Yesterday, the first all-female crew boarded a spacecraft and was launched into suborbital space for 11 minutes. You can argue whether that was a sound expenditure of millions of dollars or whether that money could have been put to better use for womankind. That story is one for another day.
My focus is on the fact that this crew was hailed as a sisterhood of sorts. One where each individual female leaned on the other at one time or another. One where the collective would potentially serve as a positive example to other women and girls who would maybe now venture beyond their comfort zone. Whether that is actually true for this crew remains to be seen. But again, that is not the point of this story.
All of this got me thinking about my own newfound sisterhood. A year ago, I ventured onto my very own rocket ship called She Writes Press. One with a destination of book publication. While there would be no sexy space suits or zero-gravity induced weightlessness (although losing a few pounds would have been cool), my journey would often feel like a thrilling theme park rollercoaster complete with stomach-churning and stress-induced heart-pounding. To ensure a successful ride, our flight director, Brooke Warner, assigned each one of us to a crew.
You could argue that the outer space comparison falls short. Maybe. Maybe not. We may not be breaking physical and gravitational barriers. But we have created something beautiful, a book, a personal story that includes a piece of our heart and our soul, that will live on even after we leave this place altogether. And what started out as a crew of strangers has transformed into a sisterhood with bonds founded on this shared journey. For some of us, we are indeed explorers on a mission of discovery into new worlds that include marketing and book promotion. And yes, I’ve leaned on the crew as a group and as individual members when I’ve found myself adrift. To continue the metaphor, when I felt lost in space.
As members of this sisterhood, I’ve witnessed ourselves being vulnerable, exposing raw emotions, and shedding a tear or two. We are not alone. We are not adrift. We are stronger together. Whether on land, in air, or in the collective recesses of our minds where we question our very existence, our very soul. May we all be this lucky in life to stumble across the gift of sisterhood. I can’t imagine having to go through this ride without it.