The Ethical Slut
I was quite surprised to see Dossie Easton and Catherine Liszt's The Ethical Slut listed in the most recent version of Holons. While the book is rated green, based on a workshop that I had the sheer privilege to attend, Dossie is turquoise, or at least pushing towards it. I read Ethical Slut three years ago and was literally blown away...what, there are people who are polyamorous AND healthy!? Polyamorous was a new word to me, and I still had some serious conformist leanings; that book really opened my eyes, my heart (and my pants...it was during my brief bachelor phase).
The workshop that I attended last year was in the context of a leather women's event in Seattle that was trans-inclusive. I was hesitant about attending as a transman; my wife convinced me that it would be a great experience, so I went. Dossie brought the entire room of people (40 or so) through a kundalini exercise, from root to crown chakras, in a blissful, purifying, profound way. Nearly the entire room was crying with joy, relief, sadness or some deep emotion after the exercise as we "shared our feelings" (SO green-seeming and touchy-feely lesbianic, though the energy in the room was definitely transcendent).
I experienced a new wave of healing around my female body in that workshop. For a long time, I despised my body. For a long time, I lived in my head. My strong cognitive line definitely saved my life. Then, when I came out as being attracted to women, I naturally fell into the lesbian culture. They were exciting times. I started to explore my body, as it was. I was definitely moving towards wholeness; however, in the few years that preceded my choice to transition, I again moved away from identifying with my female body. Actually, I never really identified it; I explored it and was curious about it. The ensuing repression was a strictly unconscious act: Over time, I just stopped having sex with my partner. I got undressed in the dark. Anything to not see or feel what I experienced as a complete betrayal of my true nature. Psychotherapy got me thinking about my repressed aspects. Not only were my female aspects repressed, many of my male aspects were, too. I was living as a partial self. Coming out as trans and changing my body to align it with my true nature has enabled me to embrace both my feminine and masculine aspects. And the kundalini workshop was a turning point. I am as I am. I am a work of art and science. I am a beautiful, bold, creative, intense, passionate aspect of GOD, Nature, the Absolute, just as I am.
It is fascinating to witness the unfolding of Colin. I am a believer in the concept that one cannot transcend the ego until it is authentically expressed.
The workshop that I attended last year was in the context of a leather women's event in Seattle that was trans-inclusive. I was hesitant about attending as a transman; my wife convinced me that it would be a great experience, so I went. Dossie brought the entire room of people (40 or so) through a kundalini exercise, from root to crown chakras, in a blissful, purifying, profound way. Nearly the entire room was crying with joy, relief, sadness or some deep emotion after the exercise as we "shared our feelings" (SO green-seeming and touchy-feely lesbianic, though the energy in the room was definitely transcendent).
I experienced a new wave of healing around my female body in that workshop. For a long time, I despised my body. For a long time, I lived in my head. My strong cognitive line definitely saved my life. Then, when I came out as being attracted to women, I naturally fell into the lesbian culture. They were exciting times. I started to explore my body, as it was. I was definitely moving towards wholeness; however, in the few years that preceded my choice to transition, I again moved away from identifying with my female body. Actually, I never really identified it; I explored it and was curious about it. The ensuing repression was a strictly unconscious act: Over time, I just stopped having sex with my partner. I got undressed in the dark. Anything to not see or feel what I experienced as a complete betrayal of my true nature. Psychotherapy got me thinking about my repressed aspects. Not only were my female aspects repressed, many of my male aspects were, too. I was living as a partial self. Coming out as trans and changing my body to align it with my true nature has enabled me to embrace both my feminine and masculine aspects. And the kundalini workshop was a turning point. I am as I am. I am a work of art and science. I am a beautiful, bold, creative, intense, passionate aspect of GOD, Nature, the Absolute, just as I am.
It is fascinating to witness the unfolding of Colin. I am a believer in the concept that one cannot transcend the ego until it is authentically expressed.
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