Searching For Eleanor

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do” (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Searching For Eleanor is my first attempt to create a feminist orientated blog that will serve as a vehicle for self-exploration. Because I firmly believe that “the personal is the political,” I envision this journal to be a space of many possibilities. Like all “first things,” my enthusiasm for the project may be much higher than the quality of my output. It doesn’t really matter. The process of searching can be more important than the final destination. Or so aspiring creative people like to tell themselves. Shhh…don’t ruin the surprise!

I was inspired to name this blog after Eleanor Roosevelt. For those who have only vague notions about her as a former First Lady from the distant past, the connection between Eleanor and feminism isn’t apparent. But, she was one hell of a woman. I could go on and on about all the wonderful deeds she did, the adversity she faced early in life, and the total commitment she seemed to have to equality and human rights. But, that’s really what biographies and wikipedia are for, eh? I’m sure those sources could tell her life story much better than I could anyway.

What I really admire Eleanor for is publicly and openly challenging people’s notions of who she was and what she was capable of doing. I think for all individuals who struggle with feelings of inadequacy, or other people’s disregard, living out loud and doing what is right and necessary are truly acts of heroism. Eleanor isn’t the only historical example of this, but I thought “searchingforeleanor” sounded cooler than “searchingforpiglet” (another underestimated creature making its way in the world).КартиниИдея за подаръкикониикониПравославни иконииконописikoniбългарски икониподаръци