that you never stop making friends. The people who I have met through having an online presence are so uplifting in so many ways, and I couldn’t be more thankful for those who are there no matter what time of day. Blogger friendships sometimes get a bad reputation as being fake or based too much on competition, but the people I have true friendships with want nothing but th best for each other.

When I look at it as a whole, the main three places I have made most of my friendships was through education, work and blogging, which became really apparent with the girls that were on my hen do. All in all, I’m so proud of myself that I have such incredible friendships through all those areas, with people who I have known since the first day of school, to those who I’ve only met in the past couple of years.

And who could forget the incredible women I have in my family. We are predominantly a family of females, and I absolutely love that I have grown up with such a strong sense of girl power in my life. Not only have they really helped me find my way in a patriarchal society but I have always been encouraged to be the best version of myself, and achieve my goals and the amount of love and support I get from my family makes my heart full.

I have always worked in industries that seems to be mostly male dominated, but now, I work for a company that is 70% women, with a female CEO, which promotes an environment to champions our gender and has always made me feel like an equal. It’s no surprise that there are still gender pay gaps, more males in senior positions and a lack of women in certain industries, but it does feel as though there is a real shift to get us to that point.

Although sometimes it can be tough as an adult woman to find time in each other’s busy schedules, I am so thankful for every person that I have a special connection with. I really do try to put a lot of time and effort into maintaining my friendships, and I hope that every person I call my friend has a special place in my heart.

Here’s to strong women everywhere.

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