I’m feeling a bit nostalgic, realizing that it’s been two years since I launched Owning Pink. It’s like looking at your baby and realizing she’s not a baby anymore, and even though she’s become this incredible person, you have these tender feelings for her early years.

When I first started Owning Pink on April 27, 2009, I held to this Field of Dreams belief that, “If you build it, they will come” -- but part of me was terrified. What if I built it -- and then nobody showed up? It would be like throwing yourself a birthday party, only to wind up alone, stuffing yourself full of birthday cake to try to sedate that desire within you that just wants to be loved.

But I took out a loan and leapt into my big dreams by hiring Joy Mazzola, Owning Pink’s first employee, and together, we set our intentions for Owning Pink by writing in magic marker on the wall of my home office, “We want Owning Pink to invite people to go to that place of pain, knowing they will be loved, safe, and nurtured.” In other words, we wanted to help people heal, only we didn’t quite realize that’s what we were doing back then.

We Built It, And You Came

While I was on the road on my 20 city book tour for What’s Up Down There?, fellow author/blogger/entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau reached out because he too is in the midst of a book tour (63 cities for him -- puts my tour to shame!).

Turns out Chris is not only my soul sibling but also the author of The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live The Life You Want, and Change The World. Chris and I have been nearly missing meeting in person in airports and bookstores around the county, and when I was at Inkwood Books in Tampa, our books were sitting right next to each other on the front table, presumably because both of us were doing book tour events there the same week. So I bought it --  and read it obsessively in the next 24 hours.

Holy Vagina, Batman! One week until the release of What's Up Down There? Questions You'd Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend! In anticipation of the big launch day (Sept 28), this week we are pleased to publish exclusive excerpts and blogs by our very own Dr. Lissa Rankin. Today's excerpt is on the time that shall not be named - well anywhere else, that is: Menopause. Check out Lissa's experiences and personal exploration of this time that most women dread and how we can embrace it with the kick-butt power and grace that make us uniquely female... Enjoy!

I used to dread menopause, as many of my patients do.

Who wants to endure hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, brain fog, insomnia, vaginal dryness, skin changes, and weight gain? But as this life transition draws closer to me, I find myself shedding my fear and beginning to embrace it. I would never want to move backwards in my life. Each year is filled with lessons learned and growth experiences. God forbid I should ever have to relive my twenties, full of insecurities, vanity, pride, and selfish choices. And my thirties, while vastly better than my twenties, were largely a time of walking through life like a zombie, asleep to my true calling, too busy DOING to just BE. Now, I’m in my forties, and I’m loving it.  I’m getting smile lines and grey hair and age spots, but I really don’t give a flip. Sure, the radiance of youth may fade as we age, but we glow with a different kind of light as we step into who we are truly meant to be.

Note to self: making mistakes does NOT make ME a mistake

“I have heard that an eagle misses 70 percent of its strikes. Why should I expect to do better? And when he misses, does he scold himself, I wonder, for failing at the task?” ~Sophy Burnham