I am every woman
who serves our country on the front lines
of trauma
who goes through puberty
awkward ashamed and framed
by mother nature
who feels stigmatized or satirized
as latter-day hysterics
made to think it is all in our heads
and

you are every woman
who gives birth to a hungry child
in war-torn Africa
who loses an ovary
or a breast or a uterus
to cancer or just to life
who cycles as each mood
is manifested by screaming hormones
and

she is every woman
who drinks to numb the pain
of post-partum lows
who feels betrayed by the body
as she ages physically but not in spirit
who binges and starves
behind society’s billboard of expectations
but

we are every woman
who dreams outside
of the box
who prays
eyes closed lips moving
who cries viscerally
laying in a fetal position
from a broken heart
or mind or body or soul
but

we are every woman who rises up-

every time. everywhere.

***

Who is a woman you are grateful for?  Look up to?  Respect? Tell us about the special woman in your lives and why they are EVERY Woman…

Let’s Thrive,

Dr. Jen