I am the founder and director of the Institute for Sexuality Education and Enlightenment (ISEE), a professional training program for educators, counselors, and therapists. The majority of the people who come to our program are clinicians who wish to have advanced knowledge of sexual problems so that they are well-trained in their practice, and health and sex educators who wish to make sure that their information is well-rounded, holistic, and
"We don't learn from experiences. We learn from reflecting on the experience". -John Dewey I find myself in the surprising revelation this morning in meditation that to be a participant and a witness in this time of upheaval and change is a curiously horrifying and exhilarating mix. My emotions seem to be everywhere and yet my mind is wide awake. There is horror all around and there is activism, change
My mom is in the hospital right now. It’s not COVID, but it’s a serious issue. I found out Monday morning, one hour after having a conversation with her about exactly this thing: what would we do if one of us had to go into the hospital, and we could not see each other, or may never see each other again? I was out of my mind with—I’ll name it–terror–for
Yesterday a friend told me that his child’s young teenage friend had overdosed on pills in the night, leaving an email in the wee hours to some friends and family, explaining that he was “done,” and it was time for him to go. Luckily, one of those friends was wakeful and saw it in time to save him, but it was a close thing. It made me think of how
I feel awful right now. Not physically. Physically I am well, so far. I have no signs of ill health. But I cry every single day. Often more than once. There are days when I am so tired of struggling with it all–the Coronavirus, the world’s political and economic situations, the causes I care about, the hopelessness and the fear and the paranoia and the infighting and the censorship. I
This speech was modified for a blog post. It was originally given at the AASECT Institute, “The Body Whisperers, Body Work in the Sexuality Fields” in New Orleans, November 2019. I was asked to post it by multiple people, so I have de-contextualized some of it from the Institute, which was about erotic body work, and am posting it here. To all at the Institute–thank you for your overwhelming support.