“Travel not more because you will learn more” – there was perhaps a reason why women were confined to homes for a long time and even now. Because once you travel, you fly like a girl.
It was just another Monday when Fly Like a Girl was born in my head. An all woman paragliding trip. There are several women trips butI had a simple agenda #reclaimmyspace. And as quite often. I worked from scratch without knowing where it would lead to. Booked Tickets. Arranged Logistics. Limited promotion. What I didn’t realize was a lingering impact of some reinforcements and some new insights.
Believe your gut and go with your plan – A blue sky thinking approach is what is required to make things happen. Things do happen, dots do connect. It might not be a perfect ending but indeed is a beautiful and meaningful beginning. 5 was the total number. The sharing and fun though was exponential. We did Fly like a Girl- ate drank, shopped, laughed, cried and ofcourse flew- literally, after all it was a paragliding event.
Dots connect and one thing leads to another – This small event (small because of limited number) opened many doors and opportunities for my business. The idea became bigger and we launched the woman vertical of Unhotel (that’s my hospitality company www.unhotel.in ). As I had already been working in space of woman leadership, I pitched the concept to my clients and they loved the idea of mapping adventure and leadership skills for their women executives. This was not the original idea, things evolve..dots connect.
Structure is great when balanced with fluidity – How I loved Oxymorons when I first was introduced to the concept. I think it still takes me to a magical world of opposites. It’s amazing, I write this piece in a break session at one of my woman leadership sessions. One of the things mentioned in the last session was that women are not as flexible as women, buy celebrex canada they have a certain rigidity about things. I do not know how true this holds but what I did experience that this group had a wonderful balance of structure and flexibility. ‘Lets go’ and we were on the road but at the same time respecting the homestay rules, commitment made towards the group, empathy and care for the staff also held true. The larger canvas was to have fun, experience a certain weightlessness, perhaps the way it is in the space and that we did.
Young Women Club is the answer to Old Boys Club – It’s a narrative told and reinforced by the society that a bunch of women cannot stick together. Women don’t help women. It’s time to challenge the narrative because that’s not true. We were all there for each other, to listen to each other, be present for each other and support each other. I experienced an unmatchable bundle of energy and bonhomie. Change the story and share your story because those will break stereotypes.
Love who you are and don’t get swayed by who you are not – Summarizing by the beautiful Poem Not by Erin Hanson
You are not your age,
Not the size of clothes you wear,
You are not a weight,
Or the colour of your hair.
You are not your name
Or the dimples on your cheeks,
You are all the books you read,
And all the words you speak,
You are your croaky morning voice,
And the smiles you try to hide,
You are the sweetness in your laughter,
And every tear you have cried,
You are the songs you sing so loudly,
When you know you are all alone,
You are the places you’ve been to,
And the one that you call home,
You are the things that you believe in,
And the people you love,
You are the photos in your bedroom,
And the future you dream of,
You’re made of so much beauty,
But it seems that you forgot,
When you decided that you were defined
By the things You’re not
