Pleasure, Play & Purpose

I am at the convergence of 3 very important healing missions, and have been itching for a quiet moment to find the words to express what has me fired up right now.

Last weekend I helped to host over 40 breast cancer survivors in my hometown with an amazing organization called Flat Retreat Community, who for the last 4 years have been offering retreats for women who have gone flat after mastectomy. These events are a place of respite, community, and connection for women, many who have never spent time with (or hugged!) another flat woman. We enjoyed yoga and reiki together, had a photo shoot with Charise Isis of The Grace Project, took a boat ride on the Hudson River, went swimming, had a flat fashion show, made TikToks, laughed, ate delicious food donated from area restaurants, cried together, and made lifelong friends.

During the weekend, I had the opportunity to lead a guided meditation and give a talk called, “Tune in & Turn on“. In this workshop we explored our relationships with our bodies, and the idea that the degree to which you befriend yourself and show yourself loving kindness, correlates to the amount of pleasure and turn on you can experience. I listened to women share their desires, and watched how they supported and encouraged each other. We explored ways to cultivate desire, starting with the important practice of prioritizing pleasure, and doing the important work of “pleasure research”. This was the culmination of my coaching practice, and the pleasure based inspiration I gained from working with Mama Gena before the Covid19 pandemic turned all our lives sideways. It has only been one week since my workshop, and I’m seriously hooked. These ladies invited me to come join them for Flat Retreat San Francisco in October, and I’m so happy to share that my flight is BOOKED! I can’t wait to be with my flattie sisters again, and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge for International Flat Day, October 7, 2023.

As I write this, I am sitting at a the Omega Institute, a beautiful holistic retreat center in Rhinebeck NY. My life has woven in and out of this place since 2004, from working in the production department producing events, to planning and producing the Women and Power conference with the Omega Women’s Leadership Center, to working one-on-one coaching Omega’s seasonal staff. Now I’m here for my own personal retreat, about to launch the next leg of my pleasure, play and purpose based mission!

This next chapter is about the launch of Upstate Mary! My dear friend Michelle approached me last winter with an idea to produce CBD infused intimacy oils and suppositories. I knew how CBD helped me when I took it orally, but used vaginally??Hmm… Then came the fun R&D part of the work. Back home with our husbands, we tried multiple rounds of product, gauging things like slide and glide, smell, taste, and most importantly how these products helped reduce pain and increase arousal. We also did due diligence to try all the competitor oils we could get our hands on. At the end of the day, we’ve got some products that we know will spark a juicy cascade of orgasmic pleasure across the world!

I CAN NOT WAIT for our products to arrive, and share them with everyone we know. Our organic, full-spectrum CBD infused intimacy oils and melts are going to help so many couples reconnect and experience new heights! You can follow us on Instagram, and keep your eye on UpstateMary.com for the official launch.

Something tells me that this is just the very beginning of something huge, that my whole life is about to realign in this pleasure, play and purpose fueled mission! I hope you come along for the ride!