Filling The Well

A personal story is a well of great profundity, not filled with, “one water”, but with an abundance of distinctively shaped water particles connected, making up the whole. Together this myriad of unrelated complex traits, and experiences make a woman’s multifaceted story, defying classification. Her story does not define her… but her stories help her determine who she can be.
As her well overflows, others may come to drink from it.

As soon as I could speak, my mother worried. Incessant probing about the fates of the poor, and glue-sniffing street children my age became my themes of conversation. The consternation didn’t wane for the 3 year old, instead trauma turned inwards, the fate of being female became the hated cross to bear. A traumatizing, invasive male gynecologist visit led to the removal of a cyst from my 6 year-old ovaries. Regularly locking myself in the bathroom not long after, staring at the mirror until a white light enveloped me, I’d ask, “Why am I here? What is this body? Why am I a girl? Why wasn’t I a boy…” 26 years would pass before the premise of cultivating self-love and power and acceptance in being a woman became significant through sites like WP, answers began to formulate within me.

A young life marred by anger at the world’s injustices, loathing was turned inward again by the onslaught of grand-mal* seizures I began experiencing at 17. Three years later, with fear and frustration with a changing political climate and state of my country, I left for the USA to pursue education I hoped would help bring light to the darkness of the world. This outward focus was continually shaken by epilepsy and its related psychological side effects, a lack of self-confidence and direction.

However, my outlook changed after a seizure related drowning in a pool at the age of 25. The options: take charge of life and seek the light, or loose it completely.
Too long I ignored my ills and focused on those of the outside world, being easier to curse the dark than turn on the light. I choose empowerment through education and acceptance of my condition, the light-switch lay within me. It wasn’t until leaving an emotionally abusive relationship that I understood the tangible, direct correlation between self-worth, positivity, emotional wellbeing, community, and female health. And I found purpose in the Women’s Empowerment Movement online.
The lesson: Start with me. By healing myself I can help others.
Now, the great-ill* and the WP movement, light my road to self-realization, knowledge, compassion… it emboldens my desire to be of service and my determination to survive.

I am witness to the injustices in the global south, and overcame the personal struggles of living with a disability in the global north. By merging these, Voices of Our Future will guide me in developing my voice, helping me empower women from the inside out, as it is we, the empowered women who will courageously usher in the new world.