Lilith Fair Reverie

When I was 18, I got my very first "big girl" job. So young, and so proud of myself; I was making a whole $9.00 an hour, and it seriously seemed like a small fortune to me. I learned very quickly that the women who worked in that office were not my friends, but I learned it the hard way, and soon found myself unemployed (no, I didn't get fired - more like a mutual parting of ways). Office politics are a bitch.

I've written about it here before, but I've found myself in a similar position lately. I own a business in an industry that's dominated by women. Maybe it's the years of oppression by the opposite sex, or maybe it's a genetic thing, but women are just plain competetive; and we're not outwardly competetive like men - we're sneaky about it.

Sometimes I lose sight of the fact that there are these really fabulous, wonderful, capable and loving women around me, because I get so focused on the ones that aren't. Two women recently returned to my life from a not-so-distant past. One was a girl the last time I saw her, and she has managed to turn herself into quite the capable woman and mother - just watching her made me so proud, so happy, hoping beyond hope that I may have had a small part in helping her become what she is today.

The second was certainly more mature than I was when we parted ways, and it was such an honor to be allowed back into her life. Such a beautiful person, inside and out.

These girls have seen me through the best and worst moments of my life. They stood right beside me and watched me self-destruct time after time, and helped me pick up the pieces. They supported me, they laughed with me, they cried with me..

I've been thinking a lot about this the past few weeks. I've said it before - think of what we could accomplish if we did it together. Women are so amazingly capable by themselves - what would happen if we stopped fighting with each other and tried to get something done?

So, yes, I get in these moods, and we've talked about it before, I know. I'm here again. In honor of this particular reverie, I switched my playlist over to my all-girl stuff - Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, The Pretenders, Beth Hart, Mindy Smith, Sinead O'Connor, Cranberries, The Indigo Girls - you get the idea.

Anyway, I found this while I was wandering around on YouTube, and it really stopped me in my tracks. It wasn't so much the song - cause don't get me wrong, it's definitely one of my all-time favorite songs - but it's the amount of fun these girls have singing it. They are so happy to be with each other - just to be on stage, enjoying each others' company. I watched it over and over and over again, and I realized that this - this video, these two amazing artists - this is what it's about, right? I need reminders like this sometimes.