Things You Can See in a Strip Club
Last night, I went to a strip club with some friends. They had read my book, “The Naked Truth”, and told me they wanted to go to a strip club but were scared to go alone. So, they twisted my arm 😉 and got me to go with them.
They found an awesome little “hole in the wall” type of place, the kind of place I used to love to work at. In fact, I was having fantasies of coming out of retirement just to work there, it looked so fun! (And, I’m not.)
My friends were so shy at first. It was odd to me almost, and it also made me consider that maybe a lot of people feel that way when going to a strip club for the first time. (I very often have to remind myself in life that I am an unusual person and can’t assume that others’ experiences are anything like mine!) It was up to me to show them the ropes: we got a drink at the bar, and I coaxed them over to the stage. I showed them how to get a dancer to come over (show them the money!) and dance for me, and how to really be present in the moment, enjoying every nuance of the experience.
As is typical of these hole in the wall types of places, there was a lot of variety in the body shapes and sizes of the dancers. Yes, I did see a few nearly perfect bodies (understanding, of course, that there is no such thing as a perfect body, and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder). And I saw women who ranged from being stick thin to moderately heavy. I saw breasts that were tiny, large, and every size in between. I saw asses of every conceivable size and shape. I saw skin of every possible shade, adorned sometimes with tattoos and piercings…and sometimes not.
I know it was not a first for me, but the experience of being at a strip club after not having been to one in over a year, served again as a barometer for how much I am loving myself now. There I was, mesmerized by the motion, the smell, the presence of these women, and all of a sudden I realized, more strongly than ever before, that I was seeing each one of them as truly beautiful. Yes, if someone had asked me about their “imperfections”, I would have been able to see the ways that they did not measure up to the societal standards of beauty in every single way, and that’s not what I was focusing on. I was focusing on the beauty that was there. And I saw it in every single woman. Even in the features that are not typically thought of as “beautiful”. I saw it all as beautiful. And it is. And so are you. Whether you’re male or female. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!