Mother’s Day is the celebration of the people that have birthed all human life in existence as we know it. Of course, mothers deserve to be celebrated every day of the year, but on this day, we pay particular care to focus our attention on celebrating the mothers of the world. Along with these many celebrations and joys, we find safe spaces to continue having discussions about the growing understanding of what defines a woman.

Some may think that being a woman is a given. “You are born a girl, and you grow into a woman. Simple.” But as I grew, I realized that it was neither simple, nor something to be taken for granted. No, the journey of becoming a woman has always been something different. It was never something you automatically became, but something you worked hard to cultivate and finally arrive into.

When I was young, I dreamt of one day becoming a mother of many children. I had no idea what this would entail, nor the hardships and sacrifices that would be asked of me. I thought that after giving birth, I would automatically look upon myself as a woman. But as much as I tried to perceive myself as such, I knew that I was still a girl. Young and naïve, tired and unsure—I had no idea who I was. I had three boys, two dogs and a roof above my head. I was blessed, and I was a mess. No matter what I did, I struggled to even begin to see myself as a woman. All I ever saw was someone making believe that they were a woman. What was I missing? What had I not experienced?

It wasn’t until many years later that I realized what it meant to become a woman. This distinction of womanhood had much less to do with who I could become after having been born female, as much as it was an energy and a knowingness that has moved so many people, now and through all time. At times, the realization of how difficult discovering womanhood would be was accompanied by the fear that I, and many of my fellow mothers, might never make it. This journey was never meant to be taken alone, and fortunately, I began to find these companions—as so many before me had, and as so many after me will.

Accompanying the journey of discovering womanhood was the arrival of self-respect, the discovery of love within myself, and an appreciation for every one of my scars. With each glance at my un-perfect body, I grew more forgiving. Where once I would feel shame in revealing my emotional wounds, I found ways to celebrate every little bit I have carried to arrive at this place in life. Some take the form of stretch marks from the children I carried. Some are the stretch marks of past loves, or youthful sadness that once tried to drag me down.

I did not become a woman until I understood that I must refuse to cover my age lines, my scars, my life. That my being a woman had nothing to do with who thought I was pretty, or ugly. That just because I didn’t meet the requirements of being a woman that some man had defined for me, didn’t mean that my value on this Earth was any less. What began to make me a woman? I began to say I was.

That is all that was ever necessary, for myself and for all of us that are searching for the ways to define this state of being. It is not defined because of the gender you were born into, or the life you’ve lived, or the children you have or have not born. It is defined because you have stopped trying to prove it, because it became obvious.

You are the only one who gets to decide this. There you have it. Accept it first within yourself. Show your scars proudly. Help honor and build up those that are still struggling to define this for themselves. This is how we prove that we deserve to live here on this earth and earn the equal pay, the equal rights and the equal respect as all other beings.

It is us that must define this. We are women. Not because “they” say we are, but because we know we are. Because we have owned it and it is our privilege to claim it so. Let us rejoice as sisters, as the world needs us now.

Be a woman. Be nature itself. Be the mother of all souls on this earth. Love with the same divinity that God does, and be the example for all others to follow. I am woman, because God has inspired me to be so. You are a woman from the moment you see yourself as the Divine Mother.

Berta Prevosti offers online yoga and meditation through her studio platform, RajaYogini.com, which offers online classes in meditation, yoga, yoga teacher training programs, certifications, workshops, retreats and metaphysical studies for as low as $9.99 a month.
Connect at 203-902-5090 and RajaYogini.com. 

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