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This is such a beautiful piece. I live in western South Dakota now, and most folks here are generally reserved and avoid for the most part (I’m generalizing to make a point) any talk of natural bodily functions. But I grew up and came of age in the 70’s in Santa Fe, New Mexico surrounded by my extended family, many of whom are Hispanic. Perhaps those early years, among Hippie teachers and friends, and an aging, Spanish-speaking grandmother (who took us to visit our relatives that lived happily in their adobe houses without running water or electricity) affected my worldview. I’m always sad to see shame and embarrassment clouding the beauty of our humanness.

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Thank you so much for this message. That sounds like an amazing way to grow up. I grew up in California with Hippie Buddhist teachers and lived in Taos, NM for a while too. I used to travel a lot before having kids and loved being in communities where the body is more embraced, especially the magic of the female body. This is pretty rare in the US. I was just thinking of the Mary Oliver poem where she says something like, "You only need to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves."

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