Audre Lorde said that self-preservation is a radical act.
It took me to getting to age 40, to appreciate that. When I sit still too long, I feel a pain in my left hip. Not the joint, but the tendon. It pulls at me, reminding me of my age…and that I survived COVID-19 as a PCT during the first wave of the pandemic. Then, the snowball happens.
My mind wanders…it reminds me that I am still here.
I’m a rape survivor.
I’m a survivor of domestic violence.
I’m surviving racism.
I’m surviving sexism.
And misogynoir.
I am learning to say ‘No’, and absolutely mean it. I am learning to listen to God, and His gift of intuition. I am appreciating the fact I am a survivor–in control of the story I present to the world, and I tell myself. I am looking at myself in the mirror and smiling back at the woman that is there.
She and I? We gon be alright.
I Breathe Fire 