Are You In Your Reclamation Era? 5 Signs You Just Might Be
(Don't feel like reading? I'll read it to you!)
If you clicked in here, honestly, you’re probably knocking on the door of your reclamation era.
Or you’ve stepped into the room & you’re ready to do the damn thing!
Either way, Hi! So glad you’re here :) Let’s get some basics out of the way…
What is a Reclamation Era?
It’s the point where women decide their lifelong societal, religious, and/or patriarchal training is no longer ok, acceptable, or tolerable.
It’s realizing that the “do this, be that” list of rules that were supposed to help her be a “good woman” never made sense to her & now feels more like a straight jacket edged in razor blades - one wrong move & you will feel it.
Your reclamation era is the putting back together of the parts of yourself that you’ve just re-discovered or maybe have found for the first time. The truest parts, the most you-y you parts.
And energetically, it's not about having no fucks left to give, it's about protecting your peace enough to finally choose, for yourself, what you believe, who you answer to, and what your life is.
Who am I to welcome you into your Reclamation Era?
I’m Katie & I’m probably a lot like you.
I’m an elder millennial woman who grew up in middle class America as the oldest daughter of Boomer parents who had many wonderful qualities but were…Boomer parents.
I’m a recovering Catholic who spent most of her life being so confused by the hypocrisy, lack of representation, & blind acceptance of the church.
I’m a mom who is determined to break generational cycles. I’m a wife living in a partnership that looks nothing like the marriage I grew up watching.
I’m a small business owner who failed the “real job” life so many times that while entrepreneurship is easier in lots of ways, the healing & personal development that came with it has been corporate-level hard. (But worth it)
I’m a woman unlearning her patriarchal training & finding her place in the eons old story of strong women who were placed under the thumb of a society that feared who they were & what they were capable of.
And for the last four and a half years, I’ve grown, healed, & changed in ways my ancestors are so proud of! Through trauma therapy - EMDR & IFS specifically - and a self-led matriarchy curriculum, I am no longer the woman I was, I am the woman I was always supposed to be. And I hope I can help you get there too.
5 Signs You Might Be In Your Reclamation Era
1. With all your heart, you no longer care about the opinion of others.
Like, seriously, you truly & deeply don’t care anymore. Their opinions, their “hot takes”, their “I think you shoulds…” are no longer your business and you’re moving through your life without a second thought as to what they think.
2. You are seeing more and more how religion, patriarchy, and society at large has dictated your actions without your consent.
Like a true once-you-see-it-you-can’t-unsee-it situation. You’re learning, & unlearning, so much about the way women have been “trained” into submission & it’s stoking a fire of indignation in you. You’re appalled, angry, disgusted, & actively deconstructing all of it in your life.
3. Your own healing and mental wellbeing matters first, because the people you love also matter first.
The whole your-mask-first thing is actually very true for women - mothers & caregivers especially. They love to talk about how that kind of self care is as simple as a few journal prompts and a once-a-month manicure, when it’s more like healing deep wounds so you no longer live from them, setting rock solid boundaries to protect yourself, & actually believing you are worthy of true self love & care.
4. Rest stops being “laziness” & starts feeling like a true honoring of your body, mind, and soul.
You have enthusiastically unsubscribed from the bullshit that rest is a sign of sloth, laziness, or incapability. (Read On Her Best Behavior for more on this kind of societal training) You understand just how necessary physical, mental, & emotional rest is & you no longer comprise it.
5. You know your worth, without question or proof.
I’m not going to lie, this is one I still struggle with (thanks a lot, childhood programming!) but I have made it to the point where I can say, with confidence, that I don’t need to prove my worthiness anymore. I am worthy simply by virtue of my existence in this world…and so are you.
And if you read these & thought, “I think I’m sort of in my reclamation era…”
Then, yay!! That means that you’ve started knocking on the door to your reclamation era & are just waiting for the thing that swings that door wide open.
It might be this blog post & finding my space of the internet. (Yay!) It might be a book that validates a thought or belief you’ve been wrestling with. It might be a random video you come across during a late night scroll that blows something open in your mind. It might be a final straw that you can’t ignore.
Whatever it is that ushers in your reclamation era, let it come. Be open to the learning, the unlearning, the hard lessons, the ugly truths, & that tiny voice that I know is urging you forward.
Your reclamation era doesn’t have a “due by” date, this isn’t some assignment to check off a list, this is a transformative step on your road back to your truest self.
And the best part?! What you do after that - in the freedom of your reclamation era - is completely up to you.
Welcome to Your Reclamation Era!
Ready to push the door open? Start here:
Subscribe to the In Her Reclamation Era newsletter & never miss a blog post, resource, event, or good story.
Follow Katie on the few online places she frequents - Threads, Substack & TikTok
Check out The Goddess Post, a mail club for women in their reclamation era.
