The threshold....
I'm standing on the threshold right now. Behind me is my childhood, my past. A place where I have known warmth and security. Unconditional love and lots of laughter. Some tears. Before me is my future. I don't know what it holds. It beckons me really strongly but I am afraid. It is a little dark and I don't know what it is made up on. I am so reluctant to move but it seems like I will have to. Already the door is closing and soon, the threshold will be gone.
When we were growing up, our parents told us there was nothing we couldn't do. They told us we could do whatever we wanted to do. To pursue our dreams until we achieved it. I guess they forgot to tell us that there would be an age until we could pursue our dreams, to live our lives as we wanted to. And at a certain age, we would have to take on responsibilities that the society demanded of us. Dream later, study now. Dream later, get married now. Dream later, have kids now. Dream later, take care of your children now. Dream later, take care of your family. Most of us have these huge dreams when we are younger. Not all of us. Most of us. Some are content with being someones wife or someones daughter and that is fine. But what about those who want to be something more...who want to make a difference in the lives of others or who have dreams and their dreams and lives have no space to accommodate the responsibilities that are thrust upon us or are expected from us just because we are women.
Why is it that most sacrifices are asked of women. Why is it that when she is born she is someones daughter and when she dies, someones wife. Does she not have an identity of her own?
I am at the threshold right now. The place where everyone I know is getting married. Where some are giving up their dreams to accommodate those of their parents. Where some are seeing new dreams, with their someone special. But it is all changing. Especially when those friends are girls.
I know now that when I meet them next, they won't be the girls I knew. They will be women in the true sense of the word. When they step out of their homes, they will be someones wife or someones daughter-in-law. There will be boundaries and limits.
I would willingly go back to the time when the only lines in my world were the ones we played hopscotch in.
When we were growing up, our parents told us there was nothing we couldn't do. They told us we could do whatever we wanted to do. To pursue our dreams until we achieved it. I guess they forgot to tell us that there would be an age until we could pursue our dreams, to live our lives as we wanted to. And at a certain age, we would have to take on responsibilities that the society demanded of us. Dream later, study now. Dream later, get married now. Dream later, have kids now. Dream later, take care of your children now. Dream later, take care of your family. Most of us have these huge dreams when we are younger. Not all of us. Most of us. Some are content with being someones wife or someones daughter and that is fine. But what about those who want to be something more...who want to make a difference in the lives of others or who have dreams and their dreams and lives have no space to accommodate the responsibilities that are thrust upon us or are expected from us just because we are women.
Why is it that most sacrifices are asked of women. Why is it that when she is born she is someones daughter and when she dies, someones wife. Does she not have an identity of her own?
I am at the threshold right now. The place where everyone I know is getting married. Where some are giving up their dreams to accommodate those of their parents. Where some are seeing new dreams, with their someone special. But it is all changing. Especially when those friends are girls.
I know now that when I meet them next, they won't be the girls I knew. They will be women in the true sense of the word. When they step out of their homes, they will be someones wife or someones daughter-in-law. There will be boundaries and limits.
I would willingly go back to the time when the only lines in my world were the ones we played hopscotch in.
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