To Sit In An Easy Relationship With Our Shame

I'm reading Barbara Carellas' Ecstasy is Necessary: A Practical Guide, a great book which I highly recommend. (Look for a full review in a future post!)

I find Barbara's words to be helpful in framing many of my own ideas about shame and how it limits us.

I was particularly struck by this passage, one that I think is crucial to remember as we move through shame to find our own true selves:

My colleague Tessa Wills adds that it is important for all of us beginning or expanding our erotic exploration "to be able to sit in an easy relationship with our shame." Notice that she did not say that we had to eliminate all our shame before we could begin. We simply have to be willing to allow it to appear every now and then. At each step of the way we are likely to encounter either a little or a lot of shame. Shame must be accepted, forgiven, and gently moved beyond. If you wait to eliminate all your shame before you take the next step in your sexual evolution, you'll never take that step.

Such important advice to keep in mind as we journey forward.