by Maja Juzwiak

“In my late teenage years, when I had my first boyfriend, going on the pill felt like a natural consequence. It wasn’t really something anyone questioned; it was just what everyone did.
Growing up in Brazil, it was a common story (maybe it still is): once you became sexually active, you made an appointment with a gynaecologist, and they prescribed contraceptives without much explanation or alternatives. Perhaps it was part of the cultural norm (though I later learned this is common in many other countries, too), maybe a lack of information, or simply the fear of pregnancy. For me, I believe it was a mix of all three.

I never questioned the use of it. Since I first took it, ceasing the usage never crossed my mind (even during periods of my life without sexual activity). It had become an ordinary daily habit. 

It wasn’t until my late twenties that something shifted. I began questioning the habits and beliefs I had carried for so long. I started reading more about sexuality, the body, and what it meant to live in a way that supports health. The more I learned, the clearer it became: it was time to step away from the pill and reconnect with my body on my own terms.

It felt like a quiet urge rising from within — a pull to cleanse my body and finally understand it in its natural state. As I stepped away from the pill, I noticed a shift: I felt freer and more curious about how the cycle truly affected me. My libido returned in a way I hadn’t expected, and my relationship with myself-with my body—began to change.

In 2019, that journey deepened when I started working for a company selling plastic-free period products. It pulled me even closer to the conversation about female health. I began learning about the phases of the cycle, how small changes in daily life could make a real difference, and how deeply connected the cycle is to the overall rhythm of the body. I also learned how many things — from stress to food to the environment around us — could throw it off balance or help it find its flow - things no one had ever taught me about before, despite its biological importance.

The fact that only a tiny percentage of the women in my surroundings had access to this knowledge struck me. For many, the period is still regarded as an annoying time of the month when they are restricted from doing certain activities. And when the bloody days don't come, they might take a pregnancy test to verify the possibility. Many only start looking more into their cycle when pregnancy is involved.

However, menstruation is about so much more than that. And I only came to find that out in my 30s. No one ever talked to me about it in the past. I never learned about it in school, nor was I incentivised to research it further (and I understand that it is because the knowledge was also lacking in my surroundings). And I have realised I am not the only one. Many women my age (as well as younger and older) still don't understand their bodies, patterns and cycles. 

The seed of an idea for an artistic project was already planted back in 2019, when I was deeply immersed in the topic. But life, as it often does, led me down other paths, and the idea was tucked away into a drawer in my mind — kept safe, but out of sight. It wasn't until mid-2023 that it resurfaced, during a conversation with a friend, a mother to a little girl, in a small café somewhere in Belgium. She encouraged me to pick it back up and finally bring it to life.

From 2020-2023, I lived a nomadic entrepreneurial life, which meant constant movement, insecurities and various stress factors. This choice had profoundly affected my cycle and brought me back to the curiosity of understanding patterns and reigniting the dormant seed. In my social circle, many of my friends are parents of girls, which enhanced my motivation further and put this project into practice to give our and the new generations more knowledge and awareness than we did in ours."