Happy St. Paddy’s Day! It’s a perfect day to look at one of Ireland’s strong women. Brigid of Kildare is the only female patron saint in Ireland. According to the Irish Times, she was “a powerful Abbess who offered an alternative to the confines of domestic life to up to 14,000 women, a peaceweaver, a fearless negotiator who secured women’s property rights, and freed trafficked women. And she was also reputed to be an expert dairywoman and brewer.”
She sounds like a badass to me. So Wickeds, what characteristics do you think define a strong woman?
Edith/Maddie: A strong woman knows herself and believes in herself. She’s clear about what she needs and about what she won’t tolerate, and she treats others with respect, always.
Julie: Fierce kindness, with a deep belief in herself, and love of life. Funny also helps.
Sherry: I have to gently disagree with Edith and Julie. I think that often times strength is thrust upon us even when we don’t believe in ourselves. That situations and events, both joyful and tragic, mold us and make us strong especially when we don’t think we can do it. However, I completely agree with Julie that funny helps!
Barb: A clear-eyed sense of self and circumstance, a sense of purpose and the confidence and drive to achieve it. I do agree with Sherry that often these things have to be found, sometimes painfully. They are not always, or even usually, innate or bestowed.
Liz: Sherry, completely agree that strength comes in many different forms and circumstances. To me, a strong woman is someone who keeps going despite the uncertainty or self-doubt, and who stays true to herself.
Jessie: I see strength as getting back up when one is knocked down, of persisting along a course and in not becoming embittered by outside forces.
Readers, share what you think makes a strong woman in the comments below.