Sex, Desire, Communication, & Intimacy

“Sex is… perfectly natural. It’s something that’s pleasurable. It’s enjoyable and it enhances a relationship. So why don’t we learn as much as we can about it and become comfortable with ourselves as sexual human beings because we are all sexual?” ~ Sue Johanson

“Aces aren't a puzzle with a missing piece. Everyone is their own full puzzle.”

― Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

“Love is a verb. Not a permanent state of enthusiasm.” ~ Esther Perel

“I invite you to think about ways you might introduce risk to safety, mystery to the familiar, and novelty to the enduring.”

― Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic by Esther Perel

“We don’t ask when people age out of singing, or eating ice cream; why would we stop making love?” ~ Ashton Applewhite

“I have tried sex with both men and women. I found I liked it.” ~ Dusty Springfield

“The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability.”

~ Anthony Venn Brown

Anxiety, Anger, Trauma, & Depression

“Who would I be if I unlearned everything I had learned without my permission?”

―  Punch Me Up to the Gods   by Brian Broome

“Not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry.” ~ Anonymous

“But here’s the remarkable thing about self-love: When you start to love yourself for the first time, when you start to truly embrace who you are—flaws and all—your scars start to look a lot more like beauty marks. The words that used to haunt you transform into badges of pride.”

― Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story  by Jacob Tobia

“He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”

― Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

“To indoctrinate boys into the rules of patriarchy, we force them to feel pain and to deny their feelings.”

― The Will to Change by bell hooks

“Those who do not turn to face their pain are prone to impose it.”

― I Don't Want to Talk About It by Terrence Real

"I'm just a soul whose intentions are good Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood."     

~ Nina Simone, 1964; The Animals, 1965

“When angry, count four. When very angry, swear.” ~ Mark Twain

“Don't you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can't be exactly who you are.” ~ Lady Gaga 

Infidelity

"The only way to restore trust and intimacy is through truth-telling, repentance, and absolution."

“But when we reduce the conversation to simply passing judgment, we are left with no conversation at all.”

― The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel

"I tell my clients that once you step outside of a marriage, you may not be able to step back inside. That’s the risk you take."

"For the unfaithful partner, it begins with accountability: owning the harm, being present in your partner’s pain, and offering patience and compassion in the long road ahead.

For the hurt partner, healing requires you to offer yourself patience and compassion too—to share your feelings and needs, and, in time, allow your partner the chance to meet you there." ~ Terry Real

“When we face pain in relationships our first response is often to sever bonds rather than to maintain commitment."

― All About Love by bell hooks

“For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?” ~ bell hooks

"But love is like a language. If you speak it, it flows more and more easily. If you don't, then you start to lose it."

― Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Dr. Sue Johnson