Experiment 1: The "What" Cup?

The Alive Project is a series of experiments based on the leading of the Holy Spirit to experience the daily life of another with the express purpose of acknowledging and understanding the heart of God towards His created order. 

This is my first experiment: The Menstrual Cup
 
A couple of years ago my chiropractor, who is awesome, tried to get me to try one of these bad boys:

 

This is a menstrual cup, if you live in the Midwestern United States and know what this is you are probably also familiar with the benefits baby wearing, were to locate a Kombucha starter, and not only what an essential oil is but how to use it effectively to cure almost anything. For the rest of us, this is what you might guess it is. You fold it up, stick it in, and dump it when appropriate during your cycle. Basically it's a reusable alternative to a tampon. Let's be honest, it doesn't look like a BETTER alternative. Oh, did I mention you have to fish it out with your fingers and clean it after each "wear"? It's also the size of an espresso cup. Yeah, thanks but no thanks, Dr. Laura.

And that's just what I told her. The menstrual cup is not for me. I have three kids and an active lifestyle. I am not always at home to dump and clean a silicone cup after each use. I don't have gads of time on my hands to figure out how to "suction" (yeah, that's right) it properly against my cervix every time I have to reinsert it. Let's be honest I'm not too keen on the idea of "reinsertion" anyway. Also, I'm not sure when the last time you went to the bathroom alone was, but I'm pretty sure the last time I had my period I had to explain to my 4 year old daughter what a "mommy bandaid" was. You know if they don't have it at Target it's probably not even a real thing anyway.

Every month these and many other excuses kept me from lugging myself out to Whole Foods to pick up a Diva Cup. Even though I contemplated making the switch to the cup, every cycle I would dutifully buy a box of Kotex and an extra package of pads for the Family Promise ministry at my kids' preschool. I felt like I was using this unavoidable chore to help someone else and accomplish what I needed, building "service" into my everyday life. This was fine, until this image popped up on my newsfeed last week, the week before my period mind you: 

The image was accompanied by this headline "How Menstrual Cups Are Changing Lives In East Africa". Now you must understand that if you put something on my newsfeed with the word "Changing Lives" in the title I am about 75% likely to click it, but couple that with those little hands and an image of something that I had already been thinking about, feeling nudged toward...forget it, I'm reading that article, and I AM going to cry about it.

The article laid out how young women in East Africa were using the cup as an alternative to their other sources of relief from bleeding. The author sites "leaves, newspaper, rags, cotton, bits of mattress stuffing, even mud" as routinely utilized methods to provide protection for women in parts of the world where a package of pads cost $1.00, around three-quarters of a days wage in some cases. 

In some complete craziness the author details how menstrual cups are changing these women's lives. Because the cups are reusable for up to 15 years women are gaining economically stable ground. Because they only have to change them once every 12 hours, girls can go to school during their period when they normally could not. Women in East Africa are gaining freedom and confidence as a result of this small silicone cup!

Well, that was it for me. I got off Facebook and logged onto Amazon to check these suckers out. Yikes! Reading the reviews was beyond excruciating. One that particularly stood out was "going to the hospital, this thing is suctioned to my cervix and won't come off, THE PAIN!" Yeah, not a selling point. Apparently there is a lot of controversy with these little guys. I wasn't sure. That paired with the fact that the initial investment is about $30 and I wasn't sure I was going to like it, I signed off and that was that. 

But I kept thinking about it. And those girls in Africa. I kept going back over the pros and cons. I kept weighing  the decision in my head. So I decided to do what any rational woman would and go to the one person who would understand this decision...my husband.

Hilarious right?! I told him I was thinking to switching to this "cup" thing and he had a few questions, duh! After talking frankly about it for a little bit he was indifferent and basically said "whatever". I told him I didn't really care either except for this one thing...These women...in Africa...it's changing their lives. Remarkably, my husband understood. He understood that I wanted to understand and he said, "Go for it!" 

So, I ordered my Diva Cup. Size Two please (yes, they have sizes). And I waited. My period was coming soon. I'd give it a try. If I hate it I hate it. If not great! It'll save us some money in the long run. 

And so, with one click of the mouse, The Alive Project was underway, but I didn't know it then. I pretty much thought that I was just switching my hygiene practices. I didn't know what it was going to bring up in me. I didn't even think to think about how I would feel about it. I'm sure that's why when it came in the mail and I started wearing it what happened to my heart surprised me.