I am here because....

I am Here to discover who I truly am
I am here to provide healing and comfort to those
I am here for my own healing
I am here to discover new horizons
I am here to find a path to peace
I am here because I am peace
I am here to show others that it can be done if only we set our minds to it
I am here because of the "it"
I am here to be in love
I am here because I am love
I am here for sacrifice, for justice, for balance
I am here so I can be taught balance
I am here to be free
I am here to show the world freedom
I am here for human dignity
I am here for joy
I am here to spark the fire in me
I am here to finally do what I set out to do
I am here to return home
I am here to find out that I am home
I am here for life
I am here because I am Life
I am here so that we can walk this path together you and me even if there are differences.
I am here -just here- and nowhere else. I am here and will be here forever and ever
I am not going away, because without me, there is no here.
So are you here with me?

Journal Prompt:  I am here because.......

A Day without Women.

 Yesterday was International Women's Day.  To me this day has always been special because it represents the women uniting together for their basic human rights.  I do have a problem with the fact that we only get one day for that - because technically we need more than one day to honor all that we do.  The Women's March on Washington declared yesterday as a Day Without Women.   And oh boy how I wish I had planned better to have really have a day without women.  But I couldn't - I had parent teacher conferences, I had work commitments that I had to be at, and the list could go on.  But just imagine what would the world be without women? There would be no life.  No Life. No Energy.  I think of all the things we do on a daily basis and more and still manage to keep it together, and still manage to find time for ourselves, our families, and just keep going strong. Hardships hit us, and we rise high and move along. We have this fire, an inner sort of strength that shines so bright - that can push us to do whatever we set our minds too. And yet why are we denied of our basic human rights? Why don't we get equal pay? Why do we have to tolerate violence? Why can't we get paid maternal leave? Why? Why? Why?  I can only continue to ask why because the answers that I hear from society, from peers, from centuries ago are not good enough. I work in the field of Violence. I see women being abused day in and day out.  We provide solace, we provide support, we provide relief and we provide hope - but we shouldn't have to live this way anymore.  We must speak up when we see something wrong.  Silence only repeats the cycle.   It doesn't stop it. 
So while I couldn't walk out my job or stay at home on a day without women, I asked that we all wear red in solidarity as a team to show support to one another.  We all come from such diverse backgrounds- religiously and culturally and yet we are all women - so let us recognize our worth as a woman and stand in solidarity with that - because we have more in common than we believe.  And for the wonderful men that are out there that support us women to be human, thank you, and I can only hope that we have more of you in the future generations to come.   We saw the Unity in Diversity.  We tried to understand each other regardless of our religious and cultural beliefs.  And that is how we change. Tolerance is what is needed not division to change things.  
And last but not least, for those of us that have children, we start with them - teaching our boys and girls about respect.  About equality.  

Journal Prompt:  What would my life be like without women? Think about the women in your life - reflect on it and write for five minutes non-stop.  

Happy Journaling!