“She sells seashells by the seashore”- Old English Rhyme.
Hello everyone today is a day for us to reflect and be inspired. We will start the week in a positive way in order to be productive.
My son is absolutely in love with Dinosaurs and I happen to share his passion. It is amazing to see those huge fossils in visits to museums. However, someone had to discover those amazing creatures. I can only imagine how hard it was to dig for bones, but also the fear of not knowing whom they belonged to.
In today’s edition of Motivational Monday we will explore the life of Mary Anning. Mary Anning was born on May 21, 1799 in the city of Lyme Regis, in England. Her life has been somewhat fictionalized, with that in mind we know that she was a woman, and from a lower social class. It is said that she was about 10- 12 years old when her brother spotted some bones and told her to go explore…. “She ended up discovering the first specimen of the Ichthyosaurus, recognized by the Geological Society in London. She also discovered the first nearly complete example of the Plesiosaurus; the first British Pterodactylus macronyx, a fossil flying reptile; the Squaloraja fossil fish, a transitional link between sharks and rays; and finally the Plesiosaurus macrocephalus”(SDSC).
In order to survive Mary Anning and her family collected fossils and sold them at her shop by the seashore. The Old English Rhyme was written for Mary Anning who sold seashells by the seashore.
Mary Anning lived a simple life with her mother and brothers. Mary Anning had learned to collect fossils from her father Richard who died when he was only 44 years old, in the year 1810; Leaving the family to survive on charity.
Later Mary digged fossils and sold them to collectors in England. It became the family business. In the year 1817, the family met Lt. Col. Thomas Birch, whom dedicated himself to help the family financial situation. Even though it wasn’t much help, it was something.
Mary Anning, even though she did not have a traditional education, she had a passion and with that passion she grew in knowledge mastering the anatomy of her subjects. She walked and waded under unstable cliffs during the low tide searching for fossils near the rocks. She gained knowledge and as one source noted the title *“the greatest fossilist the world ever knew”.
Mary Anning died of breast cancer on March 9, 1847 at age 47. Leaving behind a legacy for us of great discoveries and inspiration.
Why is Mary Anning our Motivational Guest? Well, Mary Anning, was a woman in a world where women did not have a voice. She worked against the odds to succeed. Life for her was not easy, yet, she never gave up her passion of digging for fossils even when money was short.Even though she was not really recognized while alive she laid the groundwork for the whole field of Paleontology. She gained her space even though she was a woman. She never gave up and she pursued her passions growing in knowledge.
This is a great video about Mary Anning’s life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-CW0B4YeBQ
What can we learn from Mary Anning? Never give up. Be creative and pursue your passions!
May you feel inspired to do great things today….
Much love,
Raquel
Learn more about Mary Anning in the websites I used to research her life:
https://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/anning.html
http://www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk/collection/mary-anning/
* Annotation on an undated letter from Mary Anning to one of the Misses Philpot of Lyme, in the collection of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, cited in Torrens, Hugh: “Mary Anning (1799-1847] of Lyme: ‘the greatest fossilist the world ever knew,’ British Journal for the History of Science, 25: 257-84, 1995.
