Take this post as a reminder to enjoy your(woman)self this year!  Take pleasure in the joys of femininity and womanhood, whatever that means to you! 

Let me share with you a story that allowed me to realize the things that it means to me:  when I was younger, I always looked forward to the day when I would become an adult woman; that included my physical maturation (my breasts and my “need to shave”) and my personal independence (my ability to stay up as late as I wanted, my own place, my ability to make my own decisions from the food I ate to the sex I had).  My best friend, my sister and I had big plans as to how we would be strong, sexy and sassy women when we grew up…one funny thing I remember was that we agreed that when we got married, we would swap recipes to “cook” for our spouses; however, these were not just ordinary recipes, they were lessons on how to cook in the kitchen AND the bedroom.  I realize now that one of the ways that we defined who we were as women was twofold: 1) an ongoing sharing and bonding with our womenfriends in community and 2) an ability to enrich our relationships with our partners.  I also realize now that, these days, that #2 is sometimes taboo to say.  I know… I myself believe that we should first define ourselves outside of our relationships with anyone else.   Having said that, I also believe that, as social beings, our lives can be enriched by others in our lives, particularly those that participate in our lives in special, unique, intimate and meaningful ways.  

From my womenfriends to my male friends and especially my lover, their attention and inspiration are integral to how I enjoy being me, a woman.  Attention?  That’s obvious.  Inspiration?  Let me explain a little more about that. 

Inspiration defined – “the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions”; “stimulation of the mind and emotions to a high level of activity.”  (Merriam-Webster online and freedictionary.com) 

As an emotional, intellectual being (or vice versa), I strive to have my intellect and my emotions “stimulated” and “moved.”  My goal with my womenfriends, male friends and (again, especially) lover is to be so moved in my enjoyment of life, intellectually, emotionally and as a woman.  I can only speculate that this looks/feels different for a man (having never been a man); but I can say that I enjoy the exclusiveness of GNOs (girls’ nights out), the maternal urges (when I see/interact/play with children), and, of course, the pleasure (and power) I receive from (and give with) my female organs, to name a few ;-).  My lover?  He has a unique and special place…he “inspires” me to be the “most”/ “best version”/”next level” of all of the things that I attribute to my womanhood/femininity.  In this way, he plays a special role in stimulating/moving me to the next level of enjoyment in being a woman.     

Now that I am here, at this “grown-ass woman” place, I still marvel at my breasts (how excited was I to find out that massaging the front of my own body was “recommended” by Eastern schools of natural health?), my “hair everywhere” (I have even learned to embrace that one hair that keeps popping up on my chin ;-)) and my unlimited independence (with the rare exception of something I feel I HAVE to do so I’m not rude).  I still SO enjoy doing things with my woman friends: hanging out for girl’s night out (or in), catching up on the latest gossip and each other’s lives (and loves), working (or acting) out, playing (I’m getting together a group of ladies for doubledutch this weekend!) and just having a good time!  And I still love to indulge myself as much as possible in the attention and inspiration that my lover can provide (yes, lord!)! 

There are a million reasons why you should enjoy being a woman today and every day…it can be easy to take it for granted…re/discover your unique reasons and celebrate at least one reason every day!