Ladies*, I have had enough. ENOUGH.

Too often we put ourselves down. Too often we think we are useless, not good enough, less than perfect and thus less than acceptable. Too often we demur praise, or will not praise ourselves. Often we outright hate ourselves, and much of the dominant media and various cultures around us are determined to make us feel as bad as possible, usually so that we will buy things.

In the comments to this post, I cordially invite you to tell me why you are awesome.

Please do not phrase your awesomeness with self-deprecation, or sorrow that you are not awesome enough, or not awesome in the right way. This is a space in which to acknowledge your awesome without condition or qualification.

I encourage you also to respond to other awesome ladies on this thread, congratulating them on their awesome. Please do not do so with wistful self-putting-down disguised as compliments. Do not say, "I could never be as awesome as you are!" or "I only wish that I could one day do an awesome thing like you did." Cherish your awesome as you do theirs.

Here, I'll start off:

I am Karen Healey and I am awesome. Today I helped out friends who needed help with moving. I came home and made a cake with a fantastic rum-chocolate ganache. I then sat on the couch and read a book. I am very proud of my reading skills. They are excellent, and so am I.

You are awesome, ladies. Tell us all how.

*Ladies = all people who identify as a woman/lady/girl/female human type of any classification.