Pottery therapy

So I am back in pottery classes. I've done this before and enjoyed it - I don't think I am great at it and the wheel definitely tests my patience, but I love to get my hands dirty, to smell the clay, to watch it mold and change between my hands.

I was a bit nervous about the class - the last couple of times I went with a friend, but this time I didn't know anyone there. I should not have worried. We were only about 15 minutes into class when the topic of conversation turned to men, penis sizes, dating, and whether it's OK to have a crush on someone when you are both married. Hm. And I have to add that I wasn't the one initiating this conversation. There was only four of us in the class, including the instructor. I think the youngest girl there was a bit mortified, but there was no good way to escape from class at that point. Poor thing.

I don't know what it is about women that we feel so comfortable discussing such intimate topics with perfect strangers. Maybe we are all baffled by men, or just need reassurance that we are not alone in needing help when it comes to navigating their weird and woolly world. Maybe we are also all just incredibly insecure, or we are trying to justify crushing on our bosses, or having a little too much fun gazing into someone other than our husband's eyes, or daydreaming about a friendship turning into some torrid affair. So by sharing it with others, suddenly all of these secret desires somehow become OK. I don't know.

I usually try not tot share too many intimate details of my marriage, or my secret desires -- there is a reason they are "secret" -- but I definitely had fun last night listening to the other women and laughing with them about how absurd all of this is. I also found out about this great new diet that apparently messes with your hormones but lets you drop 30 pounds in 5 weeks. Well, not all advice or insight from women is valuable or harmless, right?