We are two Americans, living in Amsterdam, making wine in Australia…

To The Women Who Know Their Own Electricity

To The Women Who Know Their Own Electricity

I’m sure Women’s Day has happened before, I just wasn’t listening.

It’s been a strange and wonderful few months, with weird dark loops right alongside blasts of blinding sun. The close proximity of those two realities brings tears to my eyes if I let it. I’ve been searching for my own female power in a way I never have; I didn’t think I needed to. I didn’t want to be that loud, that obvious. I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy, a tough girl with her femininity tucked safely behind poorly cared-for leather and torn jeans. I made the mistake of thinking you can’t have both those things at the same time.

This past year, with the #MeToo, the #TimesUp, The Oprah and the inclusion riders, it’s the first time a larger audience is open to hearing about what it’s like to be a woman in a very male world. I even went on record in a New York Times article about the sexual harassment I experienced while working in New York; it felt like a clumsy internal process that nevertheless provided the most exquisite gasp of freedom. Actually, It was more a giant swallowing of freedom, as if I hadn’t tasted it in a while. I got off the phone with the journalist and yelled, ‘I’m free!!!!!’, jumping around my living room like a proper kid. Why is it so hard to get free?

Why am I crying as I write this? Why haven’t I been listening to this voice? Why do I act like I don’t possess this electric power, right beneath my surface?

Today is Women’s Day, and as I wrapped up a very long call to purchase an airline ticket, the gentleman said, ‘It’s your day, isn’t it?’ I paused, confused, and he said, “It’s Women’s Day!” And I laughed and squealed, “THANK YOU!!! Thank you. Wow.”

Consider this my salute to every woman who knows her own electricity. I’ve seen you… You luxuriate in each glittering part of your self, inviting passersby to marvel at how good it must feel to experience that wealth of being. I want more of you women in my life, and I strive to be like each and every one of you. Thank you for paving the way.

 

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

-Arundhati Roy