“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” —Ellen Johnson Sirleaf I was walking my dog this morning when a neighbor asked me where I’ve been. “I didn’t see you last week,” she offered. “I was in Nebraska,” I proudly shared, “in the land of strong prairie women, …
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“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” —Amy Bloom Beauty should be painful? Really? It is amazing how powerful our girly thoughts are . . .yes, those thoughts that tell us we have to live up to a certain societal standard if we want to be desirable, no matter …
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I am sitting in the living room of a friend who is playing the piano, looking out on the snowy April landscape. She is relaxed; her home is immaculate, which wouldn’t be a cause for surprise except for the fact that she is on day 55 without water. Yes, without water. In this mountainous …
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Have you ever gotten something really wrong? Have you ever based your conclusions on little fact and many feelings, and as a result you painted a truly erroneous picture for yourself of what you were dealing with? I know I have, and recently. My latest error didn’t begin with misunderstanding a Facebook post, …
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Sexual politics run deep in our responses, even in casual meetings. We act like “dutiful little girls” in our responses, and in an almost instinctive reaction, we do to ourselves what society has taught us to do. This reaction, which I’ve named girly thoughts, is one I fight against, and I’ve coined the term and …
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Many things probably turn you on, as they should. One thing that really turns me on is going to the Electric City. For those of you who do not know the lore of upstate New York, this city is also called Schenectady, and it’s the home of GE, aka General Electric. It is also …
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I’m so excited . . . I’ve been invited to speak at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam on April 16. I’ll be addressing a group of students from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Fireside Lounge of the Barrington Student Union about hitting gender issues head on. I was invited …
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Have you ever been on the front page of your local newspaper? I don’t mean as a cute baby in the Easter Parade, or for having committed some terrible crime, or for being awarded a prestigious prize, but as an adult, and just because you were happy? I was, and here’s the proof: …
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“I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and … I believe in miracles.” —Audrey Hepburn I have always loved this time of year. As someone who has had her own share of life’s unfairness, I marvel that in early spring …
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