The first time I “stepped into the world of dating” was soon after my PhD graduation in Los Angeles. It was short-lived, but my first time using a dating app—Bumble.
Bumble seemed to have a decent reputation, since women get to make the “first move”. Tinder terrified me due to the reputation it had, so I made the wise choice and stayed away.
But Bumble in LA didn’t go anywhere, because I began to have doubts, and decided I wasn’t ready. I was also still trying to make Italy work out, and knew that if that was in my future, starting something in LA wouldn’t make sense.
So, once “Lockdown One” was out of the way and I was settled in Milan, I braced myself for a new adventure…
Luckily, I didn’t have to spend too long or waste too much time, but I caught a few screenshots that were too hilarious not to share.
Sometimes dating isn’t scary or frustrating, it’s low-key this-got-me-rolling-on-the-floor-LAUGHING.
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After things initially opened up post-Lockdown One, it was no surprise that Bumble was flooded with people.
Is that the reason why literally every other guy in the line-up was named Stefano? 🤔
BUT WHY STEFANO THOUGH?
Now I feel like doing a historical deep dive to analyze why women who had children in the late 80s/early 90s were so fond of the name Stefano 😂
And if not Stefano, then Luca…
In case you didn’t catch it, Luca is into traveling.
Curt Luca was a gem:
After he said “no”, our conversation died 🔥.
While Stefano and Luca are quite common in Italy, not so sure about these ones…
Febreeze here think he’s gonna find Swifer? Ma lookin’ for a female Pa? What is with these guys? 😅
Girls aren’t the only ones plugging their socials on here…guys do it too, on top of adding some emoji flare to their bios and showing off their “command of English” 😅
I am in police omg I can’t…
There are also ambitious guys with no sense of creativity:
I will admit, I got tired of the constant travel pics and half-naked gym bro poses, but at the same time, this guy’s “unique” pic caught me off guard 🪒 …
Who thinks mid-shave, “what a perfect opportunity for a selfie?”
Speaking of “out of the box”, this dude hit it out of the park—like what?!
I saw this dude and was like NOPE. This is straight up animal abuse and exploitation of endangered animals. STEER CLEAR.
And for the *GRAND* finale, we’ve got ourselves a classic creep!
Obviously I had no interest in his creepy request, and reported him immediately. Actually, this goes back to my point of intention that I made in my post about making friends—don’t lose track of what your goals are, and don’t lead someone on. In this case, if this guy wanted to “just do some sexting” all along, why did he waste my time pretending to care about how I spent my weekend? Etiquette guys, etiquette.
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My heart goes out to anyone who has felt frustrated and hopeless by the world of dating. It really is a mixed bag out there, but having the right attitude goes a long way…sometimes, it may even make your search last shorter than expected 😉. And don’t forget to step back and have a good laugh—a good laugh at us crazy humans doing crazy things trying to impress one another in the name of love 😂.
So, this is my first blog post after deleting @secondgendesi from Instagram a little over a week ago, and the timing couldn’t have been better. I will admit that I experienced a huge amount of FOMO in the days after deleting. Feeling weird about not “posting to stories”. Experiencing sadness and crazy mood swings…it really is scary how social media can play with our mental health so intensely…
These feelings wore off about 4 days after I quit, in the middle of my work trip. Perhaps it was the packed schedule of my first industry conference, but it became easier and easier to not give a thought to the “world” I left behind. There’s no pressure to keep up with other peoples’ stories, or watch who likes my posts or views my story and get mad at those who don’t…
At the moment, my only connection to IG is through a science education account. I use it to share information about clinical trials in an easy-to-follow way, and it is meant to provide *some* useful content on a space so many spend time on.
This blog however, is the still the perfect place to elaborate on life things, and share it with people who actually care. Including things like life abroad experiences and global business trips.
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While I won’t explicitly say the name of the conference I went to, you can probably put two and two together after a little internet search, if you are that curious 😅. It was my first time in Switzerland in the French side (as an adult, not a five-year-old), and taking the train from Milan on an early Tuesday morning for a 4-hour ride was a very “European” experience.
View of the lake from the train
I was traveling alone, since some of my colleagues drove on their own (dang!), took a plane, or took earlier trains. I was supposed to travel with my boss boss, but plans are always changing for directors so I had a feeling I’d be traveling on my own (which I was fine with).
The train was headed in the direction of Domodossola, a border city in Italy near the mountains. Once we passed the border, I had to rely on my company phone for data and a mobile hotspot, since my personal phone plan is a cheap Italian one that only offers good data service within the EU 🙄.
Regardless, once in Swiss territory, the views only got more beautiful with the distance. Once we approached Montreux, then Laussanne, we were encircling Lake Geneva which brought with it some gorgeous views. I of course had a headache, and couldn’t appreciate these gorgeous views to the extent I wished I could.
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Once I arrived in Geneva at noon, I had to find the bus that would take me to PalExpo, where my conference was taking place. Years of navigating public transit in foreign cities has helped me to figure out new cities with ease, but even then I face hiccups. I spent about 20 minutes waiting on the opposite side of the station for the bus, and only after a kind woman helped a French-speaking bus driver translate did I realize I had to walk back to the right side of the station.
My patience was wearing a bit thin, since Tuesday wasn’t a “good mood” day due to my social media “withdrawl”, my heavy bags, and accumulating sweat on my work clothes 😅.
Things were fine once I checked in at the expo, dropped off my bags at our company’s booth, and joined my colleagues for a talk being given by one of our scientific collaborators. Besides the collaborator just staring at me upon a colleague introducing us, not offering a handshake, and asking “do you speak Italian?” in the most judgy way, the talk went fine 🙃.
I went to some more talks in the afternoon, met with some companies we might be interested in collaborating with, and also snapped up some freebies wherever possible. I came away with ALL the vitamins, gummies, rice snack bars, and reusable bags…my countless experience with race expos came in handy here.
My half-day at the expo was tiring, yet I managed to have enough energy to chat with one of our sales guys on the shuttle back to the hotel. My colleague helped check me in, and once I got up to my room, I could not help but crash on the bed and lay motionless for a full hour—butnot without taking some pics first.
A luxurious bed with some expo freebies on top
Concierge reminded me I could “order” a complimentary pillow before 10pm. I didn’t take advantage of it because I was too tired to make the choice, but some of these options sounded intriguing:
Pillow menu
I had to get ready for a dinner out with some colleagues, which also felt exhausting because it was an added “Italian immersion” session for my brain. When I have the energy, it makes tackling language learning a *bit* easier, but after a long, busy work day that was already full of interactions? My brain was dead, and the bland excuse of a pasta dish (the only vegetarian option, of course) I had at the overpriced restaurant we visited did not help…
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The next morning, I surprisingly had enough energy to squeeze in a 3 mile run before the day’s events. Geneva is a beautiful city to run around in:
Wednesday morning Geneva sunrise
Can’t avoid the water here
I got up at 6, and after the run, shower, and getting ready, I was waiting for everyone in the lobby at 8:00 sharp.
Too bad the shuttle was scheduled to arrive at 8:30.
My colleague spotted me and urged me to get some breakfast, since the day’s events were set, but could turn unpredictable. I couldn’t say no, since it was a business trip meal expense, after all.
I was obviously tired of bread and pasta, so I took a stab at the cold bar. Got some interesting picks for “breakfast”, including pickled onions, jam, cream cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and goji berries. I even asked for a cappuccino, but it never came. Sadly, I couldn’t be patient. I had to dart back to the lobby so I wouldn’t miss the shuttle at the actual time!
Wednesday was packed with more talks, booth visits, and two presentations particularly important for my company. One of the presentations was right before “lunchtime”, and I knew I had to eat something or I’d collapse.
Too bad the organization of the expo regarding food options was abyssmal. Swiss prices are crazy to begin with—at least have plenty of food hot ‘n’ ready for hungry industry professionals!
I had to choose between a 20CHF salad (that I wasn’t sure would fill me up) or 20CHF crepes made with egg, cheese, and spinach…the crepes won over.
Egg, spinach and cheese crepe — the food truck ladies packed the spinach on THICK. Which was appreciated, but I had to make sure none of this spilled on my dress!!
Was it worth waiting 40 minutes in line, plus another 20 for the crepes to be made? Not really, but my ravenous stomach begged to differ.
Anyone else hate eating hot/oily food when you’re dressed up? I’m so paranoid about sweating from the effort of eating—it’s a never-ending struggle!
I managed to make it to the end of the day, but not without feeling like a truck had run me over. On the shuttle back to the hotel (after waiting under the heat of the uncharacteristically hot May sun…), I found myself falling asleep, and once I got back to my room, I crashed.
Still, I had to make it out for yet another “team dinner”. Actually, we started off with aperitivo, or whatever it’s called in French Switzerland. I didn’t complain too much because 1) there was a fantastic cool breeze that made me feel cold for once and 2) the view was breath-taking:
Rooftop Geneva
After my colleagues downed their Aperol spritzes and I my orange juice, we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant. The lighting was dim and I was around people, so I wasn’t going to be that girl and take obnoxious photos.
I did partake in obnoxiously-priced Swiss food and a custom-made pea risotto, because yes, only ONE item was vegetarian on the entire menu…
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The next morning was one that I did not spring out of bed for—I sacrificed what could have been the perfect opportunity for another run around Geneva, for an extra hour in bed. I also had hotel breakfast again, and this time, I got my cappuccino in time.
It looks adorable, but tasted oh so bland.
Thursday was the last day of the expo, and also the slowest. I was able to fit in some last minute booth meetings, after getting a shot of espresso from our booth closet (lol) and resting at one of our tables for an hour.
I left with my colleague around lunch to catch the train back to Milan. We got some lunch and snacks to-go from Migros, a local Swiss store chain, and shockingly, our combined total for lunch, snacks, and chocolates to bring back to share with colleagues that stayed behind ended up being 90 CHF….how?
At least one of the items of that purchase was a good one: vegan chewing gum that had a fantastic flavor:
It was a slow four hours back, but at least I slept well that night. The next day was still a working day, but at least my inbox was pretty quiet 😅.
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For my first ever industry-related event-focused business trip, Geneva was not a bad destination at all. This was also the first time post-COVID I experienced long-term interaction with thousands of people (I didn’t talk to all of these people, but just navigating a large crowd again…man, it was exhausting!).
This trip was also a reminder of the language barrier I still face. I had my share of “how’s your Italian going?”/”do you speak Italian?”/”why don’t you speak Italian?” questions thrown at me on this trip, and of course it’s an annoyance I know will pop up as these events continue. I said in a recent post that while picking up Italian would be nice, it really isn’t my ultimate goal. I have so many other dreams that I hope I can make true, and speaking fluent Italian isn’t necessarily one of them…especially if it means I’d have to sacrifice time spent to make the other dreams possible.
But of course, is that politically correct to say as an expat? Am I just being a stubborn American?
Maybe, but maybe I’ve also struggled and failed way too many times in the past to feel motivated enough to try again.
Some thoughts to pick up on in a future post…I’m sure I’ll experience more situations that will elaborate on this issue further, and perhaps better explain why language learning has been one of the greatest banes of my existence…
Today’s world is beyond bonkers. If you don’t agree with me, can I join you under that rock 😅?
I’m one of those people who believes social media since Facebook has done more harm than good, and I pine for the days of Yahoo Messenger and (maybe, a little bit of) Xanga.
We would have definitely been friends in middle school, circa 2004, if you had a Xanga—chatterbox and embedded music, anyone?
The platforms we recognize as social media today I’m sure had humble origins, meant for people to use to keep in touch with friends, schoolmates, family, etc., but the realm as we know it has ballooned into a monster of competition, jealousy, money, and desperation. TikTok (of the Western world) is literally a poor man’s lecture series—short videos of people intimately facing the camera, sharing more beliefs than facts, constantly trying to reel in naïve viewers with shock value. Of course, we still have righteous individuals bravely trying to take space and fix the wrongdoings of others (scientific communicators on the platform, for example), but boy, the crazy ones still outnumber us!
Social media has made it easier to ensure we all know that everyone has an opinion. The question is, are opinions inherently “bad”?
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If you keep Google’s response in mind, I don’t think so:
In fact, they can be enlightening about someone’s life experiences, and can allow us to understand why they have those perspectives.
Take for example, my opinion on social media. Why do I think it does more harm than good?
As a scientist, I’ve seen the rampant spread of false information regarding scientific topics. The safety and efficacy of vaccines is a prime example of a topic where misinformation has spread like wildfire. It’s been infuriating for me to see the effect this has had on our world during the pandemic.
As a creator, the puppeteering algorithims of Instagram have been anything but helpful towards me. Along with being a scientist, I am a writer, and when I was first carving out my space on Instagram, I was having a tough time growing. I didn’t fit a “visual” niche. Writing is an art form that requires patience of the creator and reading the material that comes out of writing, requests patience of the consumer. Instagram, and other social media platforms, laud eye-catching pictures and short videos with shock value. It celebrates itself as an “entertainment” platform, but excuse me…
When did reading something not become entertainment?
I would imagine that celebrities, businesses, and “successful influencers” (that word makes me want to laugh and vomit at the same time…as if the number of followers you have dictates true influence?) would have a different opinion from mine, most likely because their experiences with social media has benefited them.
Same could be said for people who have personal accounts to keep in contact with friends and passively consume content. There is no “competition” on your end when you have the power to choose from what has been created for you.
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Along with my strong opinions about social media, I have strong opinions about other topics too. I know I will have people ready to high-five me, or people ready to whip out a list of arguments telling my why I’m wrong, but in either case, I welcome both.
“Go back to America then,” I’ve been told aggressively.
But the thing is, these opinions were formed based on the experiences I’ve had. And the magical thing about opinions is, is that they can change too.
There are expats who’ve had an opposite experience from mine—welcomed with open arms, minor struggles they were able to laugh off, a more understanding support circle to help with the transition—who would probably offer a more positive opinion on living abroad in Italy.
All of our opinions are valid, because they are the result of rich and exciting life stories.
So when it comes to listening and sharing opinions, I think being reminded of the following helps with maintaining healthy discussions:
Opinions are the introduction to someone’s story, having the patience to dig deeper could perhaps foster a strong sense of empathy and trust.
Trying to “prove someone wrong” by telling them they are wrong will make them more staunch in their opinion. It’s always better to be the person who takes the high road and leads by example. A petty argument is never worth it.
Dangerous topics can lead to hurtful opinions. It takes a strong person to sit through words that may be triggering, but these hurtful opinions reveal a lot more about the person who harbors them. Choosing to drop the conversation is just as valid as choosing to forgive. This is a situation that definitely calls on us to remember that opinions can stem from painful experiences, and that we shouldn’t be quick to judge the person, but rather, understand why they have come to form those opinions.
In my opinion, opinions are OK for healthy discourse. We just have to be mindful of our reactiveness to them.
Besides having a mini emotional breakdown at the end of January (being uncertain about the start of my business trip given the Omicron scare and waiting on the Italian consulate to process critical documentation to begin my EU Blue Card application were my triggers), I’ve felt relatively calm ever since, and I’ve welcomed it with an embrace of a mother who just saw her grown kids after 10 years 😅.
I know that I would have never found my current position in industry if it had not been for academia driving me out of toxic working conditions, but I do wonder what would have happened if I had joined my current company back in June 2020, rather than pursuing a post-doc, if everything I have been provided with so far was provided to me back then 🤔. I am almost certain Italy would have tasted sweeter.
Maybe as sweet as this donut I had the other day? I know, not Italian, but when it comes to breakfast, my cravings are all-American.
I definitely would have been over the moon about the Italian course they are willing to cover.Right now, I feel like I have to force myself to get motivated.
Despite the harsh reality I ended up having to face, I am forever grateful for the current calmness of 2022, and the calmness of my return to Milan especially. I mentioned in the linked post that I face doubts about what my current “passions” are, and if I will find success and happiness if I continue to pursue them, but I must also acknowledge that the new work-life balance I’ve found has allowed me to figure this out, day by day.
With running, I am finding my mental and physical stamina again. In the weeks leading up to my departure to Milan, I was running 9-10 miles for long runs on Sunday mornings. It was easy to zone out, get lost in my Spotify playlists, and enjoy the long Texas roads, stumbling across the occasional longhorn and galloping baby calves 😍.
Spotted after a night run in Milan
While in Italy this month, I crushed my long run goals, going back to running distances that once came second nature to me. 11, 12, 13 mile long runs didn’t feel so intimidating this time around. I ran the hills of Como during these long runs, and I didn’t stop in a work anxiety-induced paralysis, which often prevented me from going the distance last year…
I feel good with my runs so far, even though I’m still off with my goal pace. But based on past experience, I know that increasing my weekly mileage will help. I’m trying to get back to where I was in 2017, where I was running 40-50 miles a week, in peak marathon training shape (pace-wise), and had built great comradery with my marathon training group as a plus. Running with people is a painkiller for me, it feels amazing to run with others, but finding a solid group of people to train with in Italy has been an impossible task. Especially due to the pandemic...
I have a half marathon in Texas scheduled in early April, and my hope while I am at home again for the next four weeks is to incorporate double runs (running in the morning and evening of the same day) again, to hit a higher weekly mileage. In Italy, it seems as though I’m better off finding people who smoke more than participate in cardiovascular exercise, frankly speaking, but we’ll see what happens as the months progress. While in Texas, it shouldn’t be too hard to stop by a Fleet Feet for a weeknight or weekend morning run with a group of like-minded runners 😀.
With writing, I go through moments of impassioned writing bursts, or days of procrastination. I think all writers can relate. Last year, I decided to stop writing short-forms on IG because it is a platform that doesn’t appreciate that kind of work. So now, my writing has become a private endeavor in the short-term, and this tests my patience immensely.
Coffee shop working and writing has always been a hobby of mine. It’s not a usual thing to do in Italy though…
I’ve chosen to keep the details of my writing projects private for now, but my close friends are writers themselves, and it’s been nice being able to bounce ideas off of them now and then. When I was back home, it was easier to write after work, and after an evening run. While in Italy, finding motivation to write in the evenings has been difficult, but I’m trying not to force myself if I don’t feel like it. I’m hoping for more days where I can bust out work in less than an hour due to passion (lol), like a post I wrote regarding Women’s Day. But even if those days are rare for now, I’m trying to use this time to figure out what works best for me when it comes to creating a “writing routine”.
Last week, I was successful in devoting 30 minutes to one of my projects every day, no matter what. Even if some of those sessions were not extremely productive, the minutes I had my doc open helped me in some form with the process as a whole. I’m hoping to continue meeting these “mini goals” because it’s better than not doing anything at all!
With my career, it’s something I’ve said a number of times but still holds true—leaving academia meant getting my mental health back. There is no doubt that me talking about running and writing here is because now I have the time to invest in them again.
I was also able to work remotely 2x a week while I was in Italy! It made long walks or lunchtime breaks outdoors so easy to fit in, and it definitely made me happy…
My job so far has been so perfect in terms of work-life balance, but even within the role, there have been discussions on what I can be involved with in the near future. Like, pipeline stuff. In the industry, this refers to a series of projects the company is working on or plans to work on. Some of the items proposed to me sound really exciting, and sound like they would utilize my skillset. Makes me feel important 😌
With life abroad, I still don’t know if I desire anything new. I had really high hopes during my first Italy stint, but learning the language is something that no longer excites me. Still, I will give it my best shot with the classes my company is offering me, it’s the least I can do, but if I had to choose between becoming an elite runner overnight or waking up speaking fluent Italian? I’d go with elite runner, hands down.
Do I want to travel? Sure, but only if the travel is spent with people I want to be with. I still haven’t been south of Florence when it comes to Italy. I’m saving places like Rome and Naples for when people I love can join me on those adventures. In the near-term, I don’t expect my family or close friends to be able to afford to see me in Italy, and so I have no complaints about going to see them where they are. My friend in Germany recently invited me to join her in Turkey for a few days during the summer to attend a wedding. I’d love to join her for that, only so I can spend quality time with her. I’ve heard Turkey is beautiful, but I don’t have the desire to go by myself at the moment. Such a stark difference from my solo travel days…
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It’s nice to be able to reflect on these past few weeks and be happy with them. I can only hope that things continue to go well and develop to my liking, but like I mentioned in a post from a few weeks ago, I’m attempting to adopt a “cruise control” attitude for all of these things. I know now that I can experience calmness for a long period, and that makes me feel so good.
And it only further drives home the point that our environment is so powerful, so do whatever you can to put yourself in a place that gives you the best possible.
With this post, I risk people not agreeing with me, but that’s okay. If this sparks discussion, debate, and helps others to think from a different perspective, I am all for it.
I did not know Women’s Day existed until I came to Italy. I grew up in a country where we get time off for presidents, activists, veterans, and military, but the closest thing to Women’s Day I was familiar with was Mother’s Day. And to me, that day grew tense with each passing year.
As my mother succumbed more and more to her mental illness, I resented the fact that there was a day to celebrate her. In my teenage mind, she didn’t deserve it. I would see her verbally and emotionally abuse my father every day without fail, yet, my father would still ask my sister and I to make her a card, and he’d still show up with a bouquet of flowers just to show her he cared.
Despite his kind intentions, she would always find a reason to be suspicious of him. Or yell at him because he bought the flowers from Albertson’s instead of Raley’s.
And when Father’s Day came around? She never did anything special for him. It was up to my sister and I to let our father know we cared. That we needed him and loved him for sticking around.
When I think back to my high school days, I can’t imagine how much psychological torment he had to internalize. There would be nights she would be triggered by the simplest things. If she began yelling at me or my sister, our father would be ready, like a superhero with his shield, ready to deflect her anger from us towards him.
It would give us some modicum of peace to finish homework, but to hear her berate him for hours and hours into the night was not something my sister and I were comfortable with.
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Even with these tense family dynamics, I still grew up a “staunch feminist”. Perhaps it was my mom’s unsubstantiated opinions of men that were ingrained in me for years, but the “men are evil, fear them” “mantra” I grew up with was hard to shake off—until I learned to listen and understand the other side.
When I first met my boyfriend in Italy and we were learning about each other, I shared something nonchalantly on social media that upset him:
The whole pepper spray thing is a topic for another day 😅😅
It was supposed to be a hit at women in my circle who hinted that I need to live in fear and carry pepper spray, but the way I phrased my stance was a hit at all men, and that wasn’t fair. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but seeing how upset it made him feel led me to probe further discussions with him about the topic, which is something I am immensely appreciative for.
These discussions made me realize that gender equality is an extremely convoluted topic that is constantly vacillating from one side to the other. It shouldn’t be about prioritizing one group over another if the goal is equality, yet if we prioritize Women’s Day with flowers and protests, and laugh off Men’s Day (which, by the way is November 19th) as a “creation of jealous men”, we will never achieve the equality we all say we are striving for.
Wonder if the woman who received these mimosa flowers (Italy’s famous tradition) appreciated it, expected it, or yelled at her boy for getting it from the wrong florist 😅
Yes, there are a lot of places in this world where men have a powerful influence and women are stripped of their rights. In South Asian countries and places with similar cultural ideals, this is a huge issue. The recent, artfully-crafted Malayalam movie, Great Indian Kitchen, demonstrated this eloquently.
But even in these cultures, men still suffer. In the South Asian space, Ram of @desi_brotherhood shares relevant information via Instagram feed posts in an unbiased way, and has shared a number of posts regarding domestic violence, mental health, and suicide issues that affect South Asian women and men.
Compared to South Asia, the overall context is different in the Western world. Even though domestic violence is rampant, especially without a doubt in the USA, women in the Western world still do experience a lot more freedoms compared to women of other countries. When I see the stereotypical “Karen” complain more than she should about how “men need to be the providers”, it does irritate me. These are the same women who claim they are independent, self-sufficient, and strong, yet expect “their man” to be the breadwinner and foot the bill of their shopping sprees because “they deserve it!”. This then leads to some men using these women as excuses for not supporting women’s rights, and it ends up being a vicious cycle.
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My intent with this post is not to divert attention from Women’s Day, but to serve as a reflection. I have only a handful of women in my life who I love with all my heart. Who deserve everything beautiful in this world because they truly do deserve it, but there are men in my life who deserve just the same.
So while today is a good day to celebrate women, our love for them, and their achievements, let’s be kind, thoughtful, and empathetic women and do the same for the amazing men in our lives when it’s their turn.
At the end of the day, we shouldn’t be celebrating the chromosomes one carries, but rather the individual those chromosomes serve as roots for.
