Happy International Women’s day, 2020

Welcome, all!

Happy international women’s day!

My name is danielle and I feel lucky to celebrate international women’s day; to celebrate the women that have paved the way before me when it comes to equality and justice.

These women have been artists. Politicians. Mothers. Authors. Actors. Believers. Coaches. Pastors. Teammates. Athletes. Rule breakers. Heart menders. Professors. Activists. The list goes on…

Some iconic women in the public eye that come to mind when I think of women to celebrate:

Maya Angelou

Anne Frank

Eleanor Roosevelt

Harriet Tubman

Rosa Parks

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Ellen

Brené Brown

Glennon Doyle

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Greta Thunberg

Sue Bird

Megan Rapinoe

Abby Wambach

Lindsey Vonn

Michelle Obama

Aretha Thurmond

Gal Gadot

Shailene Woodley

Oh, the bad assery…

These women have been outright warriors.

But, here’s the thing. I can look up to these heroes for inspiration, for motivation, for hope when our humanity needs it.

But it’s truly the women around me that I look to when I’m needing guidance and obviously, tangible support.

The women that sacrifice their time and effort on encouraging me and sharing their wisdom, even if I don’t share their blood.

The women that I call my mom, my other moms, my therapist, my physical therapist, my boss, my teammates, my coworkers, my classmates, my coaches, my sisters, my extended family…

So what is it that make these women so special?

Well, what doesn’t make them special?

I think because I grew up watching my mom actually do-it-all, I’ve always had a sense that women could do anything if they wanted to. The women that I call my mentors in life only validated this worldview that I’ve developed over the years.

My mom raised kids, worked, sometimes more than two or three jobs, celebrated her friends when they needed it, came to all of my games or choir concerts or what have you, and still managed to enjoy watching Survivor or Say Yes to the Dress as a means of small entertainment.

My mom laughed as hard as she cried, and she encouraged me to do the same. She feels so so deeply, and so do I. It’s what drives us, motivates us to do what is right, what is just. Whether that is making a decision on a college or what utensil to use to eat tater tot casserole.

My mom stood up for my brother and I. And although it’s taken me a long time to stand up for myself, I’ve practiced it and have reaped the rewards for doing so. Because it meant that I’m finally seeing the value in myself that my mom has always seen in me, the value that the women who helped raise and shape me have always seen.

So I use my voice like my mom has used hers, and the women I’ve watched before me have used theirs, especially the aforementioned ones. Who, by the way, live their life under a microscope and under scrutiny most of the time because they are women. So I want to use mine like they have- because if they can do it under that much pressure, then I can certainly use my voice. Whether that’s to speak up within a group project in college or call out the man at the jiffy lube for being a completely disrespectful asshole.

It’s safe to say that I really just wanted to write about bad ass women, but mostly Mom. Because celebrating this day makes me feel like it’s equally important to celebrate Mom. And people like Mom.

I watched my mom teach me to work my ass off. And as I’ve grown up, I’ve learned what resting my ass off has meant, too.

And the women that I continue to let shape me do just that: they work and rest and play equally hard.

That is so special.

And I have so many women to be thankful for. Likely story is, you know who you are because I’ve made it known to you how much you’ve impacted me as a woman.

So may we continue to be strong, wise, hard-working, goal-getting, authentic, relentlessly loving, non-judgemental, willing to grow and change, motivated, pave-setting, women.

Because that’s exactly what the women older than us have done and it’s our job to continue to do that for the women after us.

Let us be amazing women.

Let us be women who encourage each other’s growth.

Let us be women on whom others can count.

Who doesn’t love a woman who are those things?! We love women in our lives and who live in the limelight that are these things. It’s why we have days like this, Mother’s Day, etc…

& I just so happen to love women in general. (Did I just say that out loud? 🧐)

Let us be women who can be honest and unapologetically ourselves.

Even the Christian, Asian-American, ever-growing and learning, gay women, like myself.

Because God knows our world fucking needs it.

Happy international women’s day! Thank you to all the women who have loved me, mentored me, pushed me, angered me, made me cry, made me hurt, made me feel joy, made me know and pursue God, prayed for angels to come to my rescue, and most importantly, just celebrated me for who I am.

Because I wouldn’t be who I am without all you women.

With all of the love I can fiercely give,

Danielle

“The most revolutionary thing a woman can do: the next right thing, one thing at a time, without asking permission or offering explanation.” Glennon Doyle, Untamed