"Fun" is not a word I would use to describe this summer. Neither would I use the word "relaxing" or even "sand-filled"...

But as I mentioned in the company meeting yesterday, it's been a very "growing" time ("growing" being the universal euphemism for "total fucking nightmare") that has yielded positive results in myself and others (and I'm not just talking about work peeps...). In a nutshell, before this summer I still believed in the idea of politeness as an effective form of communication. Was I running for office? Not unless it was for Senator Doormat, or Representative I Hate Everyone D-California.

For reasons that don't really matter now, I was living in fear of appearing to be a "bitch" (as if that were a bad thing). What is a "bitch?" A much happier woman, it seems, than I have ever been in my life. Someone who speaks her truth and doesn't take piles of shit from people to store in her lower intestines (I never thought about it before...but maybe that's what IBS is?!!!). What I have learned from my very challenging job and some challenging personal relationships is that while direct honesty may not make for comfortable human interactions, it makes for much LESS stress and frustration, and, in the end (after the dust settles) a much stronger sense of connection to others.

I finally got it that I would rather be respected than liked.

Just for today, I am grateful for my summer of bitch-dom.