I used a prompt tonight. The prompt was “kicking the habit”. There are a lot of habits we can kick, some of them worse for us than others. For Women’s History Month, I want to kick the habits embedded in my brain from a lifetime of being raised as a woman.

KICKING THE HABIT

I’m kicking the habit.
Not smoking – I already don’t.
Not drinking – why would I?
No, the greatest vice I have…
And I’m kicking the habit today. 

No more
Shutting up when a man is talking.
No more
Making the sandwiches for the big meeting.
No more
Effacing myself so I don’t make a man angry.
No more
Pretending I’m an airhead and a ditz.
No more
Letting him take over my project.
No more
Pretending he is more educated than I am.
No more
Sitting quiet when he wants quiet.
No more
Talking because he wants talk when I want quiet.
No more
Taking it when he hits me.
No more
Making up just because he says he loves me.
No more
Letting him make all the important decisions. 

No more.
No more.
No more.
I’m kicking the habit today.
I’m kicking the habit of
Thinking of myself as merely a woman.
From now on, I will think of myself
As a WOMAN…and a person.