I found this post very interesting, and really appreciate the authenticity in your writing. I think you touch on the conversation I haven't heard talked about much, which is, how do we have honest conversations where each person's full self can come to the table? It's easy when we talk about light stuff, but when it comes to someone's identity or deep values, we have a tough time talking.
I think that's where the morality/destigmatization situation often goes, is that because you're doing this thing with high stigma (sex work, drugs, etc), you become a stigmatized person. I.e. because you attach some value to that lifestyle, and I attach stigma to it, you get the stigma attached to you too. Disconnecting those two is something I'm really interested in seeing how we as a culture can do.
That's quite the epiphany. I hope the writing is helping, I know my writing was a form of therapy I used to get through some really tough times. Don't beat yourself up too bad and try to not live in your head too much. You are a good person and I bet there are lots of people who feel the same way about you. All I can advise for the moment is to be around positive people who add to your life.
I found this post very interesting, and really appreciate the authenticity in your writing. I think you touch on the conversation I haven't heard talked about much, which is, how do we have honest conversations where each person's full self can come to the table? It's easy when we talk about light stuff, but when it comes to someone's identity or deep values, we have a tough time talking.
I think that's where the morality/destigmatization situation often goes, is that because you're doing this thing with high stigma (sex work, drugs, etc), you become a stigmatized person. I.e. because you attach some value to that lifestyle, and I attach stigma to it, you get the stigma attached to you too. Disconnecting those two is something I'm really interested in seeing how we as a culture can do.
That's quite the epiphany. I hope the writing is helping, I know my writing was a form of therapy I used to get through some really tough times. Don't beat yourself up too bad and try to not live in your head too much. You are a good person and I bet there are lots of people who feel the same way about you. All I can advise for the moment is to be around positive people who add to your life.
Thanks for sharing.