Experience
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Bite-sized
Accomplishments I have completed 7/100 stories for the #100StoryChallenge…all of which have been very different. I have posted 4 images for February Photofest. I published a story in Redemption Magazine. I published 14 posts as a result of the Erotic Journal Challenge, February Photofest, and the #100StoryChallenge. 3 posts per day is proving difficult (duh, I saw that coming), and yet somehow I also managed to tie a few of these in with other memes (Sinful Sunday, #SWAP, and Wicked Wednesday). However, I know I will have to continue to do a better job of “keeping things small” to maintain this sort of momentum. The goal this month was to…
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Bookmarking: a strategy for prioritizing intimacy
So I kind of continued down my internet rabbit hole from yesterday, moving from mindful intimacy to the consideration of presence and freedom, within the context of connection to a partner and/or lover. I know I need to be more mindful and more present in the most important areas of my life. To plan less so I can do one more of what matters. It means not letting my schedule get away from me…because time is the key. It also means maintaining energy, because even when I have time, if I don’t have the energy to do things, I won’t have the motivation and I won’t be able to focus.…
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Mindful intimacy
Recently He asked me, re: our relationship and sex life, “what do you need…what do you want…and what can you put up with?” That last may sound really resigned and negative, but what it really gets at is that major difference between our desire (or lack of) for including others in our sex life. For Him, that is in the want or need category. For me, it’s meh, unless something happens organically. It’s not that I don’t desire anyone besides my Husband. But, who I desire is so much a matter of circumstance that I have zero interest in swiping right or left and trying to make it happen. But…
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A passionate marriage
So yesterday, I got a bit off track by looking up the definition of passion. Really, the focus of the question should have been…what makes you feel passion? What ignites you? Not “what turns you on?” We’ll get there soon enough. What makes a passionate marriage? That’s the ticket. Because that’s what I want. And we have one, on occasion, so I know what elements I find “passionate.” It’s the opposite of complacent. Deeper, longer goodbye kisses. Stronger, tighter hugs. Holding hands. Sexual touch. A quick make-out session behind closed doors, between dinner and family time. Sex we’re yearning for. Grabbing, squeezing, needing. Deep conversations about our hopes and dreams and…
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The definition of passion
As I searched for a definition of passion to begin today’s reflection, I found this article that made me stop and reconsider it from a different angle: The Real Meaning of Passion. (It’s short and worth the quick read if you’d like a little surge of inspiration.) In this article the author refers to the original definition…the willingness to suffer for something you love. At first, when I saw this definition, I discarded it as the more negative and leaned toward the more positive sounding “intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction.” This article posits the question: What are you willing to give up to have the things you really want?…
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Soul-sharing
“Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit.” William James Reality is very much a product of personal experience. How I process events, what I remember, what I forget. And I have a tendency to get lost in a moment, keeping only snippets, feelings, thoughts, smells. This is part of the reason I journal so regularly and write things down. I forget specifics and details. But the ones I do remember, I needle on. I’m a big picture girl, who obsesses about things that often don’t matter, and doesn’t pay enough attention to the…
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A Holy Yes
“Our task it to say a holy yes to the real things of our life.” Natalie Goldberg We stayed up late talking. About us. And our relationship. And sex. It’s never a good idea, but the truth-serum, courage-inducing, emotion-heightening fog of alcohol and fatigue break down barriers and make us weak. Yes, we know, we’ve got a problem. But there is some good that comes of it sometimes. As long as we’ve held our tongues and said nothing outwardly combative, sometimes we uncover truths that have lain in darkness. In the couch, before bed, He said I don’t make my desires clear…that He wants to know what I want…
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Goodbye January, Hello February!
This month’s Erotic Journal Challenge prompts have been mainly about laying a foundation. Looking back, planning ahead, deciding what to focus on and what to let go of, what to say yes to and what to say no to. It’s given us an opportunity to define ourselves and consider what we want most. A few people have signed on and are doing some awesome reflections. If you are using the Erotic Journal Challenge in any way that you’d like to share, please feel welcome (but not obligated) to link up on the main EJC page. You can link a category/tag or you can link individual posts, whatever you prefer. You…
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The art of my heart ❤️
(Painting by Andrew Wyeth) I love a lot of different kinds of art, but I am usually drawn to paintings with color and lots of detail. Something I can get lost in. And likely, this is because it mirrors something in me….or something I seek. I’m drawn to circles, soft edges, warmth. Trees, old barns, and farmhouses. Scenes that make me feel something peaceful, cozy, homey. I don’t particularly like questions in my art…or having to dig too deeply to find its meaning. I like the message just above or below the surface. Being able to interpret it, much like a poem, in my own way. To find its…
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I’d be a gum drop
1. I struggle with _____ . A lot of things. Parenting. Work/life balance. Self-image. My libido and hormone balance. My weight and health. 2. What do men like to talk about? In my experience…the same thing everyone else likes to talk about: what the know, what they love, what they want…work, family, sex, hobbies & interests. 3. Do you eat food samples in grocery stores (consider pre-covid times)? I used to do this quite a bit in Costco, and I still will if I’m truly interested in the product. 4. What don’t you have figured out? I’m not sure I have anything completely figured out, actually…if I’m honest. 5. What…
