When Heroes and Heroines Die by Kate Bornstein (@katebornstein on twitter)

When our heroes and heroines leave this life, will we carry on their work? Will we take hold of what was good and beautiful about that person’s life and carry it forward?

Turn Envy into Inspiration by Jennifer McGuiggan (follow her on twitter @thewordcellar)

Jennifer is a SoulSister of mine, and also a wordsmith. I’m hoping she can teach me a thing or two.

And I totally dig where she’s going on this post. I have been feeling this too. That my discontent isn’t something to repent of or to wish away, but it’s showing me where I am needing — more peace, more beauty, more compassion.

We need to stop reacting to jealousy with guilt and the subsequent meanspiritedness. …

What is it about that other person’s situation that you want? Is it the recognition? The creative freedom? The money? Don’t judge this. Just admit to yourself why you envy that other person. When you know the reasons for your envy, you’ll see what you covet. When you see what you covet, you can discover what you love. And when you’ve discovered what you love, you’ll know what you are meant for.

Spot on.

On Love and Sex by @RevSongbird (who I found via @RevDebra — another amazing woman)

Here’s what I want for [my children] (who are 23, 18 and 14 now). I want them to view themselves as whole people, loved body and soul by God. I want them to love themselves, body and soul, and to recognize how inextricable those two parts are. I want them to love another person, body and soul, and to regard that person’s wholeness to be as precious as their own. In talking to them, I’ve called it a Love Ethic where sex is concerned. Love yourself, love your partner, and remember that how you live is an expression of how you love God. It’s for them to work out when that happens, and I trust them to be true to their teaching.

Ok, how do we get this “Love Ethic” thing to catch on?  Seriously. I want to start a movement!

Containing a capital letter or two by Heather B Armstrong (you know her as @dooce)

I came late to the dooce party. But now that I am here, I don’t want to leave. She makes me laugh, and I’m not easily amused (just ask my husband).

This post was especially funny because: A) I am a mom and B) My washing machine just broke.

(Did I mention that it has 2906 comments? Yeah, she’s a rock star.)

* * *

So there you have it, four posts that have made me jealous this week — jealous because of their sincerity, their wisdom, and their wit.

I am jealous, and I make no apologies for it.

“Jealousy is a compass. It points us to our true north, to what we value and long for the most.”

- Jennifer McGuiggan

Turning my Envy into Inspiration is a post from: Living Sexuality

Do you wish you had more desire for sex?

Would you like to take your sex life from “good” to “great”?

Maybe you want to learn to orgasm?

The E-Sensual Woman program that I facilitate at Sensovi Institute addresses all of these issues, and more. It’s for any woman who wants to explore what it means to be a sensual, sexual woman. It was designed by Dr. Lisa Terrell, a counselor and Sex Therapist with over 20 years of experience helping people improve their relationships and sex lives.

The current program is an online class consisting of ten modules that women work through at their own pace. It has been available for almost two years and over 80 women have participated — women of all ages and backgrounds. What they do have in common is a desire to explore and express their sexual selves.

New Intensive Approach

I am interested in offering an alternative approach to E-Sensual Woman – a focused 10-week intensive class that takes a small group of women through the modules together. The modules are “lessons” on topics like Body Awareness, How Sex Works, and Overcoming Road Blocks.

The Intensive group will be going through each lesson together, journaling about our experience with the material, and then bringing our insights and questions to a weekly “meeting” online via Skype or a similar service (audio-only at this time so no webcam needed).

Date/Time: Class launches September 1, and weekly web check-ins will begin on September 2 and continue on Wednesday nights at 9:00pm (Eastern) for 10 weeks.

Cost: $200 (Refundable if Intensive is cancelled)

How to Enroll: Email me and I will send you a Paypal invoice and a link to the Registration Form.

If you have any questions about E-Sensual Woman or about the enrollment details, please don’t hesitate to post a comment or contact me.

Becoming an E-Sensual Woman is a post from: Living Sexuality

However, this ad is more than just another take on “fat=undesirable” and “skinny=desirable.” It also shows the overweight women as lifeless and just, well … blobs. The skinny women are coy and cooing and looking ever eager to please.

So here is another example of how we perpetuate the message that overweight women have nothing to offer and are unappealing, and that thin women are always sexy and interested in being consumed.

That mode of thinking is not helpful to anyone. Not to the women who want to believe they can be desirable no matter what their size, and not to the men who wonder why their girlfriends/wives won’t open up sexually.

Fat Women are Gross; Skinny Women are To Be Consumed is a post from: Living Sexuality

Parents Approve of "Corrective Rape" is a post from: Living Sexuality

from franticmeerkat's shop on etsy.com

The Female Chooses is a post from: Living Sexuality

The image on the left is what art-reproduction companies are marketing as a representation of Botticelli’s famous Birth of Venus painting, so reports Ten Apples and a Flat Sponge.

What's wrong with this picture? is a post from: Living Sexuality

Some people pick up on non-verbal cues more readily than others, and I seem to have a knack for reading people. I’ve been interested in learning more about body language, so I picked up a copy of The Body Language of Sex, Power, and Aggression at the local Goodwill. It’s  a quick, easy read, and outdated by now. However, it did contain some curious tidbits. I especially liked this research about how women cross their legs:

• The organizer is turned on by neatness and order, and she can be spotted by the parallel way in which she holds her legs.
• The schemer is ambitious and competitive. She crosses above the knees and dangles one shoe, flirting but rarely delivering.
• The conformist sits on one leg, and she’s a slow starter. She likes being told what to do.
• The perfectionist crosses above her knees and twists her legs. She’s thought to be insecure and anxious, but sympathetic.
• The social worker crosses at the ankles and holds her knees apart. She’s affectionate and generous if you’re in trouble.
• The emancipated woman keeps her legs wide apart, crossing at the calves, almost in a lotus position. She’s “independent and unconventional.”
• The philanthropist holds her legs apart without crossing. She’s warm, easy-going and good-humored.

Both when I originally read this (over lunch at Noodle’s) and now as I type at my desk, I am sitting in the “social worker” position.

How about you?

What Are Your Legs Saying About You? is a post from: Living Sexuality

It’s Joan of Arc‘s birthday (c.1412):

“One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.”

Happy Birthday Joan (1412-1431) is a post from: Living Sexuality

Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment,

you recognized yourself as a friend.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. My sister gave me the book last time she visited, so when it came time for her birthday, I thought it would be fitting to get the quote inscribed on a bangle bracelet for her.

I took the “Buy Handmade” pledge and I am really trying to buy gifts that are handmade (kinda hard to do when your kid really wants a gameboy for her birthday!). Plus, it helps me justify my etsy.com addiction!

An Unguarded Moment is a post from: Living Sexuality

Today I dress for you

in scarlet. I am

a tomato, plump

and luscious. I pulsate

with seeds.

Today I clothe myself

in yellow. I am

a peach, succulent

and ripe.

For you, I swathe myself

in gold. I am

all melons, oranges,

tangerines, nectarines.

I am a garden of earthly delights.

I am the red apple

you would fall for

a thousand times.

I am the apricot you would die for.

I am all strawberries,

blueberries, raspberries,

and cherries, all these and more.

Today I am royal for you.

I dress in a gown

of purple plum.

Come, lift me out of my skin.

The Fruitful Woman is a post from: Living Sexuality