The zinnia is often called the hardest working flower in the garden. It's also one of the most long-lasting as a cut flower. If Hillary Clinton were a flower, she'd be a zinnia.
Today, once again, the transparency of HRC's campaign is under scrutiny, but this time because of Hillary's health. They ask:
Why didn't she shout from the rooftops that she has pneumonia?
Why didn't she tell the world why she was leaving an event early?
And after her campaign announced she overheated, why didn't she stop and explain it all to reporters?
As a woman who wakes up everyday to symptoms of chronic illness...
As a woman who aims to do what needs doing despite those symptoms...
As a woman who doesn't want to be judged or defined by my aches and pains...
As a woman who sometimes pushes too hard and stumbles, who then must rest...
I take great offense to this so-called news story regarding Hillary's health.
In the end, anyone who is suspicious of why Hillary wouldn't admit to pneumonia, overheating, or any other passing ailment, only needs to look at the response by the media and her opponents to understand why Hillary kept quiet. Immediately it had legs as a mystery, a cover-up. Is she too weak and unfit to work? This is the same ridiculous, outdated, and sexist judgment that women across history have had to endure when their wellness falters.
For some perspective, consider this:
As a young singer, Cyndi Lauper, pushed her voice to the point of damage. For years, she struggled with resting, as her vocal coach advised, and it took time to accept her limits. She kept this problem secret for most of her career, and now 68, she admits that she continued to overdo it from time to time because she didn't want to be dismissed as incapable. The good news is she still tours today, singing her heart out, but with control and wisdom.
Or this:
A few years ago, I heard Judy Blume speak at a writing conference. She explained how, as young woman, she had frustrating and debilitating chronic pain. She carried on, as a wife, a mother, and even took up writing. Eventually, she came out on the other side of illness and she credits the continued pursuit of her creative goals. Later, she overcame both cervical and breast cancer, and with each of these illnesses, she didn't go public until it felt right to do so. Today, Blume is 78 and just published another book.
I could list many other examples of modern woman, aging woman, woman who get sick from time to time, who keep going, who stop and rest, who don't tell the whole goddamned world their private health business, and all these women end up succeeding at what they set out to accomplish.
So, dear skeptics, back off. Give us room. Because illnesses come and go, but the bright bloom of our efforts last and last and last.