Don’t be too promiscuous. Or self-assured. Initiate just a bit of poise but, nevertheless, encourage yourself to be irresistibly wild. People liked “wild” women, and I desired nothing more but to be wholly, unquestionably liked. These thoughts, these feelings, constantly orbit through my abysmal mind, wandering aimlessly as I engage within something that should be guilt-free and pleasurable for me, especially at this point in my adult life: sex.

Maria slowly pushed open the door to the thrift shop, her favourite one in Madrid. The shop is on one of the streets coming off of Gran Vía, or maybe one coming off of them. She’s never entirely sure of how to find it, it just always seems to appear in front of her when she least expects it.

She receives hundreds of messages per day from women around the world thanking her for inspiring them to become more confident and to love themselves just as they are.

If anyone asked Perry when she started to gain her patience, she would probably tell them that it was the month she met Douglas. She learned quickly that to be friends with little boys in the summertime, one must abandon their modern sense of schedule.