In a Vanity Fair interview earlier this year Meryl Streep talked about the feeling of personal liberation that she is experiencing in her life these days. What she said resonated so much for me that I clipped part of the article and have carried it with me ever since. She has raisesd three daughters and I agree with her that as the girls grow up and boys enter the picture, the girls begin to modify their assertiveness. They yearn to be acceptable, even appealing to boys. I have certainly seen and heard this from my two teenage daughters. But what Streep says that I really adore is "an enormous relief to outgrow those constraints." She says, "I can't remember the last time I really worried about being appealing."

For me, I can't remember that last time I checked the mirror after leaving the house in the morning. As Streep reports, " I think you just have to get sick of hearing the accommodations in your approach to things...the way people have to get sick of drinking or drugs before they stop." Pretty strong words to compare personal liberation to recovery from addiction, but it rings true for me. I found a very strong taste for personal liberation in the past few years. I am happy to be exactly who I am, without making it easier for everybody else.