Monday Motivation: Rockstars, Presidents, and Marathoners – A Girl’s Potential

Monday Motivation, Girl Power, Inspiration, for Women and Girls

I started singing along with my nieces Ramona and Maude as they sang with Taylor Swift in her Miami Eras Show last night seated high in the rafters with their dad. Besides noticing the widest smiles I’ve ever seen, their eyes were sparkling, their freckles glowed, and their wrists were full of beaded bracelets. My sister shared the video with me because she knew I was ecstatic for them. It was the perfect start to my Monday morning.

When I was their age – 11 and 13 – there wasn’t a beautiful, strong, positive role model like Taylor Swift to idolize. It wasn’t the time for women to take the stage so predominately. Sure, I saw Cher perform with her husband Sonny in Saratoga Springs in 1972 when I was 8 years old, but she didn’t create a “Swifties” movement. Women weren’t often solo in the spotlight. It was satisfying that Cher was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend, finally getting her due as a solo artist.

When I ran the 2017 Boston Marathon, I ran for my nieces. I wrote the names of Lexie, Lauren, Faith, Ramona, and Maude on my bicep. I was running for their futures acknowledging my hope for them to become strong, fearless, wonderful women someday and proving they could accomplish anything they put their minds to. They were too young to grasp the concept and meaning behind their names etched on my skin but I did.

As the 2024 election occurs on November 5th, I will vote for my nieces and their positive future. I will vote for Kamala Harris and pray she is the first female president of the United States so my nieces, and now granddaughter Ivy Rose, can see women can do anything they set their minds to.

I want them to believe they can be rock stars, presidents, marathoners, or anything else they want for their lives. The only way that will happen is if they keep witnessing women like Taylor and Kamala reach the peak of success.

Today’s Monday Motivation is to think ‘pink’ when you vote. Please think of my nieces and their futures and “eras” to come where they have the ability, to dance, sing, run a race, or run for leadership roles because they have the choice and the role models to prove it.