Dance With Me [VI]: The Importance of Sisterhood

This has to be one of the most important lessons.

Having lived as an only child for almost a decade, I’d learnt to be my own best friend at a very young age. But I found sisterhood in other little girls.

As a child, I recall waiting backstage for hours before showtime and together with the other little girls, we would play low-maintenance kiddy games such as “chop chilli” or “zero point” to kill time in our horrid stage make-up and costumes. Other times, we would sit around the instructors or older kids who would tell us ghost stories which would make us so freaked out that we would go to the bathroom in twos and threes after each scary tale.

Whatever the activity, we always had a lot of fun. Since little girls have practically no problems (besides homework and exams), we didn’t share woes about men/ family/ work so there was no need for us to pour our hearts out when we sit together but the feeling of being part of a troupe was a grand experience for an only child.

It’s like having sisters.

We didn’t choose to be part of the same dance troupe. We were thrown into the mix together because it was a school activity so we had to make do and try to coexist – we'd practice, warm up and dance together. We'd also get punished together for misbehavior. Sometimes, we don’t get along but we know that we have to make up and make do - because it is part of sisterhood.

My real sister came along when I was 11 and today, I consider her one of my best friends. She has seen me as the geek, the bully and the meek but still she loves me as her sister. And likewise, I love my sister, butt and all ;)

Along the way, I found other sisters – in school, in dance, at work, in faith and sometimes in taxi queues. They have all been part of my life’s journey. Sisters serve as my voices of reason: they lift my spirit when I am down, they sit and hear me rant, offering their shoulders to cry on with no prejudice and some sisters even stick up for you – even when they know that you are in the wrong - simply because they are your sisters.

Men sit together and bond but sisters bare their souls through sharing their experiences.
Sisters are important to a woman’s growth in life. They teach you about female loyalty, about the importance of admitting to your mistakes, about self-acceptance, about family, about multi-tasking and most importantly, sisters teach you about the beauty of being a woman.

That’s the magic of the yaya sisterhood.

I am glad that I have sisters :)

Ps. Thank you sisters. This is for you :)