Recently, I was having a Friday afternoon work and de-stress session with fellow SheEO CEO, Barbara Alinker.
It was a comfort to have another living being to bounce ideas off of, and to, awkwardly, virtually kindle spirits with. She challenged me to just IMAGINE the world I wanted to live in, and so I did. I imagined a world I wanted for my children, my grandchildren, their grandchildren, and their grandchildren's children. It was tough at first, but then a moving, whirling, picture started to come into focus.
Here's a little piece of what I imagined:
I imagined a world where women in industry are safe, productive, confident, and well
Their gloved hands work fast and with force, over tools, over paperwork, over controls, fine tuned and completing tasks of tremendous skill
Their feet are tucked comfortably into steel-toed boots that celebrate their crouch, their clamber, their crawl, and their kick
Their bodies are clad in properly plumbed coveralls, of all their glorious shapes and sizes, climbing, reaching, stepping, working, with purpose, peace and mobility
Their heads are sheathed in hard hats, and eyes with glasses, that stay in place as they bend and duck, reach and pivot, climb and jump
Their torsos are harnessed with respect for their breasts as they balance, lean, and dangle while working at stomach-churning heights
Before long, their numbers climb to 50%, and the very rhythm of the industrial ballet smooths out as their voices are present and respected at every level.
This is an activity I plan on repeating at regular intervals, to go into greater imaginings and more detailed versions of the world I want to live in.
Thanks for imagining with me!
Jodi