Freshly Pressed: Four Friday Faves

No more of this “waiting until the end of the month” nonsense to see what was hot on Freshly Pressed! To keep our Freshly Pressed editors’ picks, um, fresh, we’ll highlight a few of our (and your) favorite posts here every Friday.

If One More Woman Complains About the Size of Her Body . . .

Caitlin Kelly’s post on Broadside hit a nerve with hundreds of you.

Whining about weight teaches the girls in our lives, who look to us their role models, that this is just what women do, that focusing miserably and endlessly on our individual body size and shape is our most pressing issue as women — instead of political and economic issues that affect us all, size 00s to 24s,  like paid maternity leave or better domestic violence protection or access to birth control and abortion.

Caitlin’s post racked up the Likes, but also spawned some fascinating conversation in her comments section. We loved seeing your responses as much as we enjoyed reading this no-holds-barred post in the first place.

My Life, Plan B (or what to do when life doesn’t go as planned)

Photo from http://callmeshebear.wordpress.com

Mama Bear, the blogger behind Call Me She Bear, is almost 40 years old, and coming to terms with the fact that her life hasn’t turned out quite the way she’d been planning.

(I’m sure none of us can relate, right?)

What’s Mama Bear’s Plan B? Actually:

“Plan B is not a plan at all. It’s more of an intention. It’s an intention to let go of the tight grip on my big expectations, take things one day at a time, do what’s in front of me to the best of my ability, and trust that the blur coming up for me on the horizon will become clear to me and worthwhile when I get there.”

The gorgeous photos accompanying the post pushed it over the top. We can’t wait to read about how Plan B works out.

“I’m Spiritual, Not Religious”

We had a feeling some great conversation would come out of this post, and we weren’t wrong. After all, it’s hard to imagine that a bunch of opinionated bloggers wouldn’t have something to say about this:

To claim to be spiritual and not religious is like claiming to have taken a swim without getting wet. Anyone who embarks on anything spiritual will either receive the religious tradition from which it comes, or create their own religious tradition in the attempt to understand and practice it.

Not everyone agreed with blogger Eric’s take, but the discussion was both thought-provoking and civil — the very best of what the WordPress.com community is about.

Hanging Up the Tutu

Becca at 25toFly had quite the cheering squad among fellow bloggers this week, and when we read this post about her journey to find her life’s passion and re-define herself after leaving a career in dance, we understood why.

I had become the one thing that I had almost forgotten I’d sworn not to be, Miss play-it-safe.  Sure, I’d find a job. That job would pay well enough for me to live as comfortably as I always have. People would see me as “successful,” but I wouldn’t stop thinking, “Is this it?” I would eventually become that forty-year-old woman still bragging about how many pirouettes she could do twenty years ago while shamefully dodging conversation about her soul draining day job.

Her new direction? Writing. You think it’s a good choice, and so do we.

Thanks to everyone who sent us recommendations this week — you introduced us to a bunch of great bloggers, some of whom have since been featured on Freshly Pressed. Keep it up! You can tweet links you love to us @freshly_pressed. (And be sure to follow @freshly_pressed to see all your fellow bloggers’ picks, even those that don’t make it to the Freshly Pressed page.)


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50 Comments

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  1. becca3416

    Thank you infinitely! It is an honor!

    Like

  2. IrenesDaughter

    Reblogged this on Irenes Daughter.

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  3. songqinchi

    Reblogged this on Qinchi Song.

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  4. amirshafiq

    Reblogged this on ANATOMY.

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  5. arsilthiii

    Reblogged this on arsilthiii.

    Like

  6. Le Clown

    La Becca,
    So deserving.
    Le Clown

    Like

  7. The Clarences

    Yay!
    Happy Holidays!
    xoxo
    The Clarences

    Like

  8. manparonngawi

    Reblogged this on mantesangawi.

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  9. pangestuaryabani

    Reblogged this on Arya Bani Pangestu.

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  10. springingtiger

    I enjoy these synopses, this is a useful service; another reason to love WordPress!

    Like

  11. naflahsari

    Reblogged this on .

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  12. ahsansahal1

    Reblogged this on ahsansahal1.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. afandialdi

    Reblogged this on Wishing Well.

    Like

  14. jnegrete158

    Reblogged this on jnegrete158.

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  15. The Hook

    You’ve made some wonderful picks here!

    Like

  16. vpcassi

    Reblogged this on Venanzio Cassi.

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  17. KnowMaan

    Reblogged this on Nouman and commented:
    sometime..!

    Like

  18. علي الشرقاوي

    Reblogged this on دهانات درة جدة.

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  19. Godiva ATL

    Reblogged this on Godiva World.

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  20. widyabilhan

    Reblogged this on widyabilhan.

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  21. souldipper

    Congrats to each one of you! Well done. One day it would be really fun to hear if the writers who have been FPed had a feeling in their gut that “this is the one!” or if they were surprised.

    Like

  22. unfailed

    Reblogged this on jelajahi dan temukan… and commented:
    nice picture 🙂

    Like

  23. Jo-anne Torres

    I would like to recommend Sam, the youngest blogger I know.
    http://samuelleciersten.wordpress.com/

    Like

  24. ferienmarshela

    Reblogged this on Ferien Marshela (NPM : 0210U041).

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  25. byofismobilyalari

    Reblogged this on byofismobilyalari's Blog.

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  26. bibilaudah

    Reblogged this on bibilaudah and commented:
    very good

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  27. ayuanggraini992

    Reblogged this on ayuanggraini992.

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  28. myjunkmail0000

    Reblogged this on myjunkmail0000.

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  29. andinindut

    Reblogged this on andinindut.

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  30. megawatimunaf

    Reblogged this on munafmegawati.

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  31. rochjeni097

    Reblogged this on rochjeni097.

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  32. thomasoutt

    I liked the concept of differentiating between being religious & being spiritual. I think there is a sort of middle ground, with Truth for both sides providing a common ground. My feeling is that one can hide behind being religious, not so with being authentically spiritual. If the ritual is empty, for show, you won’t get wet. If your ritual is authentic, does not cause harm to others, you will never cease to be a fountain for all who are thirsty.

    Like

  33. meqhli

    Reblogged this on meqhli.

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  34. neelkanth

    SO NICE INDEED.

    Like

  35. desyanaputrie

    Reblogged this on desyanaputrie.

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  36. icittadiniprimaditutto

    Reblogged this on i cittadini prima di tutto.

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  37. minkaungsoe

    Reblogged this on My Blog.

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  38. susfashionable

    Reblogged this on Sustainable and Fashionable.

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  39. gesihayu

    Reblogged this on little bee and commented:
    🙂

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  40. akangfu

    Reblogged this on futuremorenature.

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  41. haywardhelen

    But how do you know if you are playing it safe, or just playing it well? Is it just my experience, or does everything change when you reach 50? Sometimes I catch myself looking at my younger friends and thinking, ‘They have no idea’. Nor, may I say, did I, when younger. But now that I do have an awareness of life passing each I morning when I wake up I know it. Is this a spiritual awareness? Perhaps.

    Like

  42. sel24525

    Reblogged this on Fantasy Writing.

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  43. satishsaty

    Reblogged this on satish.

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  44. tugbacevizcii

    Reblogged this on tugbacevizci.

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  45. Nancy Hepner

    I think this must be true, “this is just what women do, that focusing miserably and endlessly on our individual body size and shape is our most pressing issue as women “. I recently attended a memorial for my eldest sister and my remaining sister only talked about how proud she was to have lost weight. Not our dead sister, not about having to have 2 joints replaced, not about our family gathering but about her weight. I am always offended when my sisters asked about my weight. Not because I worry about my weight but because, “I haven’t seen you in 3 years and this is all you can ask me??” I thank God I think about *other* things waking and sleeping. I pray for *health* and prosperity for my children and for those struggling with their lives in this difficult winter. Amen!

    Like

  46. noele7726

    Reblogged this on noele7726 and commented:
    love the balancing rocks, reminds me of jenga. HAH I am a weirdo I know

    Like

  47. Shell Ochsner

    Wow! Thank you for sharing. I very much enjoyed the stories these four had for us.

    Like

  48. jadaquashie

    Reblogged this on jadaquashie.

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  49. karasudee

    Reblogged this on sudekara and commented:
    No more of this “waiting until the end of the month” nonsense to see what was hot on Freshly Pressed! To keep our Freshly Pressed editors’ picks, um, fresh, we’ll highlight a few of our (and your) favorite posts here every Friday.

    Like

  50. akangsyukur

    Reblogged this on akangsyukur.

    Like

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