By Amanda de Lauzon, LiveGirl Media Intern and Blog Editor
Sisterhood isn’t about a blood related tie.
Sisterhood is feeling at home in a room full of strangers.
It’s looking around and feeling strong, feeling no fear to be who you are.
It’s a community of inspiration, women who can lean on each other when they need to.
Sisterhood is an unspoken feeling, one that nobody can put their finger on, something you don’t know till you feel it.
I grew up with two sisters as the middle child and always considered sisterhood the community we felt within each other as a family. We lived in the same house, had to deal with the same problems and I never am afraid to be myself around them. I love them not only because I have to but because they inspired me. My older sister taught me to be brave, to be fearless while my younger sister taught me to have passion, to take what I care about and make it my everything. My sisters showed me where sisterhood began but not where it ends.
When I started to get older and make more friends the meaning changed. The community I felt, the unspoken sisterhood started to grow to people I had just met. People who I felt comfortable around after a few minutes of getting to know them started to show me that each person has their own qualities that make them different, that brighten your day and fill it with something you didn’t know you needed before.
When I came to college I found it difficult to find my group. I had my roommate who I loved and I joined a sorority to meet more people. But, it wasn’t until I moved into my sophomore dorm that I felt at home. My roommate, who is still my best friend now, taught me empathy and kindness while my other best friends showed me how much passion towards your work has importance in your life. I felt at home within this group and learned that being myself was better than being someone else.
In Alpha Delta Pi sorority, we learned what it meant to treat someone like a sister using our philanthropy. When I visited the Ronald McDonald House Charities in New Haven for the first time and saw the families we were doing all the fundraisers for my idea of what a sorority is changed. We were working our hardest to make someone else’s life better even if it was just a little bit. This common feeling, we all had when we went to the house is what connected us, what made us sisters.
A group of women working to make the world a better place not only just for women but for everyone, that is sisterhood.
When I applied to work at LiveGirl I never knew how much it would teach me about this concept. On my first day I was asked, “Amanda what do you want to do, what are you passionate about”. I was stunned because the other jobs I have had nobody had ever asked me that before. I felt freedom to be passionate about everything and to help in any way I could. I got to meet some of the most amazing people and young girls who I know for a fact will change the world someday. Through LiveGirl I have truly seen the sisterhood effect.
The way women and girls can make a difference is something that should never be ignored. We have so much power to change the world and we are underestimated. Sisters come from every background, from every beginning but always have something in common. We have all dealt with some similar things growing up as a girl. Some bigger than others, we all know the feeling of being underestimated. To be the only woman in a room full of men and to feel like maybe who you are just isn’t enough. We have to build a sisterhood where women always know that they are enough. They know their strengths, their weaknesses they know what makes them special, what makes them different. They know that they belong and that what they add to this world is necessary.
So to you the reader, I hope you feel the sisterhood effect in your own life and within your own friendships. While I can’t even try to explain how much it can change you, you will know when you feel it.
