I’m Sexy and I Know It

As Igor from The Red Elvises, “Your favorite band!”  might say (use a loud voice and a Russian accent), “Your favorite music source!”  Spotify, Spotify, Spotify.  I can’t say it enough.  Spotify, Spotify …download the app  right here, right now,  the free version. Full disclosure – I have no ties to Spotify except that I pay their monthly fee.  I enjoy it daily.  I bet you’ll love it like I do.

Now,  how’s this for a confidence boost? …

I’m Sexy and I Know It

It’s so nice being a midlife woman. There is a calm to it.  It’s easy to identify with the trite statement, “It just is.”

I am finding that every now and then a little irony threads through my life, and I can see it here again.

This irony from awhile ago:  I always chuckled that for some of us mothers, as we perhaps voluntarily sacrificed an income to be more hands-on in raising our children, we had time. Time. In a mother sort of way, which means two minutes here and five minutes there.  But we always had the possibility of a little bit of time, with the freedom to gather the little ones and go do something fun – sometimes just anything to get out of the house – that carrot dangling in front of us.

And then while we were busy sacrificing our income, and finding ourselves with some very real mobile possibilities within our day, we, at the same point, didn’t have the extra money for shopping. We had time, but no money. Sigh.

And now I find myself having confidence in my body.

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I’m finally coming to at least some peace with the fact that we women are judged on our looks.  I can also finally see that I shouldn’t be so critical of myself.  Where did all of my constant self criticism come from?

I find that we women are judged by our looks absolutely constantly, either obviously or subliminally, in our culture.  I also find that men are judged by their income, either obviously or subliminally, in our culture.  I don’t think either one is healthy, and the pressure is on just the same:  24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  I think that we each just get to come to terms with this reality at some point in our lives.  This point seems to be, for me, around now, fifty something.

But wouldn’t it have been better timing to have been confident when there was a little more to be confident about, when it was a twenty something body, or even a forty something body?

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It’s the irony again.  I wonder what the next irony will be.

 

Sweeten Life By Opening to Pleasure

image  This nectar ~ the most sensuous and satisfying drink I’ve ever had.  At my first chilled taste, I realized why “nectar” is such a revered concept.

 

Here is more input about the chakras, specifically the Second Chakra, which involves our emotions and sexuality, from The Chakra Balancing Workbook by Anodea Judith.  The reference to “finding one’s own place” within this realm of sexuality and emotions, sounds logical, healthy, and freeing.

“The Sanskrit name for this chakra is Svadhisthana, which translates as ‘one’s own place.’  This refers to the personal nature of the second chakra aspects of our emotions and sexuality.  It is important that we stand in  ‘our own place’ within this chakra and define our sexual and emotional issues in a way that is suitable to our individual characters.  If our roots are deep and well-watered, then our fruit will be sweet. – the Sanskrit verb svadha means ‘to sweeten.’  From the center of one’s own place, we sweeten life by opening to pleasure.”

“Pleasure promotes well-being and is a natural healing force.  It teaches us how to open up, how to move, how to reach beyond ourselves.  Pleasure comes to us through any of our senses:  seeing a sunset, tasting a meal, listening to music, savoring a lover’s touch.”

 

image.jpeg The sun setting over the Pacific Ocean in Mission Beach, California, has such a draw that most of us sit still, or stand still, and watch for several minutes as it appears to hit the water and then gradually disappear.  It feels like a communal spiritual experience.

 

“Through the senses we first get ‘in touch.’  To be in touch is to know what we feel, to be awake and aware.  To be in touch is to be connected.”

“The pull of the erotic in this chakra represents the universal urge to connect with others.  Through desire, emotion, pleasure, and sensation, we enter the complex realm of sexuality – a place where we dissolve our boundaries and enter into intimacy with another.”

“While some traditions teach that pleasure is a dangerous distraction on the road to enlightenment, healthy pleasures – such as touch, play, laughter, sexuality, and experiencing beauty – lead to contentment and peace, rather than an insatiable desire for more.”

 

As Smokey Robinson and The Miracles sang in 1967, I second that emotion.

Oh, but if you feel like lovin’ me, if you got the notion, I second that emotion.  So, if you feel like giving me a lifetime of devotion, I second that emotion.