Raele Altano, mother of two boys, reframes motherhood as a superpower. She argues that creating, birthing, and nurturing a child demands an unparalleled capacity for resilience that can fuel confidence in appearance, hobbies, and life goals.
I saw a mom online recently saying that ever since she's become a mom, she has felt ugly. She doesn't like taking pictures or taking selfies. She doesn't feel comfortable in her own skin. She doesn't enjoy getting dressed up. When she does get dressed up, she doesn't like her clothes. And I get it, I do. I am a mom to two young boys, and motherhood kicks me in the ass sometimes too. But it made me so sad because there is so much untapped power that we have as moms. We literally created life within us for 9 months as we went about our daily business. Every cell, every hair every hair follicle, every nail. We made that. It's a true miracle. Then we go ahead and birth that life, right? Hours upon hours of labor or an intensive surgery to get that life out and into the world. Again, miracle. The fact that we can do that, survive that bodily physical trauma and continue with our lives, continue then raising that child is a superpower. And finally, caring for that life, right? Nurturing them, helping them grow, helping them learn, helping them recognize the world so that they can be functioning people within that world years later. I mean, it is mind-blowing, the things that we do. If we can do all that, we are capable of anything. We can do whatever the hell we want, whether it's changing up your look, learning a new hobby, whatever it is that makes us feel confident and feel whole. We can do that. Motherhood is a superpower. Is it hard? Yes, of course. Does it humble you daily? Absolutely. But unlocks this other layer of life. And I know society does not want moms recognizing this or tapping into that power. It wants moms to feel unsupported, to feel ugly, lack confidence, and feel like they are past their prime and like life is kind of over for them. But I encourage you to reframe it like I did here, to recognize that you've created, birthed, and care for a life and how major that is. And if you did that, you can do freaking anything you put your mind to. It starts with that kind of mindset and translates into everything else you do, how you look, and how you feel about yourself.
