Cold Molasses in Zero Weather

When talking to a friend yesterday I realised that although I feel like I'm functioning at a fraction of the speed I ought to, what my American grandmother used to refer to as "going uphill like cold molasses in zero degree weather," in fact I have achieved more in the last five weeks I have been recovering from my operation than I did in the previous year. I've started four online magazines which I've now incorporated into Northern Quarter Publishing and through this I'm meeting some amazing people who are very inspiring to me.

It's funny how people can devalue themselves because of others people's prejudices or false perceptions and take it on board as part of their own thought process. I've recently started to omit negative influences from my life and it's made a big difference to the way I feel mentally and emotionally, negative people can become like a vortex draining your emotional energy and although they may be so-called friends or aquaintances they always somehow seem to devalue everything you do through their perception of the world.

In my own life I find these are often people who have been molly-coddled throughout their lives and don't understand the difficult journey and the obstacles that many less advantaged people have managed overcome. I am often percieved as middle class when in fact I grew up in one room tenemants and SROs in New York. My highschool had such a serious gun problem it had to install airport style metal detectors and grown adults used to walk two streets around it to avoid the children. Coming from my background and simply being in one piece is a miracle that I do not take for granted so I have great empathy for anyone who has had to truly struggle through life. When my very middle class friend constantly complains about her weight as if it were of the same signifigance as wife-beating or back street abortions I wonder where her mind is; this is an educated person who has no concept of the world beyond herself and I think this is sad. It also becomes a kind of mantra that affects everyone around her because the tune never changes, I loved her like a sister but our relationship seemed to consist of mutual complaints and now it seems to have run its very long course. I hope she changes and I wish her the best but it still makes me sad as well, some people claim to want change in their lives but in reality they are in their comfort zone. It takes a lot of effort to refocus and this can sometimes seem overwhelming but without the willingness to do so then there is no hope.

So now I'm concentrating on other women around the world, I've started adding content to my new online magazine World Women International | www.worldwomeninternational.com and I'm seeking submissions from human rights journalists around the world. If you are a woman who can write articles of 800-2000 words without complaining about your cellulite I'd be very interested to hear from you.