So tonight my husband told me I was extraordinary.
He said that I had taken up cycling and instead of just focussing on getting faster, I am putting energy into cycling advocacy and helping others.
It reminded me of an article I read this morning.
I am a feminist.
I am proud to be a feminist.
I think my passion for cycling advocacy is similar to my passion for feminism.
Unfortunately as both are quite heavy duty campaigns to take on, my focus is on cycling advocacy this year. (My 2013 was heavily focussed on feminism and I was very proud of the knowledge I gained and the changes I influenced)
The relevant bit of the article is:
"There are no sparkly Feminist Fairies running around sprinkling Feminist Fairy Dust on girls and boys. No Feminist Mindmelders transferring feminist history by osmosis. Feminists don’t spontaneously happen.
With some fairly minor exceptions, people who understand feminism and identify as feminists generally get there by dint of personal need, curiosity, experience and hard work—all of which are explicitly counter-cultural. If they are lucky, they have parents and teachers who teach them."
So I thought this was an interesting paragraph, especially because you can replace "feminist" with "cycling advocate" and it still works pretty well.
I'm a cycling advocate because of my personal need, curiosity, experience and hard work.
And they also appear to be counter-cultural.
It's not because I love bicycles and hate anything that's not a bicycle.
(Similar to how feminists don't hate anything that's not female).
It's because I enjoy cycling, and I wish the situation was safer, less aggressive, more constructive, and I am curious about what I can do to help.
And I am so very lucky that I have such an intelligent, supportive husband, who is a fantastic sounding board for all my questions and thought processes.
And who is so strong for me, when I need help picking myself up off the floor, after those occasional overwhelming moments, when it feels like it's all too much and I want to give up. :)
(via www.brainpickings.org)
