"...if you don't spend a lot of time in strip clubs, you may not know that exotic dancers come in all different shapes, sizes, and shades. You may suspect that all exotic dancers look like Barbie. In which case you are wrong."

"Most people are driven by their own agendas, or ulterior motives. I had to stop giving them weapons to use against me. Having my worst moments thrown in my face was painful but the worst part was that I brought it upon myself."

“When asked a general question about how they imagine a perfect life to be, the most common answer from respondents who were both married and single is that they desired an intimate, connected relationship. The next most popular answer was that more sex would be great.”

“There is nothing more powerful at disarming people and making people feel safe with us, than a genuine smile that reaches our eyes. Children flock to teachers who smile and cower from teachers who frown. Our facial expressions truly matter when we communicate with people.”

“…it seems natural that after being touched by the same person for years that we become less aroused by them. After all, we know all their moves. Their touch doesn't feel as titillating anymore. We may even begin to dread having the same old sex again. But it isn't just familiarity that makes us lose interest in our spouses sexually. Scientists theorize that we are biologically-motivated to seek novel partners in the interests of our primal instincts to reproduce.”

“I am the LAST person who would tell you to stop enjoying porn. Yet, I've had at least three friends admit privately to me that their partners are addicted to it. They felt safe to tell me because of my experience in adult entertainment. At the time, I thought that each of them was making it out to be bigger than it really was.”

“Even though my attraction waned for my partners, I was still horny and loyal. My lovers never complained about lack of effort in the bedroom. I assumed that I would never lose interest in sex. However, that is precisely what happened when sex became a contentious issue in one of my long-term relationships.”

“I learned from that relationship, and the ones before it, that my process for choosing partners was extremely faulty … If I wanted peace and joy in a committed relationship, I reasoned that I would need to revise my methods for mate-seeking. The next time I met someone that I was extremely sexually attracted to …”

“I was married for a very long time. Now I’m single and I don’t know how to date anymore. Talking to people I’m attracted to makes me nervous. Being naturally shy, I usually wait for other people to talk to me. How can I break out of my shell and learn to approach people confidently? I am getting older and I don’t want to be alone forever.”

“The majority of us suffer from body shame in one form or another. From worrying that our cocks or boobs are too small to thinking that people will be disgusted by our scars or medical situation, we all have the potential to be deeply ashamed about the parts of ourselves that we have little, if any, control over.”

“If you want to make love like you give a fuck, you must learn the truth about foreplay. It has nothing to do with oral sex or french kissing.”

“Our elders didn't teach us how to love being alone. We never learned the importance of living for today. We have had a "future orientation" about relationships instilled in us since we came to life.”

“As I lay in my bed, more often than I like to remember, I spent hours thinking, reflecting, and researching the ideas and feelings that I was going through. I learned that rejection is not a reflection of me. It is a reflection of the person who is rejecting me.”

“When I saw him in the highschool hallway, he crumpled my letter and threw it on the ground. He said, “Don’t try and guilt me into staying together with you.””

“How can I unconditionally love someone who I consider to be unacceptable? How can I unconditionally love myself after all of the horrible things I have done? And most of all, how can someone else unconditionally love me with all my ugliness, inside and out?”

“My fear of pharmaceuticals and trauma from the medical establishment has led to me trying every possible natural treatment in an effort to avoid doctors and medications. AMAZINGLY, my journey has led to some incredible discoveries.”

“I began to feel resentment towards people who were not sick; people who could hold their babies on their laps and those in loving relationships. I didn't want to live anymore, but I couldn't leave my children.”

“…The problem is not with monogamy itself. Monogamy is simply a promise to not engage in sexual behaviours with others. Monogamy culture, on the other hand, is a conditioned belief system that leads to several false relationship beliefs.”

“Raise your hand if you grew up around yelling, vocal criticism directed at you or others, name-calling, shaming, controlling behaviours, pressure to be a certain way, the silent treatment, … sarcasm, or a silencing of your voice or the voice of others?”

“…internalized oppression is when you take a negative stigma that is being used against you and you turn it against yourself. Many sex workers and clients, and people in general, fall victim to internalized oppression.”