Today I revised my assignment for Germ Magazine. If you've been following me on my journey toward publication, you will know I am a contributing writer, and proud Germie! This assignment was inspired by this month's book theme, Little Women, as well as my love of Gilmore Girls. With the revival only a few weeks away, everything Gilmore has filled my brain, and as a writer, the things on my mind influence my writing.
Through reworking this story, I found a favorite Richard Gilmore quote about one of my favorite fictional role models, Rory Gilmore, in which he says that, "what she tackles, she conquers."
While my assignment isn't yet published, it will be soon, and I can't wait to share it with all of you!
But what has drawn me here isn't my assignment, not really. What brings me to this blog is the idea of conquering what we tackle: our obstacles, our fears, our dreams, etc. And while I've watched Rory Gilmore do just this throughout seven seasons of Gilmore Girls, I've seen plenty of people in my own life do the same thing. Most recently, I've had the awe-inspiring chance to watch my own mother begin to tackle her future, and in a week, I've seen her conquer more than I could ever imagine.
In her valedictory address, Rory says of Lorelei Gilmore: "My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do, or be whomever I wanted to be.” And I've always thought the same thing about my own mother. She is a woman who encourages dreaming, loves wholeheartedly, and has more strength than any one person should be capable of possessing.
And today, of all days, I wanted to say that #SheConquers.
Now I promised myself long ago that I would not post about politics, and I am holding true to that promise. Instead I want to talk about the future of our country, and what we can do to brighten it. After all, this is a country of many. Thinking about all of the amazing people in my own life, and the others out there who practice kindness, possess intelligence, who want to make this world a positive place, I know we will be alright.
It is this idea of kindness and intelligence and positivity that I hope you will share today and tomorrow and the rest of your days. I know the people in my life who #KeepConquering: my mother, her mother, my aunts, my family, my siblings, my adopted family (Mahers, I'm talking about all of you), my favorite characters, my role models, my fellow writers, who will be those good and kind and smart and bright people I know they can be.
But there are plenty of you readers out there who I don't know. And I hope you will think about those people in your life who will keep conquering; conquering fear, conquering darkness, conquering hate, because no matter what happened yesterday we are all still here today in a country that needs us to be better people.
Though the future is as unknowable as ever, I hope we won't use this excuse to stop trying to be better, to stop believing in our dreams, to stop doing what each of us must do to make our own light. We are the creators of our own charisma and and the purveyors of our own positivity. No matter what our futures depend on us. And it is my hope that we will end talk of hate and darkness. There is a brighter place on the horizon, we need only believe in our own power to create it.
Please tweet and share your own people as they conquer the rest of this year with: #SheConquers and #HeConquers so that together #WeConquer.
All best,
Kayla King