Helllo my BlogFam! Hope you are doing great? Please can someone tell me where 2019 is flying to? How is it March already?!?!?! How?? Anyway, without further ado, let me quickly go straight to today’s gist!
On my flight back home yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that we had an all-female crew!! I was super excited and sent messages out to my peeps when I found out. I even planned to put it on the ‘gram as soon as I landed because I wasn’t going to miss out on a photo with the crew once we touched down. *groupie alert*
All my plans temporarily flew out of the window as soon as we started cruising. Pause. Am I the only one who imagines how it would feel to have the windows of an airplane in motion actually open? *covers face* After I experienced an open door in an aircraft when I went skydiving, I stopped having such vain imaginations😂😂😂. I digress o!
Anyway, as we ‘gberaed’ and entered the clouds, the plane started shaking small small. To be honest, it was nothing out of the ordinary – typical shaking that happens when there are lots of clouds. But you know what thought came into my mind? I’m a bit ashamed to admit it but my first thought (before I banished it with Holy Ghost Fire) was ‘Heeeey God, could this plane be shaking like this because a woman is flying it?’ Can you imagine me (a woman) thinking that kind of thought? A whole woman like the pilot! A whole woman who is a professional spending time serving clients in male-dominated industries and constantly trying to break stereotypes. A woman who is committed to supporting other women on their journeys and continuously advocating for gender parity – because our intellectual brains are the same. A whole me was thinking such a sexist thought! Can you just imagine?
I caught myself immediately and as always, I tried to understand WHY I even thought that thought in the first place (that’s a tongue twister right there!). Simply put, I dug in deeper to understand why such a thought crossed my mind. I think it’s because as humans, we have 2 thinking systems. There’s the base one (System 1) and the more sophisticated one (System 2). There is a ton of research on this but essentially, System 1 is the one that kicks in when there’s danger – that’s the one in charge when the plane started shaking small and my alarm bells started ringing. I would have said it’s the thinking system controlled by our ‘animalistic’ brain but me I was created in the image of Jesus and I have the mind of Christ – Amen!! Anyway, you get the point.
System 2 is the more calculating, conscious system that you use when you are solving a difficult math problem or thinking carefully about a philosophical problem. See Exhibit below, hahahaha
I caught myself and started thinking about all the times I had been flown by male pilots and the planes ‘shook’ me to my core. Why didn’t the gender of the pilot matter to me in those moments? I believe this speaks to how easily unconscious bias can creep up on us, even the most ‘woke’ of us, if we are not mindful. We must deliberately and consciously choose to reprogram our minds every day. I guess it takes time to undo years of social conditioning, but we serve an Able God! Shower your blessings…Oh sorry, I almost got carried away, lol.
So this is my challenge to you – next time your System 1 takes over and you’re tempted to think or say ‘na woman naa’ when something unpleasant happens (e.g., crazy Lagos driving episodes or office shenanigans), stop, flip it around and think of all the men who have done the same thing without you judging them. Then forgive yourself and reach out to some of the women in your life to celebrate how awesome they are.
On this International Women’s Day, I celebrate all the amazing women actively in my life and all the incredible women around me who break stereotypes every day and continue to reach for the stars. I celebrate US!!! Happy International Women’s Day!!!
*pours La Casera into glass and clinks*
Cheers!!!
KO!