Lissa Rankin's Blog, page 31
May 11, 2011
Why I Write (And How Writing About Writing Is Like Dancing About Mathematics)
I was just asked by my awesome new friend SARK to write about why I write. Now mind you, I write every day. For hours. Writing is what I do. I've written three books, countless magazine articles, and over 350 blog posts, in addition to the private journal writing nobody sees. Writing comes totally naturally to me. And yet, faced with this task, I found myself paralyzed. How do you write about writing? I mean I'm a big fan of Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird. And she does it so brilliantly! But I struggled. Then I muddled through. This is what came out.
From the time I was six, when a family friend gave me a leather-bound blank book and invited me to write in it, I have been a writer. I was offered my first publishing deal when I was 11 (I turned it down -- they were my private stories, after all. Sheesh!).
Grounding
May 10, 2011
When Mean Girls Lash Out
Leading up to Mother's Day, I thought about writing a post about the many blessings in my life, including my gorgeous 5-year-old daughter and my adoring, sexy hubby. After all, if you watch the Hallmark commercials, you'd believe that Mother's Day is a day to celebrate, right?
But I did what I often do and decided to sit in meditation and let the Universe tell me what message would best serve the highest good of the Owning Pink community. And the day before Mother's Day, I was led to write this tribute to childless Mommies, to honor all the women without children who give birth and mother in other ways. Then, on Mother's Day, I wrote a love letter to every person for whom Mother's Day is no cakewalk, particularly those whose mothers didn't live up to the Hallmark fairytale.
And then on the day itself, I went up to Sonoma County to celebrate the day with my family. And when I got back to my computer that night, I was shocked to see that, in addition to many tender, touching, and heartfelt comments, one or more mean girls snuck in and decided to kick me in the gut.
May 9, 2011
Hillary Clinton Erased From Historic White House Photo
Women have been erased from history for millennia. Countless courageous events led by women have gone unwritten or rewritten in the history books. Yet, in the age of feminism in modern times, we assume this doesn't happen anymore, right?
Wrong.
According to CNN, the uber-Orthodox Jewish publication Di Tzeitung, a Hasidic newspaper based in Brooklyn, New York, whited out Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Audrey Tomason, director of counterterrorism from the now iconic "Situation Room Photo" take while President Obama monitored the raid on bin Laden's compound.
Just like that. Zip. Gone. The two women present no longer exist with a swipe of Photoshop.
Women Erased From Historic White House Photo
Women have been erased from history for millennia. Countless courageous events led by women have gone unwritten or rewritten in the history books. Yet, in the age of feminism in modern times, we assume this doesn't happen anymore, right?
Wrong.
According to CNN, the uber-Orthodox Jewish publication Di Tzeitung, a Hasidic newspaper based in Brooklyn, New York, whited out Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Audrey Tomason, director of counterterrorism from the now iconic "Situation Room Photo" take while President Obama monitored the raid on bin Laden's compound.
Just like that. Zip. Gone. The two women present no longer exist with a swipe of Photoshop.
Overcoming The Loneliness Of Leadership
I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, but the featured posts we put on OwningPink.com's home page lately have been pretty much ALL LISSA, ALL THE TIME, when we have 30-something killer bloggers who write for Owning Pink.
So What's The Skinny? Why Am I Stealing The Show?
Because that's what you all are asking for -- both directly and through Google Analytics. My least read blog posts still get double the traffic of any other blogger on Owning Pink, even bloggers whose blogs have way more traffic than Owning Pink. In fact this post got 2.5 million hits in one freakin' day! I so want to showcase the writing and work of people who are doing awesome work in the world to empower women. But the reality is that the Owning Pink community wants me to write more. Period.
And this TOTALLY bums me out.
May 8, 2011
When Mother's Day Is No Cakewalk
Mother's Day is today, which is a day to celebrate, right? We take Mommies out to brunch and give them flowers. Kids hand-craft macaroni necklaces to adorn Mommy in her Sunday dress. We kiss, hug, send cards, and jam up the phone lines as we remember our own mothers. In a perfect world, Mother's Day would be a day we could all celebrate.
But, as some of you may know, we don't live in a perfect world. For some, Mother's Day is a day people want to dig a hole and crawl in. It's a day they wish they could fast forward through. It's a day that makes them cringe as they watch all the happy people bustle about wearing white orchids and smiling with happy children carrying balloons.
I'm Blessed
May 7, 2011
For All The Childless Mommies On Mother's Day
Tomorrow is Mother's Day, so let me start by sending out a great big whopping Happy Mother's Day to those of you who are celebrating your fabulous mothers and whooping it up with your fabulous children. I'm sending you all my love and sending out three big WOOTs in hopes that you have a wonderful day.
But as much as I love you and wish you well, today's post is not for you (no offense!).
As an OB/GYN, I know Mother's Day can be a tough day for many women -- those who have been unable to conceive, lost pregnancies, had abortions, given their baby up for adoption, chosen not to reproduce, or wound up having that decision made by default. And if you've inherited children through marriage, you may feel sort of second fiddle to the biological Mommies, even if you're the one making lunch for six kids every day while biological Mommy lives on her boyfriend's yacht.
If you're one of those women -- and if you are, you're SO not alone -- Mother's Day brunches, kids making hand-woven pot holders, and over-the-top flower displays at the local grocery store may leave you feeling…well…left out. Or maybe even teary.
But I'm here to tell you that you don't have to bear children to be a Mommy and you don't have to be a Mommy to make the huge difference in the life of a child.
You Don't Have To Bear Children To Be A Mommy
May 6, 2011
GYNO GUZZLING: A Vagina Drinking Game
I just posted "15 Crazy Things About Vaginas," a synopsis of my book What's Up Down There?, which went viral so quickly that it crashed Owning Pink. One of the sweetest compliments I got on my 20 city book tour was this: "Lissa, Even Ensler started the Vagina Monologues, but you've started the Vagina Dialogues." Suh-WEET! So given the appetite for Vagina Dialogues, I thought I'd share a few more stories. Here you go. ENJOY!
Adonis & The Drinking Game
When I was an OB/GYN resident, I briefly dated this babycakes of a boy, who we'll call Adonis, since I honestly can't remember his name. I'm pretty sure he was legal, but only barely, and when he and his buddies found out I was a gynecologist, they were riveted. They made up a drinking game they called Gyno Guzzling in my honor. As the star of this game, I was supposed to tell gynecology stories, and every time I said the words vagina or speculum, they would drink. While the feminist in me found this game a tad offensive, the narcissist in me couldn't resist the attention, and a room full of hunky college boys egged me on for hours, as I told story after story, until we were all hammered. Gyno Guzzling went something like this.
May 5, 2011
Identifying & Warding Off Emotional Vampires: Part 2 of Emotional Freedom
If you read part one of the Emotional Freedom series about combating emotional vampires, you got a sense for how to know when someone is sucking you dry. In part two, we'll tackle how to hone your X-ray vision so you can spot an emotional vampire from miles away, so you can protect yourself from getting depleted from those who long to suck your life force right out of you.
But first, a bit about Dr. Judith Orloff's classification of emotional vampires.
Types of Emotional Vampires
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