It can be scary to leave your comfort zone. To trade your trusty habits in hopes for a little magic. Before Samantha's party, the only S&M that I knew about was Saks & MasterCard (and Stillettos & Manolos, Stella & Miuccia, Schiaparelli & McQueen...) But after my attempted dominatrix was just a dud in latex, I left Big's in 50 Shades of Shame. S&M? Self-conscious & Mortified. I couldn't help but wonder: Do men really want a strong woman—or when we flex our muscles, are they afraid to lose their power? And fetish or no fetish, how much pain was one woman expected to take before she disappeared? Some people get off on pain. But most get out. How much rejection before she retreated to her comfort zone, wondering, Was I too bold, too out there, too this, too that, too much? As I put my whip away for good, I started thinking about the circus. The loud lion is the one who gets whipped. Even so, I think I'd rather be the lion who roared. Because maybe it's better to give your all and get hurt, than to play tame and wonder "What If?" Because I am no cowardly lion. I am woman. And through it all—tears, setbacks, scared men and masked pain—we keep roaring. #CarrieDragshaw