Celebrating Women’s Courage
There are fewer things more beautiful than women supporting other women. And there are so many women whom I respect and draw strength from. Here are some of the women I admire and love most.
1. Christine Sinclair is first on my list because she is well, the GOAT. She plays with an intensity and passion that I can not only relate to, but I admire. She pushed the game to another level, and had people like my die-hard soccer fan Dad saying, “wow, she is amazing and the women’s game has really come along.”
2. Alanis Morrissette. A talented and strong woman who forged her own course in her music and her life. Her album ‘Jagged Little Pill’ was a cultural phenomenon, and a bust out of the tight corner we often paint women in. Her edginess, anger, passion, and humanity came across so clearly in this album and so much of her later work. I love that she took creative control of her music and produced her own albums. I respect how open she has been about her own postpartum depression and mental health. Her openness helps so many women going through similar struggles.
3. Sarah McLachlan. I love her music. I love that she created Lilith Fair -- the first all-women music festival while still very young and at the peak of her fame. Always playing it forward. I love that she is a momma bear and holds her kids as her number one priority while continuing to have a vibrant career. I love that she has used her own passion and talent to create opportunities for youth through her School of Music.
4. The Honourable Rosalie Silbermann Abella. A Supreme Court justice. She was the sole Commissioner of the 1984 federal Royal Commission on Equality in employment, creating the concept of pay equity. Her theories on equity and discrimination were adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada. She is an amazing woman who has made it her life’s work to advance justice and equity. She is Canadian. Everyone in this country should know about her; but I only learned of her amazing legacy when she was inducted into the 2023 Walk of Fame.
5. Real women in my life. To the friends and colleagues whom I look up to. These women are taking risks fuelled by hope that they can make the world a little better even when the challenges seem to be overwhelming. All the women I know who have found the courage to be who they really are, who push against the narrow definitions of what it means to be successful, who define success on their own terms, and have found the courage to go after what they want! I love you all.