The Need to Talk

Since the beginning of time, women have needed to talk. While passing the time while sewing, crafting supplies, or birthing a child- women have worked together. The idea of a village comes from the idea of women working together in order to make life happen.

Today, we no longer live in villages. We live worlds apart from even our families and friends. Women get up each day and make life happen for their loved ones. This can be a lonely job- rewarding, but none-the-less, lonely.

Women still have the need to talk, which is more than a well known fact. Cell phone companies and Internet networking sites are very much aware, as one of their largest target audiences are women. Places such as CafeMom have targeted the female audience because we are a shore win- give us room to talk... we'll have at it!

Even those of us with partners here in the home are privy to a well known fact: Our husbands may love us dearly, but they are not the same thing as a female friend. Men are fixers, and while this is nice when they use this skill to fix a leak, a broken toilet and even that weird noise coming from the basement... fixing is not what a woman needs when she has the urge to talk. The need to chat, to cry, to love, to vent, to scream or to just converse is merely a way of release for a woman- no doing is necessary, other than being.

CafeMom fills this need for many of us, which is why we are such "addicts." It gives us women something we need- each other. Simply genius, if you ask me. You do nothing but let women talk- something we all know comes so naturally. We can talk about anything and everything- and we do! This place is a wealth of information and misinformation, strong feelings and stronger emotions. It is both perfect and dangerous- and I hope it lasts forever.

I have been lucky to have found a great niche here in our virtual world. 30 wonderful friends that have grown together in ways real-life friends couldn't begin to understand. From one small commonality- we've become something life changing and unforgettable.

30 women have come together to share everything. We've seen love lost and love anew, the birth of a child and the loss of those loved, everyday triumphs and super life achievements, the joys and agonies of motherhood and most importantly- WAY too much information! :0) We've shared stories that would make a sailor blush, advice you wouldn't seek out from a normal play-date and held each others virtual hands during times deemed too much to handle.

There have been days that I have been late to the computer, yet still my thoughts have been on friends I know are going through hard times... times where my friends haven't been online and the rest of us have began to worry about where they are. When a person enters your thoughts during the day in worry, in joy and in happiness- and do not directly effect you or your being- this person is a friend. It doesn't matter if they are a part of your real life village or a virtual one. What matters is that we all have someone we can reach out to, someone we can talk to, someone that isn't trying to fix us... but rather just let us be the women we were born to be and the talkers that we are meant to be.

Thank you my friends... You are my village. :0)

Inauguration Day Post

Politics, the Death Penalty and Religion. The three most dangerous topics in any conversation. It doesn’t seem to matter how tight the group, nor how wonderful the conversation, the mention of just one of these topics is sure to add tension into the air. Passions run high and minds are not likely to change but they still require our attention. Either side to each topic will fight venomously, statistics will be thrown out and morality brought into question. Even the closest and best of friends might not know when to back down.

We are in the midst of political chaos. A new president and a divided country- sure to equate ruffled feathers and ongoing conversations and this year, we throw race into the already stewing pot and create an even nastier fight… but is it really any different? Or is it perhaps that such a span of time occurs from one election to the next that we fail to remember the hurt feelings and heated conversations that occurred in years past?

What ever the thoughts and feelings may be, today we will be swearing in the 44th President of the United States- with all the pomp and circumstance that an inauguration deserves. We are the United States of America, a nation built upon free ideas and radical thinking. We are a country, as diverse as the world within our borders that enables its citizens the right to discuss topics- such as Politics, Religion and the death penalty no matter where you stand.

Today, I urge you to talk to your children about our history. Whether you are a Republican or Democrat- or one of the many other parties that make up our society, discuss the happenings; discuss the whys and the hows. Take a moment to express your personal feelings and what you hope comes about- and take a moment to remind your child that not all people agree with you, but that is their right as an American as well.