Self Love

By Simrat Kaur Hora

This is a story

The story of a woman

A woman who is also a mother

A mother who is shamed for having too many "mood swings" whenever she takes a stand for herself

Who feels guilty for not being bone- tired- because, for her- enervating herself(physically and mentally) by working all day for her family is the only language of love she's ever known,

Who feels guilty when she puts herself over her family

Who wants to participate in discussions other than those related to the household, but is shunned or simply laughed at

And she, she gulps it all down, just like she swallows the neem extract every morning and does not flinch one bit

She has so much to say,

But.. there's a lump

A lump in her throat that suppresses her words and emotions

She wants to speak, but the angst and the fear:

The fear of making people feel bad , as though she is solely responsible for their happiness- like she's the engine driving the car of her family's happiness

The angst of not being loved by her family because they might not accept this version of her

Look into her eyes and you'll see that they can no longer bury any more hurtful words or a disrespectful behavior

But she pushes it all down, to make room for new ones

Little did she know that

Taking a stand for herself would set her free, would set generations free,

because,

standing up for herself is SELF-LOVE, not SELFISH.

By Simrat Kaur Hora