If you don’t write your story, who will?
When I was younger, I wasted too much time trying to fit into other people’s visions of me.
Whether it was letting people mispronounce my name (no, it’s not SAND-ra) or, on the flip side, having to be the toughest person in the room, there was always a box I was being squeezed into.
Only I didn’t create the box. Y no me quedaba bien.
The problem is, many of us—especially women-–are so used to discomfort we think it’s normal. We think “it is what it is.”
It doesn’t have to be.
What if we let ourselves… see ourselves? If the most important opinion of us… were our own? Can you imagine what would happen if we decided who we are, who we want to be, and how we want to be treated? This is beyond self-care, this is self-determination.
I’m not saying life is always comfortable—not at all. But that’s exactly the point. It’s hard enough without other people dictating how we go about it. And while we value being in community and taking care of each other, that doesn’t mean letting others decide who we are.
This International Women’s Day, I want to recognize all the Nopaler@s out there doing their best to be as they see themselves, writing their own stories and dejando lo resto.
Con amor y respeto,
Sandra
By the way, sometimes I am the toughest person in the room. But not always. And that’s okay.
