Jess and Pam and I talk mainly using social media. (Snapchat—primarily—because who doesn’t want to talk to each other while looking like a dog or with a fancy headband and perfect lighting.) Since Pam lives in Appleton and Jess and I live in Madison, sadly, we only see each other in person a few times a year.  But because of technology, we are able to keep up with each other in a way that is quick, easy and admittedly fun.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, we started this blog as a forum to extend those conversations we were already having with each other through social media and open them up to more women we knew—and those we don’t.  We wanted to have ways to share ideas and tips and reviews of the things circulating through our lives. Women supporting other women. (sometimes to make purchases on things they don’t need, but I digress…)

Aside from our overall concept, we don’t really have a plan, necessarily. Or an editorial calendar we follow. We meet monthly and talk out some ideas and create a posting schedule. But our general operating plan is to write about something that grabs us in the moment, share the posting duties between the three of us and get two posts up on the blog a week.

All of this back story is to stay—today is my day to post—and I just found out from a friend over Facebook Messenger this morning (seriously, how would we have any social interactions in our lives today without technology?!) that it’s International Women’s Day and there is a Women’s Strike planned. She wanted to know my plan for the day.

*sigh* Well—this is today’s schedule: get up early and write my blog post for a women’s focused lifestyle blog, go see Jess at her woman owned business for a massage to put my body back together from a nine hour drive yesterday, go to meetings with other women for my women owned business, go back to the office where we have intentionally strive to create a female friendly work place, take a yoga class at a woman owned studio and then work on a musical I’m proudly involved in called Working, that showcases the lives often forgotten women and how their job begins to define their value as a person.

So I guess I’m not striking. But—I decided to post this instead of my planned post with an eye shadow review (which will instead go up next week) to say—I’m proud of you if you are striking today. It takes a lot of courage to take a stand on anything, especially in our political climate. And nothing is more powerful than your physical presence—or in this case—absence.

And there is no shame if your life does not allow for you to participate in the strike, if you have decided not to participate or if you’re like me and apparently live in a bubble and weren’t even aware it was happening. What we don’t need—today or any day—is more judgement and guilt that we are doing it wrong. That’s the noise we hear daily—and strongest—in our own heads.

Whether it’s by leaving your job today to make the impact of women in the workplace visibly communicated, sending a text to a friend you haven’t talked to in a while just to say hello, supporting a women-owned business, or any other way that suits where you are—right now—and what you can handle within your life’s bandwidth, let’s use today as a reminder that we should always look for ways offer those in need a hand up and celebrate our worth.

But I feel like the most powerful exercise we can make as women is to be kinder to ourselves.

Today and every day.