The last month has been a really inspiring, busy and exciting one for Sustainable Menstruation Australia. Some great networking has been done with some incredibly inspiring women around the world – the creators of My Moontime, A Celebration Day for Girls, ModiBodi, Rad Pads and Cycling to Grandma’s House, among others. These women have been full of wonderful ideas and ways we can collaborate. Check out my interview that was just published on the My Moontime blog (www.mymoontime.com/thenewblog/using-your-cycle)! The first Sustainable Menstruation Australia market stall was a great success, where some fascinating conversations were had and information shared. This month has also been a time for organisation and fundraising! I will be cycling across America soon with Sustainable Cycles, and our IndieGoGo campaign raised over $10 000USD for the group. At time of writing, I have reached 37% of my target on my Pozible Campaign, to raise the additional money required to send an international team member over for the ride. You can still donate here. Training is progressing well, including an 83 km ride in 4 hours, and the first leg of flights have been booked! We are also only three cup sales away from preventing 100 000 tampons and pads going to landfill and saving our customers $50 000 over the next ten years.
Everywhere I look, I am witnessing women who are learning to love themselves again.
I am writing this blog on International Women’s Day. This day is one to be celebrated, a great to time to reflect on our successes and accomplishments as women, and a great day to set goals and look at our aims and dreams for the future. I have never felt prouder to be a woman, than I do today. Women have more opportunities than we had in the past, and our sense of community has grown through things like social media. I also understand how far we really have to go. Women are still oppressed around the world, raped, murdered and discriminated against. We still get less pay than men in equivalent jobs. I won’t go on. But there is hope. Everywhere I look, I am witnessing women who are learning to love themselves again. Women learning to celebrate their differences, support each other, and finding new ways to express their individuality as well as being part of their community, and the human race. There is so much wonderful work being done, and sometimes it can take strength to put it all into perspective, and work out what it is that you can do on a small scale, to make the world a better and safer place for women. Little things, like the conversations I have with the young woman I mentor who is a refugee from Afghanistan. Conversations about everything from loss, oppression and grief, to recipes, pimple creams and nail polish. Celebrating being a woman has a different meaning for every woman, and that, in itself, is something to be celebrated. Small actions, like smiling at women genuinely and appreciating their beauty, instead of comparing oneself with envy takes us a long way towards a better society. Speaking up when you see a woman being treated in a way that you wouldn’t want to be. Creating women’s circles, by simply being with women in one place with a positive intention. Supporting younger women, and being supported by older women. Valuing our crones, and listening to their wisdom. Nurturing our maidens, and assisting them embrace their femininity, whatever that may mean to them.
A huge part of being an empowered woman in the world, is loving our menstrual cycle. Instead of fear, anxiety and disgust, we can embrace our cycles with love, excitement and celebration. This is my life journey, my life purpose and my goal at this stage in my career. I am in a wonderful position to make this a reality, and I am so excited to be doing exactly that. When we celebrate our cycles, and use the knowledge to our advantage, we become incredibly powerful. And it’s never too late. So my advice, this International Women’s Day? Love yourself, love a woman near you, and do something small for the women of the world.
It’s never too late. So my advice, this International Women’s Day? Love yourself, love a woman near you, and do something small for the women of the world.
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