“Memoirs of a Geisha” was one of the best books I had ever read. That was until I learned it was fiction and written by a man! I felt duped, betrayed, lied to. While reading, I couldn’t put my book down. In fact I was on a family vacation and kept getting in trouble for reading instead of participating in family activities. But I was learning some of life’s most valuable lessons – I was learning how to tap into the powers of womanhood.
I re-read the part where, the main character Chiyo is training to become a Geisha- over and over again. Her final task was to make any man pointed out by her instructor to stop in his tracks with one glance. She succeeded in making a boy fall off his bicycle! Innocently thinking this memoir was written by the real life Geisha herself, I was amazed at her learned ability to flirt. Oh how I envisioned the esteem I would gain in the eyes of the opposite sex if I could just harness and focus my natural ways of being a woman. My mama did always tell me women had a certain ‘power’ over a man…now I had a real life example to follow.
I practiced and practiced and practiced my enticing stare at any man that crossed my path. Then I was told a man had made the whole story up. Oh the deceit… the let down! Years later when the movie came out it was hard for me to even go see it because it brought back such an irritated taste in my mouth.
Since then I have learned that flirting is indeed something that can be learned. Maybe staring at strangers like a creepy stalker isn’t quite the way to do it, but there are ways.
You want to become a great flirt? Start with a positive attitude and put the other person first. Watch and observe any great flirt you know…you’ll see what I’m talking about. The great art of flirting doesn’t need the results of making a man fall off his bike (although one day I’m going to succeed in that…even if I have to give the bike rider a little shove)– it just needs to help us intrigue someone into wanting to know a little more about us.
(Get Your Flirt On: Have a positive attitude and put the other person first)
