Come On Ladies!

I'm in the middle of a sweet little read right now called Work in Progress, An Unfinished Woman's Guide to Grace, by Kristin Armstrong. This is the kind of book I want to buy for all of my girlfriends, every single one of them. Wife or not, mother or not, working or not, this tiny treasure of a book speaks to many different levels and I am soaking it all up and loving it. It's nothing really revolutionary, it's just a pure and simple book that makes me think, "Yes! Why aren't we, as women, collectively acting, thinking, praying, loving, and living more like this?" One section sticks out in my mind, here's a cut and paste version of it...

'I am not sure where or when it begins, though I see it already in the relationships at my daughters' preschool. There is something about women that permits us to vie for a better impression of and for ourselves by belittling someone else. Think about it. Some woman could excel in the workplace and someone else is quick to call her a witch, or worse. Someone is pretty and someone is not; they are both equally cursed. Someone is skinny and she is "obsessive"; someone is curvy and she has "let herself go." Someone has a baby and we judge between natural child birth and an epidural. Someone breast-feeds and someone serves formula and somehow it is everybody's place to comment. Someone stays at home to take care of her kids and she is "second rate" intellectually or gets the "it must be nice" routine. Someone else works outside the home and she is "second rate" maternally or a slave to materialism. Someone who speaks her mind is "grating"; someone shoe doesn't is a "wimp." Someone who never exercises is "lazy"; someone who does take time for herself is "decadent." Someone who hides her feelings is "cold"; someone who is authentic gets picked apart. We judge who has what job, who is busier, who has more stress, who has it "rougher." Like what, like she who complains the loudest is the best martyr? Or she who enjoys and is grateful is a simpleton and has no idea of the "real world"? Someone tells us bad news and we secretly rejoice that it's not us. Someone shares good news and we call her arrogant.'

Sorry it's kind of long, but I could keep going and going, couldn't you? Sometimes us ladies are the silliest group of people I know because of how much we contradict ourselves in our judgements of others, but that's for another blog. The point is, it's a really good book and I think everyone should run to the library or log onto Amazon and get yourself a copy now. Mine is on loan to me from my neighbor, but I'm thinking I need a copy of my very own. Oh, and tell me if you do end up buying it because it might be what I'm getting you for Christmas. Enjoy!