P.S.

One readers' response to my post about women and singlehood:

I have smiled, laughed and been "happy" more often than not over the past 29 years of my life. I see life as a gift and meant to be lived to the fullest and I am not unaware of the bounty of blessings I have. I'm light-hearted, even during some truly sucky periods, but hey, that's life and I've experienced enough to know that it's not always peachy keen, not even close. My first instinct is to see the BIG picture and I'm positive to a fault (my optimism and hopefulness would probably make you want to punch me in the face or vomit some of the time). I can give myself or anyone else THE pep talk any day of the week.

That being said, a whole host of difficult and gut-wrenching curve balls are currently being hurled my way (so much so, that I'm drinking a ton of Zen green tea hoping that an avalanche of wisdom will come to me through some sort of cosmic osmosis, I'll keep you posted on if it actually works out)! The current state I find myself is generally reflective and thoughtful. I've had a ton of commuting to do as of late, so I've had some time to think. "Think," so I don't enter into some crazy road rage!

So...I have some questions with regards to love and relationships for you dear readers of Cindy's blog. What if you have reached a point in your life where you have a deepened understanding of who you are and what you want and, what if you've discovered what you really want is exceedingly "traditional," dare I say, ultra conservative? Yep, I'm talking about the marriage+babies kind of traditional, and what is sooo wrong about wanting just that? I seriously feel like I might've missed my chance because I was too busy gallivanting around the city, trying to live the life I thought would bring me closer to what I want and swooning over the potential with some dude who's clearly turned out to be not for me, not for the long haul. 

So how does a mostly hopeful, grounded person not freak out when it feels like time is running out? What if the love, marriage and kids never come? What then?

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine aka "Manly Man"

Interestingly, I recently had a conversation with a friend who quoted a recent New York Times article (http://nyti.ms/bpesmk) that discussed how the fashion industry has moved away from a boyish ideal of male beauty and towards a new rugged, manly trend, you know, Peter Parker vs Wolverine. "'At a time of underemployment and digitized labor that doesn’t have real products at the end of the process people want to be reminded' through images from pop culture, Mr. Nelson said, “that we as men do work, we do labor, we do still make things.” Half the story pitches the editors at GQ get nowadays, Mr. Nelson added, come from writers who want to go to butcher’s school." So if we're looking for our men to be more manly, can a parallel be found regarding femininity? Maybe this is why Food Network and all the DIY shows have become so popular. Certainly, there's nothing wrong with what lifestyle you choose. I don't think I ascribe to a belief that traditional (or ultra conservative) means wanting a partner and kids with no career or that progressive means wanting a great career without the family. A woman or a man who values family over career is no worse or better than a woman or a man who values career over family. Neither is it wrong to want it all, though it might perhaps be a wee bit more difficult if you don't also have a nanny, housekeeper, and personal assistant (though of course, there are plenty of men and women that seem to somehow make it work even without all the help, God bless them!)

What do you think?