Chasing High Altitudes.
"Aviation." The mere sound of the word alone instructs me to see 'masculine.' Male pilots, even the co-pilots are male. Male...male...male...I seem to be enslaved to the paradigm. With the misguided assumption that the male species are the sole heir to what we know as humanity. The photograph on the book in front of me-Amelia Earhart's-gives me great hope, and makes me appreciate, a great deal, the very fine, renowned lady. Now, I am slightly relieved of the chains of stereotype and maybe chauvinism. Her striking pose demands and commands respect: her piercing gaze, her slightly lop-sided smile, that resembles a smirk, the pilot get-up and her owning of that plane with all the confidence in the world.
As I read on, in the hope of finding what made her thick, I saw her troubles: the discrimination, the male chauvinism, the believed image for pilots. My quest to know more about this enthralling character led my antsy fingers to the doors of Wikipedia. And it gave its take on her life: Introduction? scroll down... Childhood? stop... 'A spirit of adventure seemed to abide in the Earhart children...' Education? glance...scroll down... 1918 Spanish flu pandemic? stop...'Chronic sinusitis was to significantly affect Earhart's flying and activities in later life, and sometimes even on the airfield she was forced to wear a bandage on her cheek to cover a small drainage tube.' Her ever popular 1928 transatlantic flight, her transition from being dubbed 'Lady Lindy' to the apt 'Queen of the Air', and her career-defining 1932 transatlantic solo flight that also doubled as a game changer; re-writing aviation history forever, especially for women. Then the other parts of Amelia where facts mingled with myth. All in all, she was, to me, an extraordinary lady by all standards. She reduced, in a remarkable way, the number of excuses any woman would have for not excelling in whatever she does, regardless of society's perception.
Armed with the right mindset, the Amelia Earhart slash Madam C.J. Walker "can-do" spirit, I now strongly hold the view that the norm is not necessarily the truth. That basically, life and its myriad challenges may actually be the needed wind to soar to heights of greatness. I have also realized that people may also misinterpret great dreams for over-ambition. Now I know that a dream is truly great when it is not selfish; when it liberates and inspires others. I hope to be that big a dreamer. Or even bigger. I can smell the whiff of challenges in the wind but also the fragrance of success.
