Women.

This morning I took myself to the beach with a coffee. The sky hung low; swollen and angry. It wasn’t long before the heavens opened. I ran back to my car and waited for it to pass.

After a brief pause, I returned. Everything was different. The sky was blue, the waves steady and gentle. I thought about women: Strong. Soft. Resilient.

We inhabit a world that can be ignorant to us. We weather storms, frequently and often in silence, only to emerge softer than before.

I am in AWE of women. Of myself. For all of the days I curse my womanhood, for the days I think men just might have it easier, I know that to be a woman is to be everything. It is to be soft, fearless, wild, gentle, brave, full, empty, hard, weak, strong.

I am indebted to the women in my life who show me this simple truth every day. Who fill me up and inspire me not to shrink back.

Here’s to strong women! May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.