I am commenting :-)

I am very confident that we have a connection ♥ You are one of my fire-sharers :D

You are very important to me because of your open-mindedness and search for growth. I find your self-love journey especially inspiring because you have more years of self-hate training to unlearn, but you are not dismayed by it. Sometimes I feel despair for mothers because so many of them seem to define themselves by their role, but you don't! You search and find and say "this is me: curvy moonlit-haired bellydancing beautiful woman who happens to have a partner and a son." It gives me hope for my biomom (just to clarify: I see you as a friend, not a mother-figure ;-)) and for my friends-who-are-mothers.

I am glad to share a fire with you. You make me look afresh at my conditioning and question who I 'think' I am. Most (but not all) of the LJ friends I feel a close connection with are my son's age and yet I do not feel 'motherly' towards them. It is as if I relate with the part of myself that is still in her early 20s, the me who became lost for many years in marriage and controlling relationships. Now I have walked away from the 'controllers' it is as if the me that is still 20 or so can breathe again and is reliving that part of the journey while simultaneously I am a mother and partner in real life, this time doing it the way that feels right. Also I really do feel physical age does not define us. I have friends 20 and 25 years younger than myself and a partner nearly 30 years older than me.

I really do feel physical age does not define us

Yes, I quite agree! Time is unimportant, as is age -- only what has been learned matters.

also I really love your new icon and wish I had a spare 2grand to get that for you 'cause I SO would!