Where in the World is....Audra

How magical it is to be a woman.  It is as if being a woman allows you a place in an unspoken sisterhood with all women.  Though the connections may vary, the potential for that female source of intimacy is always present.  Many times throughout this trip, I have longed for the companionship of my female friends.  To share, without explanation, what they would inherently understand.  So many of my emails have been prefaced with the longing to be sitting on a comfy couch, coffee or wine (depending on the conversation) in hand, amongst my girlfriends…sharing my thoughts, my fears, my experiences, my dreams.  There are many things that I miss; my kids and the love, unlike any other, I share with each and every one of them; my “guys”…Harrell and Sean…individuals who I feel as though they are, at times, an extension of myself and my heart.  Yet there is something unique, that no other relationship can begin to mirror…that is the friendship and affection between your closest female friends.  An indescribable source of comfort, nurturing, understanding and growth, I feel blessed to have crossed paths with the women in my life (back home and throughout this journey)…as they are true sources of inspiration and my “guiding lights” to finding “home”.
Last night I was blessed with one of those nights.  Feeling a pretty consistent sense of displacement in Shanghai, I was invited to a woman’s home for wine and treats (“bits of deliciousness” as she deemed them).  Sierra,, for me, is one of those women who at first meeting, you think…”I would like to be friends with her”.  Instant comfort greeted me as I entered her home.  Similar to my own, it was filled with unique possessions that she loves and that actually MEAN something to her.  We sat on her couch, wine in hand and I recognized that immediate sense of comfort and familiarity that I had been longing for…almost physically needing.  
As I walked home, I felt an energy in my walk and a smile spread across my face…my spirit filled with a renewed warm glow.  How magical it is to be a woman….