Disclaimer** I want to start by saying... celebrating women... doesn't mean I don't stand with men. I love all the men in my life... they are rockstars... It doesn't mean anything other than this. I support us. I SEE US.... and I am calling us out.... because we deserve to be noticed.
All the women in me.... are tired.
SO.VERY.TIRED.
When we talk about the responsibilities we carry as women... many times we call them "hats"... as if that even comes close to truly expressing the world we carry and the world we live in as females.
I look at it differently.
I don't wear "hats".
I am a woman...with many other women living inside the skin I wear. I am not a woman.. singular... I am WOMEN... Plural.
I am first and foremost... Erica. Not sure who she is exactly yet... but I'm getting to know her better every single day...because she is finally coming first... slowly rising out of the box she was placed in.
The question is... who are YOU? When someone calls you by name, who emerges?
The answer... women... women of all shapes and sizes..
We are the mother.
We tend to scraped knees, we wipe tears away, and tell bedtime stories. We raise children to one day...do all the things we never could.
We are the teacher.
We get lost in homework and life lessons in an effort to raise up tiny humans that will one day make our world better.
We are the entrepreneur.
We build business and make our own money. We teach other women to do the same. We will not be stifled. We will not settle for the bottom of the ladder... we will not lose ourselves trying to climb it. We will not be limited by glass ceilings we can't break through... we build our own freakin ladders and lose the ceiling altogether.
We are the creator.
We make music, we write books. We paint and we carve out places in history that only we can fill.
We are the fighter.
We will stand up and risk it all for the ones we love, for the things that matter. We will win. We do not lose.
We are the advocate.
We stand up for the weak and the persecuted. We are the voice for the voiceless. We stand in the gap for the broken and weary... and we raise our voices till we are no longer ignored.
We are the leader.
We do not wait for someone else to do it. We spearhead and we take charge... we lead with the purpose of raising up other leaders, creating an army of hope. We are where change comes from.
We are the grocery shopper.
We stock the fridge and fill the cabinets. Thankfully Amazon Prime makes this easier now ;)
We are the glue.
We hold it all together. We carry the family and our friends. We feel every emotion and absorb every hurt... till the ones we love rise up again. We fix, we mend, we piece it back together. Nobody falls apart under our watch.
We are the rescuer.
We save the day. We are the real life super heroes. We fly in... not with capes but with fierce determination, and we simply...handle it.
We are the victim.
Because we have been hurt, we practice empathy. We do not live as victims but operate from the heart of one who once was... hurt. There is no heart stronger than one who once was broken... but learned how to beat again.
We are the chef.
We cook. EVERY FREAKIN DAY.
We are the counselor.
We listen, we empathize, we ask questions, we understand. We walk others through the dark... and sit with them till the sun comes out again.
We are the housekeeper.
We scrub toilets, we sweep floors... unless you hired your own housekeeper... or forced your teenagers to do it... in that case... GOOD FOR YOU. No woman has time to be THIS woman.
We are the worker.
We punch time clocks. We work double shifts. We work days, and we work nights. We make ends meet. However we can. We pay the bills and we save our pennies. We work.
We are the survivor.
We have been used up, spit out, knocked down, and stepped on. We have been ignored and belittled...stoned and abandoned... but we ALWAYS come back. Our rage is our weapon. Our forgiveness... the bullet in our gun.
We are the wife.
We lift up, and protect the loves of our lives. We are their cheerleaders and their resting place, their fuel and their safety.
We are the protector.
We harbor the immigrant, and love on the fatherless. We take in the needy and serve the afflicted. We would fall on a blade for the ones we love... and we do so... every day.
We are the dreamer of dreams.
We carry fire inside us. Work yet to be done, Plans not yet realized. Visions unfolding. All in good time.
We are the doer of hard things.
HARD.FREAKIN.THINGS.
As women, we emerge every single day...
and yes all the women inside of us.... are tired... How could we not be.... just look at us.
In all our glory... LOOK.AT.US.
But we continue on.
Who cares if we are tired.
We have work to do. After all, no woman leaves sh*t undone.
Nope not us.
I am WOMEN.
WE are WOMAN.