International Women’s Day : A Love Letter to the Women Holding Everything Together
Let’s be honest for a minute.
Being a woman in 2026 is… a lot.
You’re expected to be confident, but not intimidating.
Successful, but still available for everyone.
Put together, but effortlessly so.
A good mom, a supportive partner, a dependable friend, a productive employee, emotionally intelligent, mentally regulated, physically healthy, socially aware, and preferably drinking green smoothies while doing it.
And if you could do that without complaining, that would be great.
No pressure.
The truth is that many women are walking around carrying invisible loads that nobody talks about out loud.
The mental load.
The emotional labour.
The invisible project management of families, relationships, workplaces, and communities.
Remembering birthdays.
Scheduling appointments.
Keeping the peace.
Noticing when someone’s mood shifts.
Holding space for other people’s emotions while quietly managing your own.
Somewhere along the way, many women learned that their role was to hold everything together.
But here’s the thing:
holding everything together can start to mean holding yourself last.
And that’s where so many women I work with begin to feel the strain.
The Pressure to Be Everything
Many women grew up with unspoken messages like:
Be nice.
Don’t be difficult.
Don’t take up too much space.
Make sure everyone else is okay first.
Fast forward a couple decades and those same girls are now adult women trying to:
build careers
raise families
maintain relationships
take care of their mental health
stay connected to themselves
all while navigating a world that still has a lot of opinions about what women should be doing.
It’s exhausting.
And sometimes women come into therapy feeling like they’re failing because they’re overwhelmed. But the reality?
You’re not failing.
You’re responding normally to an unrealistic amount of pressure.
The Quiet Strength of Women
What I see every day in my therapy room is something powerful.
Women showing up.
Not perfectly.
Not with everything figured out.
But showing up.
Women learning to set boundaries for the first time in their lives.
Women learning that anger isn’t something to be ashamed of.
Women discovering that their needs actually matter.
Women learning to say things like:
“That doesn’t work for me.”
“I need help.”
“I’m not responsible for everyone else’s emotions.”
“I deserve rest.”
And let me tell you — those sentences can feel revolutionary.
Permission to Take Up Space
One of the most beautiful shifts I see happen in therapy is when women stop apologizing for existing.
When they start speaking their opinions.
When they stop shrinking themselves to make other people comfortable.
When they start trusting their instincts again.
And when they realize something incredibly important:
You do not have to earn your worth through exhaustion.
You are allowed to:
rest
ask for support
change your mind
set boundaries
prioritize your wellbeing
take up space in your own life
A Realistic Celebration
International Women’s Day isn’t about pretending everything is perfect.
It’s about recognizing the strength, resilience, creativity, and courage of women while also acknowledging the very real challenges that still exist.
Women are navigating careers, caregiving, relationships, systemic barriers, expectations, and internalized pressures that didn’t appear overnight.
And yet, every day, women continue to grow, lead, advocate, nurture, build, heal, and support one another.
Sometimes loudly.
Sometimes quietly.
Sometimes while reheating their coffee for the third time.
A Small Invitation Today
If you’re reading this as a woman who feels tired, stretched thin, or like you’re constantly trying to keep everything together…
I want you to hear this:
You are allowed to take care of yourself too.
You don’t have to do everything alone.
You don’t have to be perfect to be worthy.
And you definitely don’t have to shrink yourself to make the world more comfortable.
The world needs women who are supported, rested, authentic, and empowered — not just women who are surviving.
So today, maybe the most radical thing you can do is something small:
Take a breath.
Ask for help.
Say no to something that drains you.
Say yes to something that nourishes you.
And maybe — just maybe — let someone else hold something for a while.
Happy International Women’s Day to the women holding families, friendships, communities, workplaces, and entire emotional ecosystems together.
You deserve support too
Lots of Love :
Kylie
& also one tired mama
