Girls will be girls... But women will help other women.
Written by actress, singer, songwriter and playwrite - K-Syran
Women will look out for each other, encourage each other and hold each others hand.
2015 was an amazing year for me artistically, I fulfilled my dream which came true with the production of my play, 'Breaking The Silence', in NYC and The Hague. I filmed the lead part in a British film, Espera AND I released my album, 'Smoke In My Veins'. With all of these wonderful things happening I have received nothing but positive feed-back from women all over the world. They say I've encouraged and inspired them to follow their own dreams.
So I thought I'd write a special message for all of you readers of Female First. Women in their 30s and 40s can easily fall in the trap of giving up their mojo (as I call it). I even felt myself falling into that gaping hole, where you do nothing but give-in to the demands of others, whilst pushing your own needs aside. Maybe because of a demanding husband or four kids or busily 'nesting' the home so that it a wonderful place for the family to live.
Whatever the reason, it's always easy to blame everything around you. I myself experienced a situation that forced me to take control, and I believe it saved me.
It boosted me with self-confidence, empowered me into taking control over my own life again, and I found my way back to being Katrina (my real name) again. I'd got my mojo back!
This year I received the best Christmas present I could ever have dreamt of receiving... Looking back now it feels a bit like it's been my destiny , like my path has taken me here, like every step I've taken has led me to this....
I will never forget the night my husband proposed with the full moon shining a path in the sea and I made the choice of my life... before then all paths had been open...
I had a passion of becoming an actress from the age of five. I fell in love with London and it's wonderful theatre world. Straight out of drama school I landed the lead part with a Women's Theatre Group, Sphinx Theatre Company, who I became very close to and worked with for many years. Sue Parrish became my mentor.
Then love brought me to Switzerland, the last country in Europe who got the rights to vote for women in 1971, and the last canton in 1986!
So my passion for women did not subside and I began to channel my energies into the theatre. I was the first to produce 'The Vagina Monologues', in Geneva, the money from that went to Solidarite Femmes because sophisticated Geneva has a high number of batted women. Another production, 'Ibsen's Women' that I adapted (being Norwegian I love Ibsen and for a writer of the 18th century he was a feminist who predicted the future). Norway is the country in Europe that has come the furthest in equality between women and men.
But my biggest pride of all my productions is my play, 'Breaking The Silence', which I wrote with Suzan Craig, a member of Human Rights Watch. This play addresses real women's issues that we are still struggling to end: FGM, domestic violence, Woman's Rights to a Voice, child marriage - to mention a few.
The play is so powerful that it got nominated best play at the ExCel Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict organised by Angelina Jolie and William Hague.
Parallel with my acting career, my singing career has incredibly taken a life of it's own, and with my own lyrics, I am hoping to make a difference in someone's life. If my lyrics can help just one woman improve her life, then my job in this world is done. So I say to every Female First reader: no matter what your situation is right now, empower yourselves to be YOU! Grab back your mojo and start living!