And I've got a soft heart for women like me who were coming of age in the '70's.

Women who cherished being a woman but had no idea how to become one.

As early as I can remember, I was trained to believe that good girls are lovable, and lovable girls are chosen

Chosen by God. Chosen by a man.

I longed for a playbook and was given a bible. I went on to be a Fascinating Girl, a Surrendered Wife and a Praying Mom.

I made it my mission to be worthy of choosing. To be "servant" enough. Helpful enough. Skinny enough. Small enough.

And for a long time, all that was available to me was a patriarchal version of who I should be. That version served an agenda I can no longer support.

I followed the rules. All of them. And I still ended up feeling like a failure at who I was "supposed" to be and a lonely ghost of the woman I was designed to be.

I'm done with that now.

This is My Feminine Integrity era. I'm rethinking everything I ever learned about being a woman and turning it toward myself instead of letting the patriarchy turn against me.

If you're ready for a changing of the guard, I'd say you're right on time.

Come on in.