If women told the truth about their lives, the world would shake. We would wake up. We would all recognize that we really are in this together, this life we are all trying to thrive (survive) through. That none of us is perfect and thank goodness we can stop pretending that we are.

That the patriarchy has us all so very busy worrying about our thigh gap and getting rid of our wrinkles and fitting into the skinny jeans and being the perfect mothers and competing with each other over everything under the sun, that it’s kept us from our real work in the world. It’s kept us small and, in our shadow, in our ego and projection. It’s kept us out of our true source of power, our feminine power.

Can we just tell the truth about our lives? We see some women telling the truth about their lives, both online and offline. The unfiltered images. The real stories. The truth.

And what happens? When women stand strong in their vulnerability and say, “This is me in all my messiness and this is how I live my life,” something radical happens. Women collectively exhale. We breathe in a little easier. Our shoulders drop. Our bellies release. The pressure to be perfect eases. Doorways to what’s possible open. We can look at other women and say with relief, “Me too!” and feel like we’re a little less alone in what can be a lonely world.

We find sisterhood. Community. Belonging.

Let’s make a pact: let’s tell the truth about what it really means to be a woman today. Let’s show the struggle and the successes, and support and celebrate each. Let’s just be real. Because like it or not, we are all in this together. So, let’s be together on this.