Baby, It's Cold Outside

Love listening to the song. Love hearing Buddy the elf sing it. Makes me smile every time. A man trying to convince a woman that she doesn't want to leave him and go out into the cold night. And she doesn't want to leave anymore than he wants her to go. It's pretty funny.
But today, when I went outside in the six degree weather to start up the car so that my precious children could be warm on the drive to school, I was thinking of a totally different meaning of "baby it's cold outside." I was thinking about friendships. Women's friendships. They are tough things. Women need women. I mean, it is our nature to be community oriented. The whole going to the bathroom together thing is a little bit of an exaggeration, but it came from our desire to bond and know others and be known. There's the rub. When we aren't known, when we feel like we are on the outside, we are COLD. We hurt. We rub our hands together. Try to stay warm, but there is something within the heart of a woman that just feels cold.
You'd think that it's because someone was mean to us. Excluded us. Made us feel badly. But in my life, I am often on the outside because I put myself there. I feel awkward or inept. I don't know what to do and instead of communicating, I just become an outsider looking in. I feel like the old Mervyn's commercial...."open, open, open." Standing on the outside of the glass with my face plastered up to the door. And I want someone else to fix it. But nobody else can. I have to open the door and come back in.
Not that we as women can't be unwelcoming. I think that we can rule. But sometimes we are just too sensitive. We walk out the door (yes, figuratively) when things get uncomfortable. And that's too bad. One thing I have to say about men..........they are a lot easier to deal with in this realm. My boys fight and then they are done. Not so with the girls. Mercy. So much emotional baggage. I love being a woman, but I really dislike this about our relationships.
Let's face it, relationships that are deep are difficult. They don't come quickly and they don't come easily. But they don't go easily either. That's what makes them so wonderful. So hang on. Stay in. Take off your coat. Sit down. Light a fire. Have a drink. (of cocoa of course). Grab a blankie. Ask for tissue. Relax. Wait out the storm. Cuz baby, it's cold outside.
blessings.