The world revolves around the lives of women in Spanish director Pedro Almodόvar’s latest film, Volver (2006). It is a wonderful depiction of survival, loyalty, and integrity yet the action on the screen bears little resemblance to what is really going on in the lives, hearts, and heads of the women. Almodόvar demonstrates once again (as he did in the film All About My Mother) that he truly understands the dual nature of women. He understands that women often have their external life, one... Read Full Story

The characters in the Indian film, The Namesake (2006), unfold in front of us as life unfolds. A young Bengali woman finds herself on a journey to New York City in 1979 when her family arranges for her marriage. Her husband, an Indian PhD student studying in New York, is unknown to her, a stranger, but he is kind and together they develop a warm, supportive marriage. Ashima, meaning no boundaries or without limits, seems to play a relatively passive role as she raises her children, their... Read Full Story

Happy Birthday Jessie Ann Benton Fremont Jessie was born on May 31, 1824 in near Lexington, Virginia. She was the daughter of a famous and powerful U.S. Senator who not only doted on his daughter but included her in meetings with Washington officials and trained her to assist him in his work. Jessie's attention from her father falls under the Zeus-Athena category where the father is the one who helps his weaker-sex daughter gain power and prestige in society. It is because of the father's... Read Full Story

"Be adventurous. Try a lot of different things. Who cares if it doesn't work out? It is only paper." - Mary Engelbreit, artist & business executive Have you dreamt of becoming the next J.K. Rowling? Do you have a story you have been working on but you just keep letting it collect dust? Do you write, but don't think you have the time to write an entire book? If you said yes to any of these... Read Full Story

Few things are more powerful or influential than a relationship between a mother and a child. A good relationship can be tremendously rewarding and a bad one can leave both of you limping through life. Why is the bond so powerful? Your mother is your first encounter with life, with nourishment, and with survival. All foods, emotions, drinks, and medications a pregnant woman has during pregnancy become the body and mind of the baby. In the womb, everything a mother does directly... Read Full Story

Today one may hesitate to put "Mother of Iraq" on her resume, but that is exactly who English Explorer, Gertrude Bell was. You’ve probably heard of T.E. Lawrence but have you heard of Gertrude Bell? Gertrude was a few years older than T.E. Lawrence and they both played a critical role in the formation of Iraq. Her legacy, her story is usually completely overshadowed by Lawrence even though her professional contribution was at least as important. She is an example of female character... Read Full Story

An immersion into nature slowly ebbs the clanging thoughts of a mind, one by one. They fall away into much needed silence until you can at last be at peace, hearing the abundant sounds of life in nature. The length of time it takes to find this place of mind-quiet depends on how long it has been since you were last in nature. I myself find that a simple hike near my home is no longer sufficient. It takes me days to unwind and fully embrace the voices of wind in trees, water waves lapping... Read Full Story

Have you ever stopped to differentiate between the beliefs you want to have about your life’s direction versus the beliefs you inherit from old habits and from society? Are the expectations of your family, religion, and culture congruent with who you strive to be? What Exactly Do You Believe? The beliefs we have about ourselves, about what we should have accomplished, about how we should behave, about what a mother, family, or wife is determine whether we are satisfied with ourselves and... Read Full Story

Have you ever stopped to differentiate between the beliefs you want to have about your life’s direction versus the beliefs you inherit from old habits and from society? Are the expectations of your family, religion, and culture congruent with who you strive to be? What Exactly Do You Believe? The beliefs we have about ourselves, about what we should have accomplished, about how we should behave, about what a mother, family, or wife is determine whether we are satisfied with ourselves and... Read Full Story

I've hesitated to write about successful women who are alive today because I take liberties with the way I think about and present successful women. I read many biographies of women and there are a lot of choices they make that I do not like. I am not a true biographer, I do not share all the lessons that successful women can show us, often I emphasize their strengths and struggles as I recognize them to be issues women are struggling with today. With modern women I worry that I will... Read Full Story