It is 4am and I haven’t slept.

Sleepless in New York, Los Angeles, France, Florida. Sleep does not concern itself with where I lay my head, the eyes do not close and sleep does not take over. A nocturnal side effect that has invaded my body and found a home since menopause.

The only plus to insomnia is that it is context for creating great recipes and story lines when there is nothing else to do, except maybe sneak into the kitchen and eat a frozen sweet treat.

My before sunrise cogitation last night was about how much I enjoy women, but am often surprised and dismayed by the non-collaborative and unsupportive attitude of many in the workplace, as well as social gathering places.

This contradiction has been niggling at me for many years, but weighs heavily since I started blogging. So much of the dialog I have with women ends in a discussion about how bipolar we can be at the office or in social groups.

Initially, survey says that women are driven in equal measure by ambition and by jealousy which then translates into why her and not me, resentment that another woman is very good at her job, dresses well, is physically attractive or is just so damn funny and engaging…you get the picture.

Female co-workers are often difficult to embrace and to open up to. Knowing our gender as we do, we worry about being tomorrow’s water cooler fodder or card room gossip.

Women experience the same physical trials and tribulation…menstruation, childbirth, menopause and that old standby, Am I Fat syndrome.

We suffer together so we should stand together.

The fact that we have to endure all that and also pay for Tampax should unite us rather than break us apart. We all want strong relationships, rewarding lives and unanimously agree that we speak a different language from our male counterparts. Figuring out man-speak should unite us.

So why are so many women each other’s worst enemy?

I want to be surrounded by smart, interesting, over-achieving women. Won’t that make us all  look better?!

I have worked predominantly in sports and music, both male dominated industries. One would think that women would team up, yet this is often not the case.

The glass ceiling remains bullet proof because women work against rather than for each other.

Let’s band together as sisters and further advance our revolution, starting with the shared bliss achieved through brownies:

Bonding Brownies

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (3 bars)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

12 cup aluminized steel cupcake pan

cupcake baking cups

Thoroughly cream 1/2 cup butter (melt in microwave for 40 seconds and check as you don’t want a butter bomb to clean up!) and 1 cup sugar.

Add 2 well beaten eggs.

Blend in 2 1/2 oz. of melted unsweetened chocolate.

Add 1 tsp vanilla

Stir in 1/2 cup flour.

Optional:  1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Spray cupcake pan with avocado oil and place cupcake baking cups in each slot. Use an ice cream scoop which is 3/4 filled with brownie mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven.

Share with your female colleagues.