I recently entered the age where all my friends have started having babies. For me, who also has baby fever, this has opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of just how magnificent women really are. Truth be told, I always knew women were powerful creatures, but I had never really thought too deeply about why or how, I just always felt an innate “I am woman, hear me roar!” inside. Once my friends started having babies, our conversations shifted, and most prominently was the one about how their bodies were changing. All of a sudden I learned that a woman’s stomach moves up to just below her breasts in order to make room for a tiny human to grow inside of her. Not just that, but all her organs move and relocate naturally, on their own, to make room for the womb and your small baby. Isn’t that amazing!? Woman are so magnificent! And not just because our bodies adapt so naturally to making a life, but for so many reasons that we, and even I myself as a woman, have overlooked or just brushed by our whole life. Did you know that women are by nature more nurturing than a man because of the interaction between chemicals in our brain? A hormone called oxytocin, which is made in both male and female brains, is what enhances our ability to connect with one another, it’s what strengthens bonding. The estrogen hormone, which is at a higher level and therefore stronger in women’s brains, and oxytocin greatly enhance one another. In other words women have higher levels of oxytocin than a man, and this plays a role in why women are naturally more nurturing than men. We connect more deeply and more often with other women than men chemically have the ability of doing, which explains why we have stronger female relationships than male relationships. It’s science and it’s magnificent! (By the way if you haven’t read “The Female Brain” by Louann Brizendine, it’s a must!) It’s information and conversations like this, that get me giddy about the power of a woman and our sisterhood.
In honor of all the strong, inspiring, connective, brave, beautiful ladies out there, here are just a few reasons SISTERHOOD is the most powerful relationship of them all:
- We connect with kindness because of you. Your ability to choose kindness and love first, before any other emotion or response inspires me everyday.
- You’ve taught me that a strong work ethic can be balanced with real life. That working hard can be a driver in your life and easily integrated with how we explore ourselves outside of that.
- You’ve taught me strength. Any strength I find within is because I’ve seen it from you first, from how to be a woman and how to believe in yourself to how to push past your fear in search of a healthier, stronger sense of self.
- We believe in ourselves more because of you. Watching you fearlessly follow your dreams, executing your passions inspires me to connect with a deeper sense of self, every single day.
- I know love without judgmental limitation because of you. I know that we have each others back no matter what happens in life because that’s what SISTERHOOD is, and if I were to go to jail tomorrow for any reason whatsoever, you would pick me up, and make me talk about how I got so far off track, but the point is, you would pick me up.
- I know how to fiercely support those I love through every step of life, through every decision, and every transition because of the dedication to authenticity that you have taught me.
- Sometimes SISTERHOOD is connecting over nothing at all. I know connection through reckless fun, through cold winter walks, through endless curiosity because of you.
Originally published at medium.com