Written on the Body
It has been a month since we last spoke, and I have been meaning to write this for some time. If I can be a bit honest, I’ve been feeling depressed.
When I returned from Banff, I was hit with this immense sadness. The way I have been describing it to most people is that: I had to come home to place where I always faced this never-ending sense of anxiety and fear. Although I know it’s not real, I always felt in competition with others and this sense of inadequacy regarding my work. So for about a week after my return, I laid on my couch and binged watched reality shows on Hayu and wallowed in my feelings.
These feelings and this sadness reminded me of a 2017 essay written by the incredible Isabel B. Sloane titled, “When Envy Gets Under Your Skin.” This sentence got me though and really resonated…
When you work in the attention economy and people fail to exert the energy of pressing a “like” button it starts to feel extremely personal.
Whenever I start to feel shitty or I start to feel those negative thoughts creeping in, I always seek out Isabel’s essay to remind me: your feelings are normal, and you’re okay. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the small things that we forget about the bigger picture: you are doing great work, and there are people out there who are cheering you on. Surround yourself with those positive forces who want to see you succeed, each and every single day. Even on those day when you don’t feel like you’re going to.
Now for the NSFW portion of the newsletter, if you don’t want to read, feel free to skip!
When I was a young teen growing up, I had a lot of confusing feelings going on inside about my sexuality. The Internet and bookstores were two my safe havens to figure out what was happening. Jeanette Winterson and lesbian erotica was what helped guide me.
Last week, I got to attend Erotic Writing Workshop courtesy of She Does the City taught by Tamara Faith Berge. I was intrigued because I am sure we have all read some pretty awful erotica in our time. So I figured, okay - let’s try this.
Today I’m sharing with you a piece of erotica I wrote in 15-minutes which was inspired by the lesbian erotica that got me through my teens. I can’t speak to how good it is, but an attempt was made. Please enjoy!