For
Ellenore Angelidis, it’s all about family – her children being the focus. Whether discussing career, writing, food or the meaning of a su-ccessful life, there’s always a connection of these to her family. A great mother, with global perspective to motherhood, Ellenore was born in America to Dutch parents. She’s married to a Greek, with whom they have two boys and an adopted Ethiopian daughter. Among many other issues, she speaks to WOMAN’S ESSENCE, about the passion and family reality of raising global citizens – children – who see everyone as part of one body of people, and not us versus them.
Q
When I was reading your article in incultureparent.com about the connection between Baklava and Doro Wat, it felt like a novel. Have you ever thought of writing one about your life? I had aspirations to be a writer as a child. I remember writing elaborate outlines of chapter headings of science fiction tomes, where I literally dreamed of the plots in my sleep. I also won some early awards for short stories of real events that occurred to me, an indication, perhaps, of what should have been the primary subject of my writing. Later in life, I had it on my bucket list to write a novel (or if I am completely honest, be a well respective novelist). I saw two likely subjects in my grandmothers, as strong independent women, who survived grave challenges – both had amazing WWII survival stories. However, like my earliest science fiction efforts, I never made it past the outline phase. , 22 Woman’s Essence Magazine
Then I read a post from a blo-gger, who was using blo-gging as a manageable way to write her book. I didn’t nece-ssarily think my blogs would end up as a book. But I thought it would give me a chance to practice my writing regularly; posts seemed doable. And I had been looking for a way to give back – in the context of adopting from Ethiopia and of being a working mother. So that’s how I started. I learned, the more I put of myself in the posts, the more they seem to resonate with others. I find the act of writing leads me down different paths of reason and thought than I originally intended. I like to write whatever is swirling in my head, rather than focus on one or two topics. This has led me to having two of my own blogs, as well as write for few online magazines with different audiences. I often tear up while writing, since much is personal and emotional for me and I am at heart a private person. When I hit “publish”, I feel a little queasy. Who knows, maybe some of my posts will turn themselves into a book one day.