What we call things matters. Our naming process, whether conscious or unconscious, comes to define how we think and experience ourselves and the world. For too long, reproductive health has been designated with terms like “feminine hygiene” and “family planning”. Not only is this language exclusive, but it is lacking in accuracy.

Nelson Mandela might not have been talking about sex when he said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Yet, there may be no place in the human psyche that this is more true. 

It is my children that have taught me the most about my real presence in life. Years ago, it was their small hands taking hold of either side of my face and willfully turning my attention to fully face them. In their teen years, I learned through the moments I missed to pay closer attention when they were standing nearby ready to spill out their feelings and stories.

The sexiest part of the human body lies in the brain, specifically our limbic brain, where our libido resides alongside our processing of emotions, memory and scent. One of the quickest and most assured routes to sexual arousal is through fantasy.

Sometimes you just have to fight about it. As human animals, conflict is not only a natural outcome of partnerships and family units; it is an essential part of building unity. Our differences may make life more interesting, but learning to deal with them effectively and with love is a challenge for which we are often not well prepared.

It is completely understandable to want to look your best in a photo, but at what point have we gone too far in manipulating the original image? It started with simply removing a pimple to now completely reconstructing our figures.