What I learned about women that you do NOT want to miss

I sat in an audience this weekend watching 10 women bare their hearts and souls.

They shared stories about their first sexual experiences, birth, body shame, and even their love of touching themselves…It was the full range of feminine experience!

This performance — called the Yoniverse Monologues — was an outpouring of pain and a reclaiming of power and pleasure. (Yoni, if you don’t know, is a Sanskrit word to describe a woman’s genitals or womb.)

Women used their voices to free themselves of self-hatred and embarrassment.

They reminded all us of our innate goodness and beauty, especially where we’ve been punished, overlooked or abused. Women and men both were blown away by the vulnerable reclaiming.

The truth is that women are hurting — just like you hurt.

Every woman has a way of feeling unseen, trapped, stuck, disrespected, cut down…

Knowing this is helpful when you’re about to approach a woman you think has it all together. Because she doesn’t.

And for the times women respond in cold or bitchy ways. Because it’s more about a woman’s pain than about you.

When you remember this, it becomes less personal. You can stop pinning your worth on a look in a woman’s eye or a word from her mouth. You can even start to stay curious about her response, in a way that can lead toward more connection.

So next time you’re about to put a woman on a pedestal, remember my words: She hurts the same way you do, even if she doesn’t show it.

With love,

P.S. As I watched the women I couldn’t help think about how powerful it would be for men to share their stories. I haven’t considered how to make it happen yet, but it’s on my desire list. If you’re interested, let me know!