There have been moments I’ve felt pushed down…

Feminism has almost become a buzzword in 2017. We see it on everything from tee shirts to mugs, but what does it really mean to be a feminist? Don’t get me wrong, I have tons of those tee shirts and mugs too, but I truly believe that one of the things that come with being a feminist is empowering others around you. There have been many moments in my life that I have been brought down by others. In school, I was bullied not only by the boys in my class but by the girls too. As I’ve grown up, I’ve had countless of women around me try to bring me down, whether this be professionally or in my private life. One of the biggest challenges that women face, I believe, is this constant sense of competition that we have with another that leads us to push each other down and bully one another.

The worst part of it all is that there is no winner when that happens. The bully doesn’t gain anything and neither does the person they are bullying. I’ve learned this through my life and I’ve seen it first hand. In recent years, however, I have learned how powerful it is to empower others and feel empowered as well. That is why I was beyond excited when Wolford released their brand new tights. “You are the architect of your own beautiful chaos” are the words printed down the back. These words were written by Instagram sensation and feminist Nikita Gill, whose new book has also just released. What excited me even more, was when Wolford asked me to share what made me feel empowered.

I gave this a lot of thought. For a long time, I couldn’t pinpoint a single moment or thing that truly made me feel empowered. I re-lived both the positive and the negative moments in my life when it suddenly struck me. There was no one thing that empowered me, but rather there were many people. The women in my life, my mother, my great-grandmother, my best friends, the gorgeous girls I have become friends with through blogging (that’s you Andrea), the photographer who shot these gorgeous photos of me Anastasija, these women, make me feel most empowered. Don’t get me wrong, I have many male figures in my life who do so as well but what empowers me so much about these women is that they all understand how important it is to really encourage one another. We are all each other’s cheerleaders, we are all each others support systems and when things get tough we are all each others guiding lights. There is nothing more refreshing than women who are not afraid to help each other and I find that to be the most empowering and hopeful thing.

So what makes you feel most empowered?