I would like to be the kind of person who can confidently say: “everything I do, I do for…” and finish the sentence with a beautiful goal. Like, women. Or harmony. Or Love. I don’t think I necessarily lack the conviction of those goals. However, I feel like there is something holding me back.
When I was in therapy, I learned to see things in all the shades between black and white. I was always struggling with issues that were presented as “black & white”. Facts can be facts but still people out there seem to be debating those too. Is the sky blue? Are eggs vegetarian? Do women still get unequal treatment in today’s society? (I would say, yes, no and yes — but then who am I to say so?). I hold myself back, knowing there are people with louder voices, clear ideas and gumption. I make way, I support, and I cheer for those glorious women. They inspire me to be everything I want to be, and more. I hold myself back, I just said. But am I not just finding my own way of using my voice, sharing my idea and having my courage? Am I not rushing, due to this false sense of urgency, to be the woman I aspire to be– while I am already her, and have been all along?
International Women’s Day always makes me feel oddly calm and quietly powerful. I can wield my femininity in any way I please because of women. Women who are out there, confidently saying “everything I do, I do for…” and they can say anything they please. Because they are women, too.
Thank you to all the women in my life. Thank you to all the women in this world fighting for us. Thank you to all the women who came before us. Thank you.