
“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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dream big, girly thoughts; trauma and addictions; public speaking, Nebraska; anxiety, public speaking and anxiety; Harold Reutter; strong women; strong doesn't mean unfeminine, The Independent; grand Island, walking your dog

“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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ab workout, beauty is pain, eating healthily, exercise, foot binding, French court, girly thoughts, needing to look beautiful, Nina Bahadur, pain killers, painful beauty, rib removal, stress eating, Victorian Era, waist training

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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being frozen, girly thoughts, harsh winter, laundromat, living in mountains, livings without water, no water, oil companies, small towns, stopping self-sabotage, taking clean clothes for granted, toxic self-talk, washing your cloths, washing your hair, women musicians

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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"trauma", Addiction, assumptions, Children, council on alcoholism, fantasies, friends, geographically challenged, girly thoughts, Grand Island, Grand Island Nebraska, major wrong assumptions, Nebraska, new york city, toxic self-talk, trauma and addiction, women, women empowerment

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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accepting a compliment, brief encounters, don't anesthetize painful feelings, dutiful little girls, fight your girly thoughts, giggling, girly thoughts, sexual politics, Strictly Business, taking away your power, women empowerment

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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girly thoughts, new york, Patricia O'Gorman, schenectady

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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a higher minimum wage, book signings, college students, competing with other women, Fireside Lounge in the Barrington Student Union, gender equality, girly thoughts, good female reproductive health care, good little girl, misdirection, misdirection and women, powerful women, predictable, quality child care, SAGE, schenectady, small number of women elected officials, Student Activists for Gender Equality, SUNY Alumni, SUNY Potsdam, women elected officials, women empowerment, women equality

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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girly thoughts, Patricia O'Gorman, women, Women's Issues

“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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audrey hepburn, challenges with children, Children, determination, divorce, easter, focus, girly thoughts, holiday, hope, miracles, negative thinking, overwhelming odds, painful childhood, passover, promise, resilience, s job loss, self-sabatoge, sense of humor, spring, women, women empowerment