Progress...

This evening I finished the book "On My Own: The Art of Being a Woman Alone" by Florence Falk. It was an incredibly enlightening book that delved into why it is difficult and culturally unfavorable for a woman to be alone. It really opened my eyes about why the thought of being alone was difficult for me. It also made me realize that my story is not over. I will not be alone forever, unless I want to be. My job now is to listen to my inner voice and do the things that make me happy, irrespective of what the culture, my parents, my friends, or my lovers want or expect of me. I am solely responsible for my own happiness and if I don't get happy I have only myself to blame.

She included a list in her book of choices a woman alone might make and states that any one of the following choices might signify a movement toward actualizing her full potential. Here is the list:

to have a child without a partner
to not have children
to stop caring what other people think
to say no and mean it
to say yes and mean it
to buy a vibrator
to be celibate
to have six with whomever you shoose
to befriend aloneness
to stop abusing alcohol
to take scuba lessons
to leave a failed marriage
to enter a loving relationship
to befriend your body
to leave an abusive partner
to get a tattoo
to stop trying to do it all
to take charge of finances
to switch careers
to keep going after loss or failure
to go back to school

After reading this list I was surprised at the number of choices I have made that are bringing me closer to my full potential (and they didn't include getting a tattoo!). Just when I feel like I am stagnant in self development I realize that I have been unwittingly working toward my own self fulfillment this whole time.

Take care dear reader. I am going to spend some time befriending aloneness...