Hey there!

Ioana from The Feminine here.

So happy to finally meet you in (virtual) person! ☺

As Oana wrote to you, a few weeks ago, I’ll be joining the party each month with what we decided to call an Opinion Article.

Our Podcast The Feminine #Uncut grew to be such a hit! So, we thought, imagining a second feature using the template “I ask a trillion questions, Oana gracefully answers” will be a great opportunity to explore, further on, the many textures and flavours of the feminine.

But as this is my first letter to you, we’ll make an exception.

Today, there ain’t gonna be no Qs. Instead, I have the honour to tell you the wonderful (and no less sentimental) story of how I met Oana and how sisterhood (which is real) can literally save a life in the most unexpected ways.

Oana and I met two years ago, in June 2016, around some very strange circumstances.

So strange that, in most cases, our meeting would have ended up in a legendary cat fight. Long story short, we were dating the same man. Unknowingly.

She wrote, I replied. Then she called, I answered. In no time, we were debating the whole epic over a phone call long enough to force me to hide on the fire exit stairs, while people were searching the whole building to find me. ?

Then, we met. What struck me at first sight was a mix of authenticity, respect and strength unseen before.

The matter for which we gathered rapidly faded away and The Feminine came up as a topic.

In less than a month, she asked me three times if I want to join her in this extraordinary adventure.

First I said “no”; the second time I said “maybe”; and the third time I said “yes”. I still have no idea what happened. Felt like some incredible force pulled my into the vortex.

I had an academic background in social sciences, good experience with journalism, and some experience with marketing; still seeking for my right path.

She was one of the best coaches in our country, one of the few in the world working with the feminine energy; she had traveled the world experimenting with a dozen methods and had this crazy dream of building a platform where women from all over the world would feel safe, honoured and free in their womanhood.

At the time I met Oana, I was in a very bad place.

My life was a mess, emotionally, socially and professionally.

I had the chance to work in some of the most challenging environments. I had great executives, but I never clicked with any them. People respected me, but I never saw that. I was trusted, but that rarely made me happy. I had many opportunities, but never grabbed any of them.

Socially, I grew up with the feeling that I never fit. Anywhere.

Emotionally, I was continuously falling in and out of love. Always with the wrong man.

In spite of making every conceivable effort, I kept withdrawing the wrong card.

Until I could not do it anymore.

Oana saw that; but instead of backing off, she rolled up her sleeves and pulled me out of my own mess.

In the course of two years’ time she saw me paralysed with fear; defeated by pain; chocking with rage and caught up in a web of wrong questions and very bad choices. All this while knocking ourselves out to make The Feminine work.

She never judged; certainly never did the work in my place; she never sold me false illusions; she rarely told me I was OK when I wasn’t; “it’s not supposed to be easy”, she whispered; yet, “you’ll make it, baby”.

She stood by my side when it felt like the end of the world was creeping in; she silenced when silence was needed; she shouted and shouting was needed.

She never judged.

She never envied.

And she never left.

And that’s how you save a life.

For me, up to this day, that’s the most powerful lesson of the feminine, the boldest teaching of sisterhood and probably the most salient meaning of love — authenticity, trust, kindness, respect and commitment.

During the upcoming months, I invite you to join the ride of the many obstacles I myself stumbled upon during my search for healing and the uncountable questions that kept rolling in and out of my head.

My investigative soul and Oana’s unparalleled craft at your service. ?? Because it takes commitment to save a life.

In sacred love,

Ioana