Author: Louka

Mondays with Louka

"When I started working with Mondays, I wondered why on earth they decided to call their company Mondays? Why not Fridays, the last day of the week and the start of the weekend? Or Sunday, my personal favourite, the most peaceful and relaxed day of the week. I know a lot of people who can't sleep on a Sunday night, myself included because they know tomorrow will be Monday. Mondays used to stress me out, especially if I knew I had a busy week ahead, or I'd feel sad because a nice weekend was coming to an end. But a few months back, I started thinking about why I, like many, dreaded Mondays. I've realized that I need to change my perspective on Mondays, the most misunderstood of days. They provide us with the chance to start afresh every week! They are a time for new beginnings, new opportunities, why not celebrate them as we do New Year's day instead?

Once I started researching Nancy and Elisabeth's reasons for choosing to name their company after this dreaded day, I found they'd already written an entire blog post on it...." There goes my monthly topic..." I thought. I had to think of something new to write about - not an easy task for an amateur blogger. Still, the concept that Mondays are misunderstood stuck with me. In many ways, they are similar to periods... Both are dreaded, universally hated and more often than not misinterpreted.

Thinking about changing the way I look at Mondays, and how that influences the way I experience the day itself, it made me realize I should also change the way I perceive my period. We are taught that menstruating is something disgusting; it is always inconvenient and annoying and can be really painful too. You barely hear anyone say: "Yeah I am on my period!" Most of the time it is something along the lines of: "Shit I'm getting my period!" We look at it in a negative way, and consequently, we experience it in a negative way. It is pretty hard to change the way you look at something when you are conditioned by society and everyone around you, to look at it as they do. But the more I learn, the more I see the beauty in menstruation. It is the end of your old cycle and the start of a new one. It is incredible that our bodies have the ability to menstruate and are capable of reproducing. The bleeding and the cramps are results of our uterus releasing the safe space it builds for a baby to grow in. 

Sometimes I struggle to see the beauty in my own period since I don't have a normal cycle, I don't get a break in the bleeding, and I don't know if I am able to get pregnant. All this uncertainty is coupled with having to constantly deal with the inconvenience of a period, never knowing how heavy my bleeding will be and suffering an excessive number of days each month with period pains. It makes me feel insecure.

But I've been thinking, what if I change the way I look at it? At least I have a period, right? I am beginning to gain more respect for my body, and it's functions. I have often felt like my body was failing me, but now I'm thinking of flipping this thought on its head. The reality is that together, my mind and my body, have been going through a period for such a long time. What if instead of seeing my abnormal bleeding as my body torturing me, I begin to value its endurance? After all, my body and I have been period strong for 9 years, and neither of us has given up. I think that is something to be celebrated. My period makes me unique. It is always with me. My constant, what if I viewed my period as my friend???

I would never have to feel alone. The most wonderful thing has happened, now my period is my friend I can openly talk about it. My period is now something that can inspire and hopefully help other women. I want to show that seeing the bright side can influence your experience and can also have a positive effect on the healing process. I want to change the way we all look at periods. I am doing this because of my (n)ever ending period. So because of that, I want to say thank you to my period. Have you thanked yours?"

Want to find out more about why Nancy and Elisabeth chose the name Mondays? Check it out here.

Do you want to stay tuned? Follow our socials: @Organicmondays, @Loukabot, @Periodpiece