International Women's Day should not be to focus on oppression, or whatever, but liking who we are, telling your girlfriends, hey you're a queen and don't let anybody tell you any different. When your bestie has had her heart broken, you hold her hair when she gets sick after she's had too much to drink. Striking up a conversation with the young cashier lady at Kohl's, who says she's feeling good after you ask her how she's doing; and she says she's doing her best to eat right, trying to be a good example for her little sister who's a prediabetic. You ask her what she had for lunch, and you make a new friend because you listened.
I think we lose sight of everything that is good about us as women, because we're too busy focusing on what we think we aren't or are told we can't become. We are maternal, at least most of us, and we forget that a squeeze of a hand or a smile may keep somebody from jumping off a building. Women are the reason we are all here. Your mama takes care of you when you're sick, writes little notes that say what she likes about you on post-its and sticks them to the wall so you see it when you wake up. She is your friend and your warrior and what you should want to be.
But, she isn't just a mother. She's the woman on the subway, dressed to please corporate, thinking about her presentation that will finally get her that promotion she has worked so hard for. She's the woman on the assembly line, assembling things we use everyday, that we take for granted. She's the doctor who never leaves the office because she has lives that depend on her knowledge and heart to keep them breathing. She's the school teacher who comes in early to grade papers, and stays late for the kids who don't understand. She's the single mom who is just trying to get by, who eats cereal for dinner, just so her kid can have a decent meal, and who cries at night when her kid is asleep because she thinks she isn't a good mom. She's the young girl who wants to be a scientist, and doesn't think she's smart enough, but her mother tells her every night as she tucks her into bed, "you can be whatever you want. Just do your best and never stop." She's the 30 year old who just wants to be a writer, but it doesn't pay the bills and she thinks nobody listens. She's you and she's me.
So, call up your mama or your sister, your aunt, your grandmother, or your best friends and tell her you're glad you have her, how brilliant she is and if it weren't for her, the world would be flat and uninteresting. Fight for yourself and other women. Be the best version of yourself. As Abraham Lincoln once said, whatever you are, be a good one.
