What role did guilt or shame play in your sexual journey, and how did you work through those feelings?

Oh lordt, Help me make this honest, helpful, and funny.

…for my sexual growth, it was placing my partner’s needs as important as my own, allowing pleasure-based love to sweep me up in *our* moment… that’s where the growth happened, and the walls of misconceptions, known and unknown, came crumbling down.

I guess Saturdays are for Sexploration, lol. Folks, Thrive is made up of four different “newsletters” and you can unsubscribe from one without having to fully unsubscrive to all. For some, this topic isn’t your cup of tea but you do like/enjoy the other content. That’s why I created “Sexplorer” as a different newsletter under the Thrive banner.

Now, Y’all sure know how to ask good questions! Let’s go!!

Well, the first time I climaxed I thought I had cancer

I won’t go into detail, but the first time my body decided to respond to self-stimulation, I was shocked, scared, and obsessed.

Obsessed? Yes, but not in a good way.

I never got the “sex talk” from my mom or soon-to-be stepfather. I was in my room watching a little black-and-white TV. I was watching Dukes of Hazzard and staring at those Duke boys’ attributes. I wasn’t even consciously aware that I was fiddling around down yonder. Then I started feeling the, you know, “feels,” and one thing led to another, and blammo, the inevitable happened. It felt great, but I was absolutely convinced I had cancer.

Where did that idea come from? How did I move past it and grow into sexual maturity? And, did the Dukes of Hazzard make me gay?…