I view the feminine within, first and foremost, as a source of vitality. When I am in sync with the feminine, I feel very strongly myself. I experience myself in a way that feels powerful, sensual, radiant, and very much alive. When I have gone too long without tending to the inner feminine—that is, when the demands of everyday life have drawn me out of myself to the degree that those inner experiences are diminished—I feel flat. If you were to ask me how I experienced the inner feminine or how I felt in my own skin, perhaps, I would have a hard time answering. I might say, “I don’t know,” or “I don’t feel anything.” I have found that writing exercises like this one are extremely helpful for reconnecting with those feelings and with the source of my vitality.

The brief narrative that follows is another exercise in self-fashioning, or a re-envisioning of the feminine archetypes based on personal experience (which means these narratives, including title and image, would likely look different for everyone). The inner experience I am articulating here is “feeling pretty”. When I began this project in 2017, “On Feeling Pretty” was one of the first self-fashioning narratives I published. When I revisited that narrative several days ago, I realized that my thoughts and feelings about “pretty” had changed. And I very much enjoyed giving form to that new experience.

Also, I want to thank you for taking the time to read these posts. Self-fashioning is a project I started several years ago but never completed to my satisfaction…until now. And now that it’s finally coming full-circle, I don’t just want to finish it. I want to breathe new life into it. This project has revived my spirit and breathed new life into me, personally and creatively. It is now my goal to make it better than it was before. It is important to me. Thank you again for reading.

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To feel pretty is to feel softly sexy. It is an all-over sensation of luxury. To be nestled sweetly in one’s own skin. Pretty is inherently imaginative. It is the divine art of feminine play, the dance between girlishness and majesty.

Pretty is playfully flirtatious, graceful, and delicate. It is a feeling often brought about by rituals that involve pampering or dressing up. Pretty is the sensual and emotional experience of being cherished—whether that feeling is brought about by pampering oneself or the affectionate displays of another. It is a shimmering, sultry energy that emanates from each and every pore. Pretty feels ethereal. It is sweetly and pervasively sexy. To feel pretty is to feel resplendent, to bask in the glow of one’s own feminine energy.

Pretty is the equivalent of a long, slow blink. 

I know when I need to feel pretty. Whenever I go too long without dressing up, having my nails done, or doing my hair and makeup fully, I begin to feel as though I need to feel pretty. And that doesn’t just mean that I need to attend to a few neglected self-care rituals. It means that I need to experience a state of being sweetly, softly, indulgently feminine.