Shhh! Secret Life of a Princess

Random, provoking thoughts from a self-confessed princess :: with focus on motivational learnings from the media. I hope to inspire everyone to be the best they can be

Monday, June 02, 2008

Inspirational Women around the World


Yes, Jennifer Garner got nominated into Glamour's list of Women of the Year 2007, upping the glamour factor of the list of female philantrophists and inspirational women to admire even though I would have vouched for Lucy Liu due to her effort as ambassador for Unicef and her relentless effort to help the unfortunate in unnder developed countries. Other notable celebrities include Angelina Jolie for adopting children and visiting war torn countries, Madonna for adopting a Cambodian son, Sandra Bullock for donating generously to tsunami victims and Sheryl Crow for helping and inspiring cancer patients. Nominating Jennifer Garner would sell more magazines though. ;) So what good did she do besides marrying one of the most best-looking actor in Hollywood, Ben Affleck and having an adorable daughter, Violet that was so inspirational? She is actively involved in Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) and the American Lung Association (ALA) to encourage flu vaccination.

Reading that article filled me with inspiration and I was awed by the things the female activiticts said and fought for. I have always been an ardent fan of celebrities using their cult status to influence the society for the better and lauded them in all their efforts hoping that one day I can do something as inspirational. Among the quotes that touched me:

  • Life is rarely what we expect it might be but we need to look for lilies. We need to do what brings us joy and what gives us a sense of purpose - Elizabeth Edwards, Mother, Cancer Patient
  • She sees the beauty in messy, complicated characters. She celebrates the imperfections that make life so interesting, which makes great TV, so says Shonda Rhimes the writer, producer of the hit-series, Grey's Anatomy that inspired everyone all over the world with its sometimes cheesy but very real and believable human experiences.
  • A bundle of energy who gets by on "three to four hours of sleep a night" (hmmm...that sounds familiar... ;) Snickers and Red Bull, Logan is fuelled by one urgent mission: to tell it like it is. Lara shoots video herself when she doesn't want to put the crew at risk. - Lara Logan, war correspondent. IMHO, she also gave one of the best thank you speech ever during the award presentation, reminded me of why I am so different from the other females who lives by female magazines.

I was also inspired by an initiative from Uganda called Empowering Hands to bring life back to ex-child soldiers to teach them skills even though they have gone through situations like bearing the kids of enemies that raped them and killing their own families just because the soldiers told them to. It shows that someone out tthere can help them to get back on their feet again.

I am also glad that Singapore had their own version of awards for inspirational female organized by Vanilla magazine and one of the winner is a cancer patient who wrote about how female can be great through her blog called WeAreWonderWomen.com for women who are fighting cancer, Ms Molly Lee. Unfortunately, she lost the fight against cancer on 29 May 2008 and the site had to be brought down. The blog allowed her to gather support from the public and to help those who are having the same disease as her. She was a fighter till the end, so says her husband, Josef Lee.

Finally, I am impressed that Malaysia has their own version of award for social entrepreneurs called AyaAwards to honour the same people who has done a lot of charity and inspired the nation.

It won't be long until we get long lists of green entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and philantrophists who will do whatever it takes to make this world a better place. As they say, the world is hurting, let's not hurt it more.

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