Monday, June 1, 2020

What Queen Victoria Taught Us About Ourselves + #MyPostMonday Linky

One of my favorite T.V. shows is 'Victoria', shown in seasons, all about the life of Queen Victoria. I'm sure the show has been romanticized but all the same, it is highly historical and I have learned so much about the nuances of British aristocracy, the war, the Spanish flu, and the British government, to name a few things. Combined with the show, 'Downton Abbey', and the movie 'Pride And Prejudice', my love of all things historical British aristocracy runs deep!

The actress who plays Victoria, Jenna Coleman, seems to portray Victoria quite well physically, as she was in her younger years, very petite and with large blue eyes. But even more, she shows the vulnerability yet fierce determination of a teenage girl who has been put into the daunting position of being Queen of the most powerful nation in the world at the time.

Of course, Victoria had some training in the ways of royalty before being placed on the throne and had been groomed for awhile to be in that position. But even so, the patriarchy of the Parliament was overwhelming. She had to show all of those men that she could meet them head-on and contribute in a confident and intelligent manner.

At first the going was a bit rough, but as she observed with a keen eye, she picked up even more as time passed. Of course she had some great allies in Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister and her husband, Prince Albert. They helped her navigate through those first few years. But she always held her place as the Queen and fiercely reserved her right to have the last say after weighing all options. In my opinion, she did an incredible job!


She was known to have a great feeling and empathy for her subjects and didn't let fear rule her actions. She walked on a veritable tight rope between her subjects, foreign rulers, and the ever-challenging parliament. One thing was for sure. She couldn't doubt herself and she couldn't worry about what others thought of her. I love this quote. She said, "The important thing is not what they think of me. It's what I think of them." I'm sure that she was telling people at the time that she realized her role as the Queen and that her opinion mattered. She wasn't going to be intimidated by what others, especially those in parliament, might think of her. She was going to let them know it was her they should be concerned about.

Another way for us "commoners" to look at this quote is also not worry about what others think. If we have goals and aspirations, why let those who tend to be the closest to us tell us what we can and can't succeed at? At the same time, we can still think well of them and let our thoughts be elevated and positive. So many people, as we can see abundantly today, have negative thoughts and feelings about those around them. If we succumb to those negative vibes and likewise start thinking negative, we will be in the same place, not being able to get above it all. Queen Victoria's message is that people can think what they will. It doesn't need to influence our thoughts and opinions about them. I'm keeping it positive and I choose to move forward with love and forgiveness! And in turn, I will attract the positivity around me that I need to succeed with my own goals!

Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of my picks of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome)

1 comment:

Victoria Rotino said...

Queen Victoria is an inspiration to me <3 I love how she is so confident and had great self esteem and doesn't care what others think of her!

When I read about her I think more positive about caring less of what some of my family says about me behind my back.