A couple months ago I got an email from a woman by the name of Susan Macaulay a Canadian residing in Dubai. Susan was on her Twitter and found an update of mine that I wrote about a book I have been working on called Phenomenal Women. After finding my website Susan felt compelled to say hello and hear more about what I was working on and see how we could help each other out.

Turns out Susan has this amazing new venture called Amazing Women Rock www.amazingwomenrock.com and after looking over her site and her work I was so amazed at how one woman could make such a jump in life to give back and raise awareness of what young women are facing around the world.  It is with this that I feel inspired to write about Susan as a Woman of the Month. Her story, energy, and dedication to raising awareness in an area that needs much attention is something that I believe should be recognized.

So I asked Susan a few questions in light of my inspiration by her work and wanted to share it with all of you:

Susan’s Day of Birth: January 28, 1956

Favourite Quote: Oh! There are so many… I’ve got one pinned up on my board at the moment that says:

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather a person of value.”

I copied it from somewhere, and I have no idea who said it, but it’s this week’s favourite. Ask me again next week, and I’ll probably tell you something different…

Where does your passion come from?

Ironically, I think my passion to celebrate and empower women may come from my own needs and shortcomings. Other people inevitably perceive me as powerful, confident and capable. And in many ways I am. On the other hand,in many ways I feel I’m not. I often feel weak, lost and incapable. Maybe I’m giving to others what I most need myself!

What do you love most about your life?

This is a hard one to answer, because there are SO MANY things I love about my life at the moment. I love the freedom and flexibility of being self-employed and being my own boss. I love the fact that I discover and learn new things every day. I love that I’m connected with all kinds of people, women and men, of all ages, nationalities, races and religions allaround the world. I love that having no paid work (because of the recession), is giving me the opportunity to grow AWR. I love that my love for life keeps expanding!

What is your hope over the next year with AWR?

I hope AWR will continue to grow and get better. I hope it will impact the lives of more and more women (and men), in positive, empowering ways. I hope I will find the resources (human, financial, technical, administrative, etc.) to keep growing and developing it.

Any pets? Nope

If you could say anything to a young women looking for her dreams what would it be?

Never give up! All your life experiences, whether they are joyful or not, are building blocks that will help you to achieve your dreams. We all experience pain and sorrow; it’s part of being human. Compared to others, I haven’t suffered much. But I feel my small struggles are great gifts, because they enable me to be more compassionate and empathetic toward others. Try to find a deeper meaning in your experiences. The meaning may simply be that the experience is allowing you to discover more about yourself. That in itself is a gift. If you don’t see the meaning immediately, wait, be patient; it may be years, maybe even a whole lifetime before all is revealed. And sometimes I think we may never know why a particular event occurred, that’s okay too. Life is a continuous journey of discovery. Use all of your senses, gifts and abilities to explore it. Be passionate. Be enthusiastic. Be open. Be yourself. Laugh a lot. Cry a lot. Spend time with your friends andfamily. Make LOTS of mistakes ­ it’s the best way to learn. You may stumble, fall or slide backward ­ get up, dust yourself off and keep going. Every single step is part of your journey. Savour each one. Experience each one it all its fullness. Live. Simply. Abundantly. Joyfully.

To find out more about Susan and her work :

http://www.amazingwomenrock.com/component/option,com_story/Itemid,92/id,102/

Thanks Susan for taking this journey, aligning with us here at Passion and connecting young women around the world… Can’t wait to see where this new relationship goes

DO YOU KNOW AN AMAZING WOMAN WHO WE SHOULD BLOG ABOUT?

Email me:  Loretta Cella, Founder, Passion Foundation info@thepassionfoundation.com

www.thepassionfoundation.com

She is African, Aboriginal, Asian, Caucasian, European… SHE is Latina

She comes from a family who is rich, poor, and middle class blur collar family

Her mother, …. her mother is a doctor, a lawyer, secretary, cleaning lady, a foster mother, a sex trade worker

When she was young she was hopeful and shone like the sun

Something happened when she turned 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 something developed that was only a little bit there as a child

Now… now… ohhh….now the rays of sunlight only shine through the deep grey clouds that loom above her most of the time…

She has many “friends”, she’s the jock, the dancer, the musician, the “prinnnccccccess”, the joker, the bully, and occasionaly that girl who wears all black.

She has seen so many dark and overpowering things in her life and questions the words of most people, wondering ” What do they want from me?” She quietly cried herself to sleep every night hoping that no one hears, praying that someone would rescue her tomorrow, even if it means….. her dying.

She struggles with LIFE and LOVe and EVERYTHING in between if not … almost every day!

She cuts and uses, and throws her potential away cause REALLY ….

“What potential do I REALLY have? I mean come on.. daily I am fat, ugly, poor, the SNOBBY rich girl.. depending on who’s talkin’! I came from a messss-ED up family, the kids at school- let’s just say I get bullied everyday and NO ONE does anything!

I use the boys and the boys use me cause, well, let’s be real I need things too.. IT may not be right but I get what I want out of it too.. Food, drugs, money, sometimes though.. it doesnt turn out that great…..But I can fix that with partying after…  I mean really.. what potential do I really have anyways? You tell me!”

She is the girl the who has a strong exterior, a story,  and well….her challenges but she still dreams.. Even if the dream seems to be soo far away like it was Once Upon a time.. its there… we just have to bring it out more for it to become real again….

She has potential, boy does she ever and sees it how it is,

“It’s not so cloudy any more……(she smiles a little half grin and walks away)

“I dont just see miserable people everywhere I see happy ones too know and I know they arent being fake and for once they dont want to make me barf”

“I am real, I’ve been through so much, but now, I have real people to help, to talk, to learn with, and what I hear I can also teach people something too myself… weird!”

“I am grateful for my new day, my new vision, my new struggles because they are what really make me strong. I feel whole and can smile daily… really? I know, weird huh?”

…. And WE, We are the PASSION TEAM, WE are real girls, with real stories, and believe that… anything is possible!

I’m guessing many people wonder why I call myself Purple V. I guess it’s been one of the few things about my body image that I’ve had to accept. My forehead has this big purple V (from my veins) and it’s seen cause of my pale skin. It usually shows up when my face gets red or white (when i’m nervous, cold, hot, embarassed, crying, ect.) and I’ve had it every since I was born. All through elementary school kids would make comments. Like after presentations, I would sit back to my seat and my friends would say “hey, it’s your purple V again!” which then, of course, made me feel pretty self-concious. I’ve totally forgotten about my purple v through my past 3.5 years in highschool. It wasn’t untill one night (a week before I started blogging on wordpress) I was brushing my teeth and I looked into the mirror and I was like “whoa, I totally forgot about it,” but it doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s a part of me, and I can’t do anything about it.

The most major thing I’ve learned to accept about myself was my body shape. I never liked my whide hips, big butt&thighs&calves, wide feet, wide shoulders, and a long neck. Once grade nine came along and I saw the changes in my body… I hated it. I was this athletic girl surrounded by these athletes with “perfect” builds. It wasn’t untill I had to stop running (due to a chronic back&neck issue) that I had to change my mind set and be happy that I’m healthy, have the talent to do well in sports and am aware & have to drive to stay healthy. (Although, I still get a bit frusterated with the fact that my long neck is slowing my neck pains healing process)

It’s all about self exploration, understanding, and accepting who you are.

- – purple V

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