Lexidreams

“Can there be true equality in the classroom and the boardroom if there isn’t in the bedroom? Back in 1995 the National Commission on Adolescent Sexual Health declared healthy sexual development a basic human right. Teen intimacy, it said, ought to be “consensual, non-exploitative, honest, pleasurable, and protected against unintended pregnancy and STDs.” How is it, over two decades later, that we are so shamefully short of that goal?

Sara McClelland, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, writes about sexuality as a matter of “intimate justice,” touching on fundamental issues of gender inequality, economic disparity, violence, bodily integrity, physical and mental health, self-efficacy, and power dynamics in our most personal relationships. She asks us to consider: Who has the right to engage in sexual behavior? Who has the right to enjoy it? Who is the primary beneficiary of the experience? Who feels deserving? How does each partner define “good enough?” Those are thorny questions when looking at female sexuality at any age, but particularly when considering girls’ early, formative experience. Nonetheless, I was determined to ask them.”
― Peggy Orenstein, Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape

“Every walk to the woods is a religious rite, every bath in
the stream is a saving ordinance. Communion service is at
all hours, and the bread and wine are from the heart and
marrow of Mother Earth.

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and
the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk
or an evening saunter...to be thrilled by the stars at night;
to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring—
these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

The most precious things of life are near at hand, without
money and without price. Each of you has the whole
wealth of the universe at your very door. All that I ever
had, and still have, may be yours by stretching forth your
hand and taking it.”
― John Burroughs

“Love sharpens the eye, the ear, the touch; it quickens the feet, it steadies the hand, it arms against the wet and the cold.
What we love to do, that we do well.
To know is not all; it is only half.
To love is the other half”
― John Burroughs, Leaf and Tendril

“A Dream

As the Earth began spinning faster and faster, we floated upwards, hands locked tightly together, eyes sad and bewildered. We watched as our faces grew younger and realized the Earth was spinning in reverse, moving us backwards in time.

Then we reached a point where I no longer knew who you were and I was grasping the hands of a stranger. But I didn't let go. And neither did you.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I had my first dream about you last night.

Really? She smiles. What was it about?

I don't remember exactly, but the whole time I was dreaming, I knew you were mine.”
― Lang Leav, Love & Misadventure