I Enjoy Being a Girl

From the Editor

Several years ago, I took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (aka MMPI), a test that, by having you answer more than 500 true-or-false questions, delves into the deep recesses of your psyche to reveal the state of your mental health. The counselor presented me with the results, a chart showing a pair of parallel lines denoting the range of what was considered “normal.” Needless to say, many a time my personality was not “between the lines.”

One particularly huge spike showed I had very “feminine” tendencies (I remember one that said something like “I enjoy flower arranging”), which I suppose is true. Not so much flower arranging, but I am particularly drawn to womanly things — cooking, scrapbooking, romance novels, jewelry and dressing up, to name a few. A different trait — I do not like people telling me what to do — was at odds with the feminine part of me, which is what makes me crazy, according to the counselor. (He did not use the word “crazy,” but that was the gist of what he said. However, another mental health professional did declare me “a little bit neurotic.” I’ll own that.)

When planning what will appear in the magazine, I have to check myself to be sure the stories aren’t skewing too “girlie” for the tastes of our male readers. Before composing my letter, most times I scroll through the issue’s lineup to see if any stories revolve around a theme I can write about. In this issue, I was surprised to see all sorts of female-related topics. I’m going to give myself a pass on this one — after all, March is Women’s History Month.

Speaking of which, there’s a story about local women who’ve made it to Florida’s Women’s Hall of Fame. And we’re looking toward the future in our story about the Oasis Center for Women and Girls. There’s also a fashion essay about dressing for success at the office. 

I’ll be referring back to the magazine’s January/February issue though, to delve into the girliest of girl topics — weddings — because my only daughter is now engaged! I LOVE weddings. My mother was on the older end of an 11-child family, so in my formative years I spent a lot of time going to — and being bedazzled by — the weddings of her younger siblings. (If you’d like to revisit the Northwest Florida Weddings section, click on the flipbook at northwestfloridaweddings.net.)

It’s not a “someday” thing for me anymore; it’s the real deal. And I couldn’t be happier. Perhaps I’ll take up flower arranging.