Happy International Women's Day!

“We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational, and so disciplined they can be free.”

- Kavita Ramdas, Global Fund for Women CEO, Philanthropist 

I once heard my friends say they don't want to be housewives because women should be able to earn a living, build their own networks, climb the ladder, have it all. Silently, because I don’t want to be the oddball (more than I already was), I told myself, “but I like the image of the 1950s housewife in a dress, keeping a gorgeous home, pouring her husband coffee. I like that Bree Van de Camp takes care of her looks, is a whiz in the kitchen, and eventually builds a business out of her skills. I like the idea of the quiet life, a garden to tend, a husband to cook for, children to nourish; weekends at a beach, some afternoons in the park, interesting books to read, and a family to spend time with.”

Maybe it's not a popular idea.

More often than I care to admit, I fight with myself when I’m doing the house chores, demanding myself to be indignant at having to do it, ordering myself to tell my husband to wash his own clothes. But the truth is, I like doing these things for him, for the home.

I'm good at what I do: managing a team, building applications and systems, churning out reports, and pitching knockout presentations. I take pride of my smarts, how quick I can be on my feet, my wit. But the office job is not what I see myself doing for the next thirty more years. I want to be able to leave the corporate cutthroat jungle, manage my own business, have slow days.

I feel like there's a part of my country's culture that sometimes limits me. I have dreams and wants that struggle against what is accepted as strong and powerful and worth fighting for, values that just don't fit in with our current environment. But that doesn’t mean I have to let other people’s definition of success haunt me, weigh me down, or guilt me into voicing out the same message that they do.

I would at times feel trapped by the "responsibilities of a woman". I'm sometimes able to break free with the knowledge that it doesn't matter what other people say what "should be". I find power in being able to do what I want and being at peace with it.

I am a woman. I lurk the dark, dirty, desolate areas of my mind and rejoice at the pretty, pink, and glittery thoughts that often burst through the scenery . I pick at all the ugly, unbecoming, and undeserving parts of my being and celebrate the beautiful, bold, and best facets of my duality.  My brain is noisy, connected, never satisfied. I know these of me and I embrace it all.

About the pretty blog graphic

This bronze pendant lamp frame evoking an industrial, yet feminine theme is part of a new set that I'm working on. The watercolor floral accents used are from my Valerie Clipart set available in Creative Market.