WHAT WOMEN WANT- OR NEED TO HEAR

WARNING:
Don't read this if you love your career, - and you are happy, contend, fulfilled and inspired by it -

If you want to read a different view on women's lib, read on!

 Some of the magazines I read is Oprah's. Her April edition happened to land on my table and I flicked through it.  In one section the magazine asked their readers this question:
"What would you do if You had no Fear?"

Here are the answers
- To go travelling
- To move to another country and / or
- Open up a bistro, a coffee bar or a B&B
- To write a children's book
- To open up a summer snow cone stand!

I had to read this over and over again and thought, these are all very achievable ambitions or dreams!
I looked up a few more surveys online with similar questions:

"What do you dream of?"
 "If you couldn't fail, what would you do?"
Surprise, surprise! The answers are nearly identical!

And then I read the page where Oprah interviewed Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of facebook - the  lady who encourages more women to reach the top of a corporation!

Is this a freak'n joke?
The richest woman and one of the smartest women in the world are budding up to encourage more of us to reach the top!!!??? (to be fair, Oprah didn't say that, she only asked the questions).

Enough is enough ladies!
What the world needs today is not more woman going to the top - there always will be the selected few who have the drive, ambition and / or education to get up there anyway.

The world doesn't need more ladies behaving like men -

What the world needs today is somebody who pats us on the shoulder and says "Well done!"
We have shown the world that we can do what was impossible 60 years ago!

Women today don't need to hear and get encouragement to work more, spend less time with our children, earn more money so we can buy more useless stuff etc.
We don't need any more stressed out, multitasking mothers, running around like headless chicken (only at times), playing Supergirl!
(Why in God's name did Mrs. Sandberg propose such a thing? Apparently she doesn't read Oprah's magazine - )

What the modern woman needs to hear is this:
"You did well girl, you showed the world you can fight as hard, smoke and drink as much, work as hard, be as educated and connected and ambitious as men -
 now it is time to show the world - and the men - how to live a dream, your own dream!"
"Let the men do what they want and need to do and follow your hearts desire. Go back to being a woman - again -"

ACT! It is not as hard as you think it is to move to another country, to write a book or to open up and run a coffee shop!
Being afraid is part of the process. We are all afraid of something, it doesn't matter who we are, what we do or where we live. Fear is a normal instinct towards the unknown! Unfortunately, we all have to get over it if we want to achieve and experience something new. And when we 've done it, we will look back and say: "Puh, it wasn't that bad!"

Let me know, "What would you do if You had no Fear?"
I look forward hearing from you!

Christina Waschko VS Sheryl Sandberg

These days it is pretty hard for me to stay focused on the task at hand - to keep you updated on our new life here in B.C! There is so much going on in media land which diverts my attention. It started off with 70 year old granddads  (Rolling Stones)  who are out to fill stadiums,- now there is a lady who gets serious press coverage for her book "Lean In".

Who is she? Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Facebook.

Her message: For "women to lean in to the opportunities and challenges of becoming a boss"  (Times, March 18, 2013, page 36). In other words,: Ueber ambitious ladies, don't get side tracked by family commitments or other nonsense, focus on reaching the top of a corporation!

Her connections: She is most likely the best connected woman in the whole world and probably the most powerful woman in America (Times, March 18).

Her education: Two (!) Harvard degrees

Married: To a very wealthy man.

Her target audience: The selected few, women who are on a serious power trip already or who are planning of doing so.

Her industry: Something we didn't have 20 years ago!

On dreams: I have no idea if she ever had any!

Why it sucks: She is preaching to the converted. A woman who really wants, does!

Who am I?

Christina Waschko: CEO of household operastions in the Waschko family.



My message: To ignite the spark in every woman's heart! "Stop making excuses and pursue your dream- let it be personal or business related!"

My connections: 138 Facebook friends, 124 LinkedIn connections plus my parents; They can't be found on any IT hook-up , but I hope they still count- or not?

My education: University of Life and a degree in Common Sense.  The only way I will ever see an Ivy League School, or Harvard for this matter, is while sitting on top of the double-decker tour bus.

Married: To a very - nice - man.

My industry: Something we had forever, a good ol'fashioned, personal contact business: Running a coffee lounge!

On dreams: I have plenty!  So far, many of them came true!

On why the book bothers me: It is written for a few - but will be read by the masses.

Whereas my book is written for the masses and have been read by few - so far!

My thoughts on female High Flyers: I will bet, most women don't really care about the whole corporate, power game. Given a choice, most of us would rather live the happy, fun life with a loving husband, kids  and working a job of our choice (which makes us enough money) than running a billion Dollar company. Please correct me if you feel I am stuck in Yesterdayworld.

The few who prefer careers over happy family life don't need a whole book devoted to their course. They will suppress the urges of their biological clock to do what it takes to get them to the top of anything (oops, don't read anything into that one).

If they can't suppress their desire to become a mother, they will manage to squeeze in a baby or two in between negotiating and signing contracts. All that in turn relates to a few more neglected, spoilt, emotionally unstable children who see more of their nanny than their mother. Each to their own!

Appeal: The world needs to read about "VERRY BERRY EXTRA-ORDINARY", written by an ordinary woman who made one of her dreams come true.

And less about jobs in higher places, written by an extra-ordinary woman who doesn't need to dream!

Life as a -still - unknown author can be challenging at times, especially in the beginning phase. I know I can't beat her, therefore I will join her! With this, I will lean in and get connected to people who I really should connect with: Sheryl, I will call you later...