To The Women In My Life

I'll start by saying that I was never a 'girly girl' and I never felt like I fit in with the whole 'being a girl' thing. What I mean is that despite liking Barbies and dancing ballet like most girls my age, and having lots of girlfriends - I never felt like I really belonged. I can't even pin point what it was that made me feel different, but I somehow always felt like I was. Like the things I was thinking were strange or not at all common, and like I couldn't tell my friends because they just wouldn't understand.

For years the friendships with my girlfriends were based on having fun but then eventually did not last. At college I had lots of girlfriends whom I partied and had a blast with, until I fell madly in love with who later became my first husband, at which point my friends pulled away, or maybe it was me that pushed them away - in any case the result was the same: I found myself without female friends.

And with that came a very deep loneliness that I carried with me for many years.

Because you see, being a woman that did not have female friends, real friends, that supported and celebrated me in every way, then no matter how great my life was - there was always something missing.

My past seems unreal to me today when I look back at it.

These days I have many amazing and deep relationships with some pretty incredible women, which I am so grateful to be able to call - the women in my life.

As much as I love my husband and children, and as much as they fill my life with joy and meaning, it is the female friends that I have today that keep me sane and allow me to be that one thing I never felt I could be for so many years - ME.

And what if we could all just be who we really are? "what a wonderful world it would be".

But in today's world, being a woman is one of the hardest missions on earth, and if you are woman who is also a mother - then your job is even double harder. Women are lonely, stressed and feel like they need to 'play a part' and many of us do not have real friends to support us which is such a sad, sad reality.

You know how they say that women can be bitchy, that we are sometimes jealous of each other, that our insecurities can get the best of us and that women in power don't always help other women? Well, though some of that may be true (although let's face it - men can be pretty bitchy too sometimes), at the same time I am living proof that women can also be so much more than those stereotypes that just belittles how wonderful we really are.

In the past year I have built something that is all about celebrating women. In that journey I have been helped by many other women (and men) who have believed in me, inspired me and who have shown me the true meaning of womanhood and friendship.

Every single woman I have met on this journey has touched my heart in more ways than you could ever imagine. Every message I've read, every comment and every single story shared by YOU wonderful women are all of our stories.

Women are such a force of love and there is nothing stronger than female bond no matter how hard people try to convince us otherwise.

I know this sounds like a whole lot of horse shit especially with how cynical the world is, but it is honestly how I see things and the main reason I do what I do.

So if you have women in your life that literally save your life, make sure you hold on to them as tight as you can. And if you don't, please know that you are not alone and that I was there once and I know how it feels, and please remember that things can and will change.

And to all the wonderful women in my life - THANK YOU.