I'm getting personal with you
Want to know my insecurities?
One interesting thing about being a sexologist is I'm routinely asking people to share very intimate details of their life with me. I mean, if you and I were in a session together, I might be asking you about your sexual pain, what lubricant you use and to describe your wildest sexual fantasies...and that's just the first 15 minutes!
I don't take this great honor lightly. I'm incredibly humbled that people feel comfortable getting vulnerable in my practice and I do my very best to be well trained in implicit bias and motivational interviewing, so I can hold space for all you are willing to disclose.
So because I'm constantly asking you to get vulnerable with me, I thought I'd spend a few moments getting vulnerable with you. Although I'm not going to share with you my deepest sexual fantasies, (which absolutely do not involve Aquaman growling, "Permission to come aboard?" in a hot, consensual way, so do not even ask!) I do have a few tidbits to share that might help us get to know each other better.
- I love horses. I've ridden a bunch of different disciplines, from reining to dressage and I owned horses from age 8 to age 32. They are my magic and medicine. My favorite smells include hay, horse sweat and leather.
- I try to eat at the intersection of health and joy. It wasn't always like this.
- I am a slow reader and I sometimes allow this to make me feel inadequate. I spent a good portion of my life believing I wasn't smart. I think I might have gotten a Ph.D. simply to prove to myself that I wasn't dumb. It's much better now, but I still have to manage those feelings regularly.
- Our family includes me, my husband Nate, our identical twin 8-year-old girls, Ella and Zoe, a black lab Kai, a lab mix Norah, a hermit crab Snappy, and four geckos all named Puzzles because we can't tell them apart.
- Chances are, I like you. Genuinely. I really like people and want to know more about them. I believe people are good at their core. There are very few people I dislike and even then, I have a habit of seeing beyond bad behavior to witness underlying pain. On the flipside, this makes me a chronic "over asker." Sometimes, I will have just met someone and within 3 minutes I'm asking them about their motivations for sex. Weirdly, not everyone loves this.
- I read the Bible and pull an Oracle card every day for sacred guidance. I refer to God as "they," Jesus as "he" and Holy Spirit as "she" because those pronouns used in those ways help me feel closest to the Divine.
- I believe pizza is supposed to have PINEAPPLE on it. Don't @ me. I know you either love this or hate this. I hope we can still be friends.
Stay tuned for more next week, my friend!
Lots of love,
Celeste
SPOTLIGHT
Avi Steen
Avi Steen of the YouTube channel Motherhood Mindset was very open about her past fertility struggles. She has since had a baby, has another on the way, and used her journey to create a business helping other women trying to conceive to create a positive mindset and a healthy body. Through uplifting T-shirts/hoodies, coaching, digital downloads, and membership programs, Mother Mindset marries health, faith, and fertility education.