‍Each season of life, each day has its own troubles and struggles. It can seem easier to just throw up our hands and accept the stress and franticness of our day and age, especially in seasons of high need – teenagers with jobs who can’t drive yet, summertime activities, community commitments, health crises, caretaking, etc. It is difficult to believe that a slow start and slow finish are worthy of protecting when the to-do list is so long. But if you can live this way, even a little bit, it can calm your nerves. No matter what you face throughout the day, you will have some gentleness to enjoy, to strengthen your heart and mind and body. Isn’t it a funny thing that gentleness is what strengthens women? It seems a bit counterintuitive, but most women find courage, strength, and endurance in gentleness.

I get to be here for the long haul, not just the weekend. I get to pour myself out without frantic adrenaline, dog-eat-dog, stay relevant, exhausting passion. I get to pour slowly, learn, test, and take my time as an eternal being, not a one-shot life.

The world tells women to band together, that we’re a sisterhood, that we should go out and change the world, abandoning our homes before we’re relegated to only kitchen and nursery work, but reality tells me that the most amazing women I know are busy in their homes. This is sisterhood. This is where we bloom. It is here that we have flexibility.