women who have it all

Praise be to estrogen! I am among the lucky ones to have such great friends! Last Saturday my gal pals from UCSD and I converged on Union Square for a mini-reunion. I call it mini because in reality we only had 24 hours, which is not enough when you have big talkers among us, and when so many changes occur in the course of a year. Although I felt that we only barely brushed the surface, I am still thankful that we all motivated and got together. It is important that we all continue to prioritize our bond and make the time to be together after all these years... 14!!!

My mom likes to watch the Today show every morning (of which I don't necessarily approve since it's not really news, but to each her own). There was a story about women who work, travel for work and have families. And Meredith Veira made the point that men who work, travel for work and have a wife and kids are considered to "have a life," where when women have the same, they are considered to "have it all." I think this is a good point. It is a double standard in our society, that women are still supposed to do one or the other, and men are supposed to "have it all," and it's considered normal for men and abnormal for women. So I retract my earlier statement about Hillary Clinton having it all. Let's just admire her for her having what she wants from her life and consider her a role model for young women and women of all ages.

And I'd also like to recognize my girlfriends for having what they want too. Jen for setting the goal and running her second marathon during her first 2 years of motherhood (would she have had the time for this accomplishment had she been a working mom too? I'm sure she would, but not working surely made it easier!!!) Angela for being positive and healthy and ambitious throughout her second pregnancy, working steadily and maintaining her position during another round of layoffs (all the while feeling like she wanted to barf!), as well as patiently supporting her husband's decision to seek professional happiness. Laura for taking the step to search for personal truths through voice lessons (Vegas, baby Vegas!), all the while having to be the mother and father of her 3 sons while her husband is stationed in Greece for a year. And finally Sujata, who boldly went to seek her own personal truths away from family and partner for two months in Spain, and returned with a renewed sense of self and vision for her future. I am proud to have all of you as friends!!!

I'm going to be working on a new video art piece that I'm super excited about at Recombinant Labs featuring choreography and performance from the ODC dance company. Come one, come all. It should be cool. Check it out:

http://www.nexmap.org/