Catalyst sixty-seven is: What’s your favorite part about being a woman or a man?



my words:



I am a firm believer that women are the better and stronger gender. Maybe because I’ve been lucky enough never to suffer any kind of discrimination as a woman so I only see the advantages. The ability to carry babies. The ability to multitask and to love unconditionally. To care. To feel. To cry. To communicate. To be soft and tender when needed and tough when needed. To be gentle. To be intelligent and emotional at the same time. To get things done.



I am not sure why but I’ve always felt that women are, in general, more capable and more intelligent then men. I hold women in the highest regard and feel like I’m honored and delighted to be one. Wouldn’t have it any other way.



Note: This digital layout uses: kenner road swallow field, VINTAGE FLORALS by Shabby Princess, foto blend by Anna Aspnes, Katie Pertiet color challenge 4/25, meredith fenwick – all u need.

This week’s catalyst is: Tell us about one thing you’d change about yourself (physical or otherwise).



Here’s my text (an old blog entry):
When I was younger, I used to travel in a crowd of beautiful women. I don’t know how it happened but all my female “friends” were drop dead gorgeous and within a few weeks, my self-image managed to wither away to nothing. At the time, I started playing a game where each time I caught myself wishing I had someone else’s something (like hair or eyes or nose or legs) I would force the issue.



I told myself that the rules were such that I wasn’t allowed to take body parts or personality traits and plug them into the rest of me. If I liked someone’s something, I had to completely change places with that person. Not only did I get their whole body, but I got all their personal issues, emotions, family, psychological state of mind, past, living status, job and anything else you can think of. I basically forced myself to choose between me and this random (or in some cases not so random) person. Yeah, I got to have their small nose or blue eyes, but was I ready to also have their eating disorder? How about the disinterested mom? Was I willing to give up all of who I am to look like this person? It was my way of forcing myself to face the fact that people don’t come in pieces. You want a part, you get the whole thing. How do you like them apples?



In fifteen years, I’ve never met one person I was willing to change places with. I don’t know if it was the fact that I wasn’t willing to give up certain aspects of who I am of my life or the fact that I tend to favor the known over the unknown. Looking at a woman walking down the street, I can see she has pretty hair or a size-2 figure, but I can’t see what goes on in her head or how much she suffers daily. With me, at least I know the hand I am dealt and I know how to live within its limits, when to push it, when to enjoy it. The game’s done a lot to improve my self-esteem.

Catalyst Sixty-Two is: What’s a personality trait you admire/seek in others? Why?.



Here are my words:

The trait I admire most in others is what I call “being comfortable in your skin.” I have a few friends who are just like that. They know who they are and they are comfortable with themselves. It’s not confidence as much as just a level of self-comfort. When I hang out with them, I always find myself wishing I were like that too. It’s something I am working on: loving myself the way I am.