Thursday Murmurings
Gisèle Pelicot, Serena Williams and Autumnal loveliness.
Happy Thursday, ya beauties!
Kicking it off this week with Gisèle Pelicot because I continue to be in awe of this woman. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that her husband of 50 years spent years drugging and raping her and put ads online inviting other men to rape her too. Roughly 50 of those men are on trial now (her husband has already pled guilty).
A couple of weeks ago, Ms Pelicot fought for the videos of her assaults (of which there are A LOT) to be shown in court. “Shame,’ said Ms Pelicot, “must change sides; from the victims to the perpetrators.” She is absolutely right.
Her husband filmed all the attacks and clearly labelled them, storing them on his computer under a file called ‘abuse’. Many of the men have been using the ‘we didn’t know she was unconscious’ defence, which now crumbles when the videos are shown, with her clearly asleep and unresponsive.
One of the accused has said that they might be rapists because they didn’t get consent but ‘we are not rapists in our souls.’ And honestly, I think that’s how so many men feel - the utter lack of respect or compassion, not even seeing an issue with not getting consent - ugh, I hope they all end up under the jail.
Ms Pelicot, on the other hand, deserves everything good in this life. What she is doing here, the level of strength it takes to face this down and stand her ground, I think we are seeing one of the most important women of the 21st century take shape.
Things that caught my eye this week
I really enjoyed this Glamour article about Serena Williams and her life after retirement. It’s super interesting to hear her journey as an investor, starting a venture capital fund, the businesses she chooses to invest in and just how engaged she is in the whole process. This really shows how the mindset of an athlete isn’t restricted to their sport. I loved her on court career, but I’m getting equally excited about her off court one too.
Food for thought
It’s OK if you’re not ready for the change you want yet. It’s OK if it feels scary and overwhelming. Sometimes it’s nice to stay in the now of things, because you know once you push the button for change, everything really will. So, honour the nowness, but make space for what is to come. Once you get started, you’ll realise it wasn’t that scary after all.
You should upgrade to the paid version of The Murmuration because…
On Monday’s edition of The Murmuration, I’m going to be talking about forgiveness. I think a major part of any healing journey is the ability to forgive ones self. I have recently had quite a break through in being able to forgive myself for certain parts of my life, particularly around relationships. I think age, time and distance have played a huge part in this. Upgrade your subscription to find out what journal prompts helped with the breakthrough.
Your weekly Biggie Smalls (P)update
This week, Biggie would like to remind you that Autumn is upon us; you need more blankets, you need a one-way ticket to snuggle town, chunky knits and hot chocolates. You need a million more pics of colourful trees and to feel crunchy leaves under your boots. IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!
Until next week; smile at strangers, spread good vibes, be nice to people.