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?

You're All Beautiful!

 

Hey There! Hola! Bonjour! Guten tag! こんにちは! Hej! привет! Halo! Ciao!

Why all the different languages? Because today, dear readers, I discovered a button hitherto unexplored on my blogspot page. Who knew that I can track pageviews and referral sources and...countries in which you lovely people are checking out my blog from?! 


I am just floored to note that I have readers all the way out in Russia, Indonesia, Japan, Italy, Denmark, Canada, Switzerland, and of course, the US. So, I thought it's a good time to take a moment and say thank you and I certainly hope that my humble thoughts are interesting and potentially somewhat entertaining. I am constantly inspired to put thoughts to paper (or macbook) by loved ones who are certainly more interesting than lil ol' me, so I invite readers to send me emails of what you all might be interested in regarding the wonderful world of therapy and humanity or perhaps a story of your own that you'd like to be posted. 


I'm headed out of town this weekend to visit my mom on Long Island for some good old-fashioned home-cooking. I know you're jealous and yes, you should be, since my mom's the best cook in the world (at least when it comes to Korean food). I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures and post!


Thank you again and have a wonderful weekend!

Women and Singlehood

A beautiful, successful, loving, and sassy friend of mine admitted to me some fears she's been harboring of late. (I got permission from her to publish this post!) She's just turned 29 and the fact of her current singledom (among some other uberly tough things) has become a point of personal pain. The following excerpt is an edited script of our most recent conversation:

Friend: I'm worried about being single and 29  and about life in general.
Me: Eh, nothing to worry about, trust me. I have a friend who is contemplating divorce and she's 32.
Friend: Yeah, but at least she was married before, I would rather be divorced than single. Is that bad? I feel like a failure.

Breaks your heart doesn't it? As you may note from my introduction, she is most definitely not a failure. To even think that she could be defined as a failure is laughable and yet, I think I understand where she's coming from. Who among us hasn't experienced that fear of never finding that special someone with whom to share the rest of your life? For some men and women, career success, supportive friends, and hobbies in which they have passion simply aren't enough to feel fulfilled. It may sound selfish or whiny, but who can blame anyone for yearning for that unique sense of comfort and safety that you can only find with a romantic partner?

Letting a kid be...a kid!

I was directed to a beautiful blog post today written by a courageous, strong-willed, grizzly-bear of a mama! Her words are so poignant (and spunky!) given today's climate of intolerance and I applaud her decision to stand by her son regardless of what others might say, think, or do. Stigma of any kind whether it be in regards to weight, gender, religion, mental illness, sexual orientation, or HIV status is absolutely abhorrent and should have no place in civilized society. Only last week I was horrified to learn that the vice-president of the school board in Arkansas publicly announced on his facebook page that he wants gay people to commit suicide and enjoys "the fact that [gay people] give each other AIDS and die." Holy hate-mongering idiot, Batman! The ensuing outcry was of such intensity that he was forced to resign his post as a shaper of young people's minds, phew! Thank goodness there are people out there who are willing to defend the youth of Arkansas. But it's time to take an active role in preserving human rights, not just a reactive one. Read on and let me know what you think about Cop's Wife's story!

Click on the following link to read the full post at: http://nerdyapplebottom.com/2010/11/02/my-son-is-gay/

Fall Colors

A couple of weekends ago, I headed to George Washington National Forest in Virginia for a couple days of camping, hiking, and generally getting back in touch with nature. While it may not have been the most comfortable sleep of my life, it was a truly magical experience. It was a clear night with a huge full moon that illuminated the forest so brightly it was actually lighter out at midnight than it was at seven in the morning when the sun hadn't yet managed to peak out from behind the mountains. Living in the city, you get used to a sometimes frenetic pace of work and play until you collapse on the couch in physical and emotional exhaustion, able to do nothing more than stare aimlessly at the blank t.v. screen for a full twenty minutes before rousing enough to change positions before both legs fall asleep. (This might be an accurate description of me at 12:40pm today...) Though the city is filled with people busily living their lives, it can feel like a de-humanizing existence at times. In stark contrast, the woods where I slept felt ALIVE! The whistling wind, crisp, cold air, rustling leaves and dive-bombing acorns created a symphony of sound that served as a backdrop to all the nocturnal activities of unseen insects and forest creatures.