These days, I was thinking about a lovely subject to share with you and finally, I thought about the question – how important is the relation that we have with the other women? How influential are women in our life? Why is empathy important – and how can we, as women, guide our lives in a safe and secure direction that will allow us and our loved ones to thrive?
When our life starts, our most important relationship for all of us is with our mother – followed by sisters, grandmothers, aunts and great-grandmothers. They are our “life teachers” and they share with us their knowledge about family traditions, important family events, femininity, and important moral and ethical values. I grew up surrounded by women – my many aunts and my paternal grandmother – and through them I learnt religious traditions and home-making skills such as cooking, embroidery, weaving, and taking care of the family. When I became an adult, I realized how sometimes difficult family disputes were resolved through the influence of the senior family women and I saw the powerful empathy that these ladies generated with their knowledge and life experience. They are our guides and in some instances clearly offered greater wisdom than our own parents. I am fortunate to have seen these ladies collaborating together as part of my daily family life, and I know in my heart they have been “training” me for a future role in my family.
Women in the family have a critical role to raise children such that they learn to better themselves by stopping, or changing, certain qualities and encourage other traits that are more acceptable in their family, community and culture. Respect and empathy are fundamental in all family relationships and they help us forge bonds with each other – these skills we learn as children from wise women. The happiest memories of my childhood were thanks to the intervention of the women of my family and I keep their advice foremost in my mind. For this reason it is important to take time to create a healthy relationship with people around us using women’s skills.
The woman’s role in society is to integrate and she needs to have empathy with others to develop this dynamic. When women are with other women, they nurture each other and get energized from healthy relationships. Connections between women often leave the possibility to create a support network where each person has something to contribute. This helps the family groups face the challenges of the day in unity. Women need to be with other women not only to raise children but also to maintain balance and transmit energy. Women are very receptive and we have good understanding of our conflicts and challenges of daily life… and we can support other women through this instinctual bridge.
In our world, there is a space for everyone, and knowledge should be shared and expanded. Even if we don’t have the same abilities and opportunities, these shouldn’t be the main determinants of our life. Fortunately, in the UK the support network is very solid but it takes time to get to know this. I took my time to discover ESOL, Heart and Parcel, and eventually my English class at Dundee – I had so many questions and doubts about my language ability but it was very worthwhile for me! And I got to know these initiatives by the invitation of kind women! We all want to feel good and develop our skills – being with other women can make this trip much more enjoyable!!
In many cases, in the UK, we don’t have our close family but we have friends. We can share with them and we can listen to them too just like our family. I like to meet friends and spend a lovely time with them. It is pure energy! After that I feel very happy!!
So it is nice to conclude that the relationship with other women is transcendental in our lives because they are the source of knowledge, support, and understanding. Their different points of view help us to consider different aspects and approaches that perhaps would not have occurred to us by ourselves. The women around us influence our vision of life and probably, when we take important decisions, we will have considered some suggestions of the most knowledgeable women around us. For this reason, empathy is very important. Learning to listen to wise women overcomes some possible limitations in our personal vision and opinion, and emboldens and empowers us to face life’s challenges endowed with a confidence we could not achieve alone.
By María-Verónica Pardes
