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Posted @withregram • @nikki.breedveld Happy Women’s Month 💜

I’m so pleased so start Women’s Month with @hopeforlupusph x Art Therapy.

90% of Lupus Warriors are women. As women, we are taught at a young age to wear a smile on our faces and stand pretty despite our internal struggles. This is amplified when you are a woman with a chronic illness and made even worse when that illness is ‘invisible’.

Unfortunately, we live in a very visual era wherein visual proof is required before belief can be established. That’s the biggest struggle for us Lupus Warriors – it’s not gaining the empathy, equity, and understanding we deserves during a very difficult journey, just because we look okay. We often either feel the need to pretend we’re fine even if we’re breaking inside, or feel invalidated in our struggles by the need to prove or convince others of our hardships. It hard and it’s unfair but that’s our reality. It’s incredibly difficult to feel understood when there’s a lack of awareness.

I know for me, during this pageant, I’m strong enough to admit that at times, I’m struggling. It’s a struggle to get up and walk in heels despite my body wanting to collapse. It’s a struggle to feel so awful but look fine, and not feeling valid in my desire to take breaks, with the need to prove that I can do this – that all Lupus Warriors can.

Which is why I’m so grateful for moments like today. We had an art Therpay session where we all had the opportunity to paint and interpret our pain and prayers, in an empathetic environment surrounded by those who understand. What warmed but also broke my heart was the fact we all had the same prayer – the prayer to be healthy and the prayer for a cure.

And so, today, I pray that we’re all healthy, supported and understood because those are the real riches and prizes in life 💜 I pray with through transforming my own pain into power, that I can empower others to do the same 🙏🏻

#lupusawareness #lupuswarrior #transformingpaintopower