March 8 was International Women’s Day. On this important day, I tried to take time to think about the women who have been instrumental in my life. There are so many, too many to name here. I think they know who they are. So, to the instrumental women in my life, thank you.
In this post I would like to recognize women who carry heavy loads. We all carry our own loads and at times those loads can get heavy. There are women who struggle mentally, women who struggle physically, women who have been hurt, women who are doing it alone, women who are navigating their way through trauma, women who are trying it to hold it together, and women who need extra love. There are also women who feel unseen and women who go the extra mile for others. There are women who are battling addictions. There are women who cannot share their struggles.
One thing all these women have in common is that they keep going. Of course, we get derailed at times, but women everywhere get up each morning and make the most of their day. At a time when we see women’s rights being attacked by politicians and others, we need to recognize all that women are and all that we do even when our loads are heavy.
How can we acknowledge women who continue while carrying their loads? First, we can acknowledge the mental and emotional loads many women carry. So often these loads go unnoticed. One thing we can do is acknowledge what the women in our lives are doing. I think International Women’s Day is about more than recognizing the achievements of women. It is about honoring the unseen work of women everywhere and the loads women carry on a daily basis.
Let’s look at some women who have carried loads associated with mental and emotional struggles.
Janet Frame was a New Zealand novelist and poet. She was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and as a result spent years in psychiatric facilities. She barely avoided a lobotomy when her first book won a major literary prize. She faced trauma but carried her load. She became one of New Zealand’s most important literary figures. You can learn more about her life in the film, An Angel at My Table.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a writer who suffered from postpartum depression. Her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, shares her experience with a restrictive treatment. She lived with recurring depression but continued writing about women’s rights. Her writing helped people understand how women’s mental health was misunderstood and controlled in the 19th century.
Unica Zurn was a German writer and Surrealist artist. She lived with severe mental illness that included psychosis. Despite her struggles and institutionalizations, her work was influential in the field of creativity and mental states.
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who uses her art to transform her psychological experiences into powerful visual worlds. She lives near a psychiatric facility in case she needs support. She has been open in discussions about her hallucinations, obsessive thoughts, and other mental health struggles. Kusama is now 96 years old and continues to be active in the art world/
Elyn Saks is an advocate for humane mental health care. She is a legal scholar and professor at USC Law School while living with schizophrenia. She works in mental health law and ethics .She wrote a memoir titled, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.
Lindsay Riddoch was a Scottish mental health activist. She wrote poetry about her struggles with mental health. Riddoch worked to improve mental health services. She created a youth platform called 1000 Voices, which helps teenagers speak openly about mental illness. Sadly, Lindsay Riddoch died by suicide at age 24. She carried a heavy load while helping others in her short life.
These are just a few women who have lived with the load of mental illness and made an impact on others. Each of us knows women who live with struggles. Some of these struggles involve mental health. Others involve societal or family pressures. Each of these women is battling to do their best. In addition to all those that we know about, there are countless others who struggle in silence. These women deserve acknowledgement, too. Let’s make sure all women know that they are seen and appreciated.
I encourage each of us to send a letter, text, or email to a woman we know who is carrying a heavy load while getting up each morning to do their best. This is a simple act that can mean so much. We never know just how much a kind word can help a person. We can do this for International Women’s Day, but I think it would be even better if we did this more often. Perhaps, we can send a note once a month to a woman who is doing their best despite the visible or invisible load they are carrying. Maybe with this simple act, we can make a difference.
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