Mavis Robertson
Lacking inspo
You know how on some days you’re just not feeling it? That was me last week. So I went on the hunt for a little inspiration.
It wasn’t going well. Even This American Life, the podcast I never get sick of, wasn’t cutting it. Never say never!
Looking for inspo
Then I thought, what about the ABC? The Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
So I went onto the ABC Listen app and did something I’ve never done before. Checked out The History Lesson podcast. I liked the sound of The Mavis Files and checked it out.
I confess I was also a little interested because Alice Garner wrote and produced it. She was doing her PhD at the same time as me, not that she’d know. I had a part time job at Melbourne Uni’s Postgraduate Association at the time and she walked in. She was acting in a popular TV series then: Sea Change. A celebrity moment. And she’s the daughter of Helen Garner, the wonderful Australian writer.
Finding inspo
Anyway, back to Mavis. Wow! What a woman. My favorite part came right at the end.
“Women shouldn’t fear being strong, even though, if you attempt to be strong, some men find it very difficult to cope with you.
But if you’re not strong, you can’t make the best contribution that you’re capable of making. And I think all of us have to try to do the best that we can and not settle for a quiet and easy life.”
She was a force to be reckoned with. She stood for something. She got involved. She committed.
Inspo, but not perfect
Mavis Robertson (1930-2015) went all in on many things over her life. Her job descriptors list from one of her obituaries is substantial:
- communist
- communist party organiser
- feminist
- human rights activist
- pacifist
- political activist
- superannuation reformer.
She was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1984 for services to the super industry and for peace and disarmament.
It’s hard to ignore what a trailblazer she was and the gusto she brought to everything she did.
Yet, according to Tony Stephens who wrote the above-mentioned obituary:
“Her sense of purpose often came with an acerbic tongue which made enemies.
She wasn’t perfect.”
It takes gusto and guts
Still, how can you not love what Tony also pointed out? Namely, that she would:
“sometimes knit silently during meetings of vigorous debate before suddenly proposing a motion acceptable to the majority, then adjourning for decent food and red wine.”
What would happen if you knitted during meetings at your workplace? I don’t think that’s something I’d ever dare to do. Maybe if it really was stimming? Even then, I think I’d only get away with it if I was as skilled as Mavis at settling vigorous debates.
And not settling
I bet if Mavis ever lacked inspo, she’d dust herself off, and remind herself of her own maxim. That is:
“All of us have to try to do the best that we can and not settle for a quiet and easy life.”
I’m working on it, Mavis.
Are you?
