I never realised growing up that being a woman would one day feel like a handicap. It’s like one minute you’re living life care-free and taking all your days and experiences as they come, and the next minute you’re being hounded about reaching certain milestones in life that you can’t even fully control. Nobody warns you about how the pressure slowly builds until it consumes you and you start to see yourself through the eyes of someone else and feel inadequate about not ticking boxes that you’re not even interested in ticking just yet.

I wonder if all the people who will ask me at my cousin’s wedding on Sunday when my time will come and remind me that the clock is ticking, ever think of asking me whether I’ve found myself. Whether I know who I am and the woman I want to be. Whether I’m on track to fulfilling my purpose. Or whether they are just so oppressed by society’s way of placing an expiry date on women and know no better than to continue the chain of oppression.

Just like any uncomfortable form of systemic oppression, it takes conversation to build awareness to start to address the issues. I love a brand that goes the extra mile to improve the lives of their target audience.

SK-II is starting this conversation to educate and change destiny. Watch the video that is challenging society to change our thoughts and realise that there is more to life than these boxes that women are being convinced that they must tick by certain ages:

It is bizarre that we have been made to believe that every woman on earth should aspire to achieve the exact same things. It is also bizarre that we have been made to believe that these ‘achievements’ must be realised by a certain age, all of us before the age of 30.

Unfortunately, so many women are raised in societies where the people they are raised by have also been conditioned to believe this lie. Just imagine the things that women would achieve if we dared to live with the freedom that men do? If we were not waiting to be saved by a certain age and just went out to build the lives that we want. The world would be set on fire, in the best way possible. Imagine if women were not constantly worried about ageing and no longer being desirable? Just imagine if we were brave enough to embrace every single moment and live it to the fullest?

In my life, I have sought out women who share similar philosophies to mine in order to build a strong network of support and encouragement in pursuit of our goals and to enable each other fulfill purpose. I teamed up with my bestfriend to discuss the video which we watched together.