Ending the Loop

[Pochatok]

On 6/25/2024 at 5:52 AM, Celgost said:

It just seems to me you're very sex ashamed. The problem is that denying your libido won't make you more powerful, more pure, more of a good person. Engaging with it fully won't also. Aim is not to become a sex maniac. But to have a healthy relationship with it.

disagree- i loooove sex and my relationship with it is constantly improving. i would categorize it as "good" b/c i like where i am at, comparatively to where i was (though there is things to improve, ofc).

i dislike porn b/c it is problematic, fundamentally. i think that conventional sexualizing is indeed quite harmful- it is rooted in patriarchy and dehumanizing. not all sexualizing is so- but in porn, it is most definitely such. porn rarely portrays love for the person, or even for all of their body. conventional porn centers (men's) pleasure in a sanitized way that ultimately damages my ability to genuinely connect with others. 

i think that erotic stuff can be helpful when it is detached from conventions i shared above, but then it's not really "erotic", it's much more than that- romance, love, compassion, acceptance. all the good stuff. 

cuz ultimately, i just don't want to ever center connecting with another person on pleasure. for me, it's about helping each other be our best selves- sometimes, that includes pleasure, but quite often it's a lot more complicated than that :) 

[Pochatok]

alright, so i am back~ life has really thrown me a few... eugh...

well

let's see what i shared last time:

Quote

it's been nearly a month!

i've quit my job, moved home (so lucky to have a family that can provide me space to live in, that respects my boundaries, that empowers me to be my best self). 

i've stopped watching tv, i've quit gaming (again- i play from time to time, but games that have no addictive/entertaining aspects, like 'minesweeper')

i'm still struggling w/ escapism of other sorts- simply having my mind wonder in times when i can be learning/making things. 

i'm still struggling w/ pornography- i've been experiencing a lot of stress due to big life changes, and i don't like that this is my way of coping. but, it's only so because i'm denying myself other things- like going on walks, exercising, meeting people. i need to set my priorities better!

with all of that, i'm building amibition- constantly countering thoughts of helplessness, of internalized limitations... and now, nearly a week after quitting my job, i need to let that blossom. none of this can wait another day. i must live to my fullest.

i'm certainly not building ambition. what did happen is that i figured my life out, yet again- i've really, really re-centered my life goals on something i was barely imagining before. it feels both good and disorienting- so large to take in, almost impossible.

i guess i shouldn't keep it a secret- i want to go back to my birth country (russia) and teach queer stuff there (music, queer studies, art, writing, etc- all things that foster one's self discovery and growth).

but the thing is, it feels impossible- especially with where russia is now, and where i am now (not in russia, lol).

and let's talk about the SHIT THAT HAPPENED, too!

...

so, i was planning on moving to Chicago, cuz life there would be good and I would meet cool people and do cool things with those cool people. but despite my pretty good trying, bad luck chased me around- 4, FOUR applications fell through, and i was like "the universe is giving me a sign to stay".

so that's where i am now- a week, exactly, into "staying". and i've been feeling like a swamp- just stuck, completely unsure of what to do next. feeling like a little boy AND so old at the same time. like time is both nonexistent and just flying by too fast, and i feel like i am moving so so slow and yet too fast...

where do i go from here?

...

i'll let tomorrow me provide some clarity here. but for now, let's set my dreams clear again- because doing so publicly gives me some accountability <3

• i want to be buried in russia
• to educate russians, in russia, on liberation stuff- queerness, autonomy, compassion, etc.
• to make russia a livable place for liberation stuff
• to help ukraine win the war- that's the very first step towards a free russia. if russia wins, i doubt there will be any positive change for its people...

here is the trouble-making part: how do i make myself helpful to a cause that's so far away? i feel damn useless. my prior dreams were all about doing something that i found useful. now, it's about figuring out what others (ukranians) may find useful. and the problem is, i'm not in conversation with any of those people! and, a lot of them don't have easy answers either- war is not something that can be won overnight, war is not something that can be significantly influenced on an individual level, or by an individual's talent. 

when i was dreaming of animation or community/collective work, the efforts i would need to undertake AND the fruits of that labour felt a lot more obvious. but now, i feel like i'm throwing seeds into soil- will they sprout? where should i throw them? 

and even larger reason for my troubles is that none of my friends are in a different situation- they all are damn confused about what they are doing. they're still doing things, however- and i am too, but all of it feels so uncertain at the moment.

i hope this will pass soon. right now, i just don't feel like anything but reflection/training for the sake of training is worth my time. life has lost certainty, and i don't know how to hold that yet. 

[Ikar]

7 hours ago, Pochatok said:

i dislike porn b/c it is problematic, fundamentally. i think that conventional sexualizing is indeed quite harmful- it is rooted in patriarchy and dehumanizing. not all sexualizing is so- but in porn, it is most definitely such. porn rarely portrays love for the person, or even for all of their body. conventional porn centers (men's) pleasure in a sanitized way that ultimately damages my ability to genuinely connect with others. 

i think that erotic stuff can be helpful when it is detached from conventions i shared above, but then it's not really "erotic", it's much more than that- romance, love, compassion, acceptance. all the good stuff. 

cuz ultimately, i just don't want to ever center connecting with another person on pleasure. for me, it's about helping each other be our best selves- sometimes, that includes pleasure, but quite often it's a lot more complicated than that 🙂

I think the problem with being overtly sexual is that well... it actually works quite well and it gets the attention. As long as people have a part of an animal in them (which we'll always have), it's hard to defend against that and it takes real effort to opt out. Still, I am happy that we don't treat we don't treat women like means of exchange (there are places like that) or kill them as they did during the One-child policy in China, just because they happened to have the wrong genitals.

I agree on the last part! It's not always easy to be even in a good relationship 😄 

7 hours ago, Pochatok said:

i'll let tomorrow me provide some clarity here. but for now, let's set my dreams clear again- because doing so publicly gives me some accountability ❤️

• i want to be buried in russia
• to educate russians, in russia, on liberation stuff- queerness, autonomy, compassion, etc.
• to make russia a livable place for liberation stuff
• to help ukraine win the war- that's the very first step towards a free russia. if russia wins, i doubt there will be any positive change for its people...

here is the trouble-making part: how do i make myself helpful to a cause that's so far away? i feel damn useless. my prior dreams were all about doing something that i found useful. now, it's about figuring out what others (ukranians) may find useful. and the problem is, i'm not in conversation with any of those people! and, a lot of them don't have easy answers either- war is not something that can be won overnight, war is not something that can be significantly influenced on an individual level, or by an individual's talent. 

I have a friend from Russia. He's been here in Czechia for about five years, studying and now living a normal working like in a factory, yet his mom is in Russia. On one hand, I think he wants Ukraine to restore its borders, on the other he doesn't see a peaceful transition happening in Russia if Ukraine achieves this. It's a tough spot to be in and I can imagine he's not really happy with any solution. In my opinion, I think volunteering/working with a non-profit helping Ukraine would be a great way to help the cause, while you figure out the rest.

[Celgost]

On 8/14/2024 at 2:19 AM, Pochatok said:

disagree- i loooove sex and my relationship with it is constantly improving. i would categorize it as "good" b/c i like where i am at, comparatively to where i was (though there is things to improve, ofc).

i dislike porn b/c it is problematic, fundamentally. i think that conventional sexualizing is indeed quite harmful- it is rooted in patriarchy and dehumanizing. not all sexualizing is so- but in porn, it is most definitely such. porn rarely portrays love for the person, or even for all of their body. conventional porn centers (men's) pleasure in a sanitized way that ultimately damages my ability to genuinely connect with others. 

i think that erotic stuff can be helpful when it is detached from conventions i shared above, but then it's not really "erotic", it's much more than that- romance, love, compassion, acceptance. all the good stuff. 

cuz ultimately, i just don't want to ever center connecting with another person on pleasure. for me, it's about helping each other be our best selves- sometimes, that includes pleasure, but quite often it's a lot more complicated than that 🙂

Very selective reading and so selective answer... I won’t answer if you don’t take the effort to actually read what I said. Just wanted to put this here so nobody gets the wrong idea about what I said. If someone wants to know, let them read the whole message. I dont like my opinion being misrepresented. Literally adressed your points about it being only about men’s pleasure in my original post. And patriarchy has nothing to do with it, please we are past that argument now. As well, you can be sex ashamed and love it. Actually that’s usually what happens. Osho said smth along the lines “When I talk to a monk all he talks about is sex, when i talk to a prositute all she talks about is God”

Edited August 17 by Celgost

[Pochatok]

On 8/17/2024 at 1:18 AM, Celgost said:

Very selective reading and so selective answer... I won’t answer if you don’t take the effort to actually read what I said. Just wanted to put this here so nobody gets the wrong idea about what I said. If someone wants to know, let them read the whole message. I dont like my opinion being misrepresented. Literally adressed your points about it being only about men’s pleasure in my original post. And patriarchy has nothing to do with it, please we are past that argument now. As well, you can be sex ashamed and love it. Actually that’s usually what happens. Osho said smth along the lines “When I talk to a monk all he talks about is sex, when i talk to a prositute all she talks about is God”

disagree- i read your post thoroughly, and simply did not respond to parts of it i agreed with or had nothing to comment on. i reply to specific statements within your comment- just like you do in this reply above. 

re: men's pleasure and patriarchy in porn // first, let's go over the comment history- here's your original statement:

Quote

On the topic of viewing women as objects, I don't also think porn makes you this way unless you really are a problematic consumer. 

to which i respond:

On 8/13/2024 at 7:19 PM, Pochatok said:

conventional porn centers (men's) pleasure in a sanitized way that ultimately damages my ability to genuinely connect with others. 

there's a lot of research backing up the claim (i don't like the site linked personally but they do link academic research at the bottom of their articles, from which you can derive your own conclusions), that conventional/mainstream porn centers men's pleasure AND that it is dehumanizing. there are many people on the internet disagreeing with that research- but their arguments, like yours (so far), are opinion, not evidence or research-based. 

as for the "problematic consumer" claim: as an addict, you must know how difficult mindful consumption is. and it's not easy to make choices on what you consume even without addiction- content is just thrown in your face. and when it comes to porn industry, which is inherently harmful, all consumers are "problematic", just like ALL car drivers pollute air- doesn't matter how much, or what car they drive.

On 8/17/2024 at 1:18 AM, Celgost said:

you can be sex ashamed and love it

sure- can you provide evidence that this is the case for me? you've assumed twice that I am sex shamed, not based on my behavior, but on the views i hold. i define sex shame as "negative reaction to some or all sexual things" like one's sexuality, sex itself, etc.. me disliking porn because it is harmful, especially to women has nothing to do with sex itself- but with how pornography channels hate, oppression, and hierarchy through sex for the sake of profit. 

i will respond to your further comments only if they are based on factual evidence and research. i understand that you disagree, but you are acting as if your opinion is correct without any proof.

you can disagree! but that does not mean you are right. if you think you're right, provide proof that is research/evidence-based, like the articles linked above. 

 

 

[Celgost]

On 8/24/2024 at 5:53 PM, Pochatok said:

disagree- i read your post thoroughly, and simply did not respond to parts of it i agreed with or had nothing to comment on. i reply to specific statements within your comment- just like you do in this reply above.

That was maybe not your intention but your answer seemed more like you were ignoring the points. But as you didn't take the time to say you agree/have nothing to say, it comes off as straight off erasing every other thing I said.

I also don't get your point. I quoted your entire text, and if you refer to my first post, I hope you don't expect me to answer to every ony of your posts. As well, this was before we were actually engaging in a focused discussion over a topic. The context is a bit different and I hope you can see that disctinction.

"just like you do in this reply above." also seems like a pesky and childish way of answering "it's you not me". I'm not taking that bait. Please just refrain from these kinds of sentences if you want to have a serious, civil discussion. The intention might not be negative, but it's not helping. (it is false as well but do I really need to explain...)

Quote

 

to which i respond:

conventional porn centers (men's) pleasure in a sanitized way that ultimately damages my ability to genuinely connect with others. 

 

Conventional industrial porn. Same argument over and over. I already responded to it in the original post. Please, reread. You have to understand also the main audience of porn, the context in which it has been done, etc... Quite tired to have to explain basic stuff.

 

Quote

 

there's a lot of research backing up the claim (i don't like the site linked personally but they do link academic research at the bottom of their articles, from which you can derive your own conclusions), that conventional/mainstream porn centers men's pleasure AND that it is dehumanizing. there are many people on the internet disagreeing with that research- but their arguments, like yours (so far), are opinion, not evidence or research-based. 

as for the "problematic consumer" claim: as an addict, you must know how difficult mindful consumption is. and it's not easy to make choices on what you consume even without addiction- content is just thrown in your face. and when it comes to porn industry, which is inherently harmful, all consumers are "problematic", just like ALL car drivers pollute air- doesn't matter how much, or what car they drive.

 

Woah ok... this is gonna be long. There's a lot of research on anything and I could find you dozens of scientific studies and published articles that have reverse conclusions or present counterarguments: 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28989197/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23268743.2013.863654?needAccess=true

Or maybe an even better one which actually explore the fact that this is just a mixed bag.

Anyone that would say that "science says porn is bad" doesn't understand what science is about. And yes, I think you don't understand. To me it seems you take science as a form of rationalization of your decisions.

You hold a view, you're going to search studies that will go in that sense and discard the rest.

Worse, you read an article that quotes studies and grossly misrepresents them. Meaning, you are just linking this article to prove you are right and "the science is on your side" while... well it is not.

Example from your article: "A number of peer-reviewed studies have found a link between pornography consumption and mental health outcomes like depression" at "depression" there is a quoted article which is this one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5387769/

When reading the article, we can see that no, this is not what the article means AT ALL. You can already just know it by the title of it "Examining Correlates of Problematic Internet Pornography Use Among University Students". The key word is "Problematic". 

Now if you go read even just the Summary of it here is the first sentence: "Our results show that daily IP use has no direct correlation with poor psychosocial functioning.". So how do we go from "porn consumption = depression" to daily "porn consumption has no direct correlation to poor psychosocial functioning"? The whole summary says that there are risks, yes, but hey we don't really know.

This is the big problem when you don't read the source. Internet articles quoting studies are made by brainrot journalists that just want you to click for their Pay per View. I don't blame them but the industry. It's hard to make a living as a journalist doing honest work nowadays. People just want trash easy content.

As well, funny enough that this study is there because it supports the point of view I have said earlier in this discussion: "This suggests that identifying oneself as an IP addict may be what causes distress and poor psychosocial functioning, not the IP itself".

This is one of the basic ideas I was presenting on my post. And it's very funny that you tried to counter argument my post with an authoritative article that redirects to my very own first argument. Don't you see the irony and the intellectual dishonesty?

So yeah, you take science as the words that come out an article which quotes science. This is not how it works.

Science itself is neutral. As well, scientists deal with limited tools and knowledge.

You also have to understand this is not hard sciences, and studies are highly skewed by bias of researchers and methodology bias. Which is why usually in the summaries you have these half-assed sentences being "eh, actually we researched there but we don't know". And usually the studies that present a very clear conclusion... get very suspect when you get into who funded the study or who are the people behind it.

This is a real problem in every soft science study (and to a lesser extent in hard sciences). Results are also highly influenced by cultural impediments. 

In conclusion... you have no idea, I have no idea, nobody has any real idea. We have some leads and... that's all. Having an opinion is completely fine, especially on these topics. And you won't find science that will make you right. So please, stop with that. This is not serious.

You attacked on the seriousness of my arguments, this is only fair that I show you how unserious you actually are about yours.

Oh yeah, before you say "ye but it doesn't answer that porn industry is inherently harmful". Well your article doesn't provide any proofs of that either. You didn't even read it yourself. That's really disappointing. The section "Porn contributes to an unhealthy understanding of masculinity." doesn't cite any scientific source (weird uh?) so I guess we're back to square one in Opinion Land. And if you were talking about the first part of it... well, go there, and check the "sources". These are just mostly links to their own site... or misrepresented studies again... what a joke.

As for "problematic consumer". Well I already answered, so please read again. 

Quote

 

sure- can you provide evidence that this is the case for me? you've assumed twice that I am sex shamed, not based on my behavior, but on the views i hold. i define sex shame as "negative reaction to some or all sexual things" like one's sexuality, sex itself, etc.. me disliking porn because it is harmful, especially to women has nothing to do with sex itself- but with how pornography channels hate, oppression, and hierarchy through sex for the sake of profit. 

i will respond to your further comments only if they are based on factual evidence and research. i understand that you disagree, but you are acting as if your opinion is correct without any proof.

you can disagree! but that does not mean you are right. if you think you're right, provide proof that is research/evidence-based, like the articles linked above. 

 

If you hold these views on porn, which is very diverse and which I know a lot of women also like, well there is probably a big chance you hold these views in every sex related context. Judging by your past posts as well, it doesn't seem like you're socially comfortable or even particularly comfortable in life overall. Which does strengthen the case of you being sex ashamed. I explained this already in my original post and you're still not reading. It seems that these own views you have on the nature of porn are actually one of the things holding you back in life. As said earlier, this is not that big of a deal if you're not actually addicted to it. But you don't read so there's that.

"I will answer to your comment only if they are based on factual evidence and research". You are putting double standards there and being in denial of your own biases. Your "factual evidence" is itself very thin and you're expecting me to put even more effort than I do already to find the most obscure and biased evidence there is.

As for that last paragraph first sentence... "you can disagree! but that does not mean you are right." Quit the attitude. You are not right either (because that's what implies this part of the message). 

I don't care about that, I sent a message there to engage in a discussion, you turned this into a fight of who is right. Read it again, there was no animosity or saying "you're wrong!", I was only showing my opinion and own experience with that topic.

If that is how you relate to anyone that's just trying to bring their own opinion, it is clear now why you're having problems with your relationships.

Now I am tired of this discussion and making efforts. As a final note, I will say very truthfully:

You don't have the depth and intelligence required to get what I mean. It is especially frustrating when you show such a misplaced passive-aggressive condescending attitude afterwards. 

Don't bother about answering. I am deactivating every notification, am very busy, and won't lose the time anymore on someone who is clearly not ready to reflect. I hope you take this for what it's worth.

Edited August 29 by Celgost

[Pochatok]

On 8/29/2024 at 3:23 PM, Celgost said:

That was maybe not your intention but your answer seemed more like you were ignoring the points. But as you didn't take the time to say you agree/have nothing to say, it comes off as straight off erasing every other thing I said.

I also don't get your point. I quoted your entire text, and if you refer to my first post, I hope you don't expect me to answer to every ony of your posts. As well, this was before we were actually engaging in a focused discussion over a topic. The context is a bit different and I hope you can see that disctinction.

"just like you do in this reply above." also seems like a pesky and childish way of answering "it's you not me". I'm not taking that bait. Please just refrain from these kinds of sentences if you want to have a serious, civil discussion. The intention might not be negative, but it's not helping. (it is false as well but do I really need to explain...)

Conventional industrial porn. Same argument over and over. I already responded to it in the original post. Please, reread. You have to understand also the main audience of porn, the context in which it has been done, etc... Quite tired to have to explain basic stuff.

 

Woah ok... this is gonna be long. There's a lot of research on anything and I could find you dozens of scientific studies and published articles that have reverse conclusions or present counterarguments: 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28989197/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23268743.2013.863654?needAccess=true

Or maybe an even better one which actually explore the fact that this is just a mixed bag.

Anyone that would say that "science says porn is bad" doesn't understand what science is about. And yes, I think you don't understand. To me it seems you take science as a form of rationalization of your decisions.

You hold a view, you're going to search studies that will go in that sense and discard the rest.

Worse, you read an article that quotes studies and grossly misrepresents them. Meaning, you are just linking this article to prove you are right and "the science is on your side" while... well it is not.

Example from your article: "A number of peer-reviewed studies have found a link between pornography consumption and mental health outcomes like depression" at "depression" there is a quoted article which is this one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5387769/

When reading the article, we can see that no, this is not what the article means AT ALL. You can already just know it by the title of it "Examining Correlates of Problematic Internet Pornography Use Among University Students". The key word is "Problematic". 

Now if you go read even just the Summary of it here is the first sentence: "Our results show that daily IP use has no direct correlation with poor psychosocial functioning.". So how do we go from "porn consumption = depression" to daily "porn consumption has no direct correlation to poor psychosocial functioning"? The whole summary says that there are risks, yes, but hey we don't really know.

This is the big problem when you don't read the source. Internet articles quoting studies are made by brainrot journalists that just want you to click for their Pay per View. I don't blame them but the industry. It's hard to make a living as a journalist doing honest work nowadays. People just want trash easy content.

As well, funny enough that this study is there because it supports the point of view I have said earlier in this discussion: "This suggests that identifying oneself as an IP addict may be what causes distress and poor psychosocial functioning, not the IP itself".

This is one of the basic ideas I was presenting on my post. And it's very funny that you tried to counter argument my post with an authoritative article that redirects to my very own first argument. Don't you see the irony and the intellectual dishonesty?

So yeah, you take science as the words that come out an article which quotes science. This is not how it works.

Science itself is neutral. As well, scientists deal with limited tools and knowledge.

You also have to understand this is not hard sciences, and studies are highly skewed by bias of researchers and methodology bias. Which is why usually in the summaries you have these half-assed sentences being "eh, actually we researched there but we don't know". And usually the studies that present a very clear conclusion... get very suspect when you get into who funded the study or who are the people behind it.

This is a real problem in every soft science study (and to a lesser extent in hard sciences). Results are also highly influenced by cultural impediments. 

In conclusion... you have no idea, I have no idea, nobody has any real idea. We have some leads and... that's all. Having an opinion is completely fine, especially on these topics. And you won't find science that will make you right. So please, stop with that. This is not serious.

You attacked on the seriousness of my arguments, this is only fair that I show you how unserious you actually are about yours.

Oh yeah, before you say "ye but it doesn't answer that porn industry is inherently harmful". Well your article doesn't provide any proofs of that either. You didn't even read it yourself. That's really disappointing. The section "Porn contributes to an unhealthy understanding of masculinity." doesn't cite any scientific source (weird uh?) so I guess we're back to square one in Opinion Land. And if you were talking about the first part of it... well, go there, and check the "sources". These are just mostly links to their own site... or misrepresented studies again... what a joke.

As for "problematic consumer". Well I already answered, so please read again. 

If you hold these views on porn, which is very diverse and which I know a lot of women also like, well there is probably a big chance you hold these views in every sex related context. Judging by your past posts as well, it doesn't seem like you're socially comfortable or even particularly comfortable in life overall. Which does strengthen the case of you being sex ashamed. I explained this already in my original post and you're still not reading. It seems that these own views you have on the nature of porn are actually one of the things holding you back in life. As said earlier, this is not that big of a deal if you're not actually addicted to it. But you don't read so there's that.

"I will answer to your comment only if they are based on factual evidence and research". You are putting double standards there and being in denial of your own biases. Your "factual evidence" is itself very thin and you're expecting me to put even more effort than I do already to find the most obscure and biased evidence there is.

As for that last paragraph first sentence... "you can disagree! but that does not mean you are right." Quit the attitude. You are not right either (because that's what implies this part of the message). 

I don't care about that, I sent a message there to engage in a discussion, you turned this into a fight of who is right. Read it again, there was no animosity or saying "you're wrong!", I was only showing my opinion and own experience with that topic.

If that is how you relate to anyone that's just trying to bring their own opinion, it is clear now why you're having problems with your relationships.

Now I am tired of this discussion and making efforts. As a final note, I will say very truthfully:

You don't have the depth and intelligence required to get what I mean. It is especially frustrating when you show such a misplaced passive-aggressive condescending attitude afterwards. 

Don't bother about answering. I am deactivating every notification, am very busy, and won't lose the time anymore on someone who is clearly not ready to reflect. I hope you take this for what it's worth.

regardless of whether this conversation continues or not, i think it's important to say, for all other folks reading- so good to be engaging in a thorough conversation like this, yay! i won't be responding here just b/c this is already taking up a full webpage in what's supposed to be my journal, but i appreciate the time and effort put into the reply. 

some public acknowledgments to make, however:

1. i do think my previous message's last two paragraphs were condescending. it's on me to write more calmly and thoughtfully. from what i see, that tone was manipulative and pushed you to commit to more effort and time into responding than what you were interested in. 

2. also, i think that the ask of the messages themselves was unfair- i should not be setting standards higher than what i myself was committing towards. i do think, however, that your response took this in a different direction- i wasn't asking you to turn down any of my sources (which you did), but to share some of your own (which you did, too!). 

3. i agree on the lack of validity of my claims- the sources i've provided don't back me up. while it was not the articles linked i was referencing, but the academic sources of those articles (and you do miss that point in your response), those academic articles also don't back me up either. i should have indeed given more time to read these- but also, i don't mind being wrong, i mind not learning :) i did rush writing the response, and appreciate you pointing that out AND bringing up additional studies that back up your claims. if i do stumble upon sources that back up my beliefs, i will share them- but that's not today

4. lastly, this specific statement does make implications about me as a person, and i think that's important to address given that, again, this is my diary page:

Quote

If you hold these views on porn, which is very diverse and which I know a lot of women also like, well there is probably a big chance you hold these views in every sex related context. Judging by your past posts as well, it doesn't seem like you're socially comfortable or even particularly comfortable in life overall. Which does strengthen the case of you being sex ashamed. I explained this already in my original post and you're still not reading. It seems that these own views you have on the nature of porn are actually one of the things holding you back in life.

- yes, i do think that like porn, sex is nuanced and the conventional understanding/approach to sex is channeled through heteronormativity, patriarchy, etc.. it seems that fundamentally, we value/understand these societal issues quite differently- i think this is where our views diverge, at large. in case we do keep chatting, this is the stuff i'd want to be talking about. i don't think that my beliefs about sexuality "hold me back", but they certainly do make life more difficult b/c i choose to not conform to a lot of standards, being queer and all that. therefore, my pool of opportunities, sex or other modes of connection, tends to be narrower. that's a choice though, not a discomfort/insecurity. going by definition of "sex shamed" that i've provided, i again cannot agree with your insights- because i don't think i am "socially uncomfortable". on the topic of which...

- i understand how this diary makes me appear as "socially uncomfortable"- i come here mostly to share things i am struggling with, and rarely share successes. i assume that you define "social comfort" on my experiences of loneliness that i've shared throughout the last couple years. those don't have much to do with my social skills/luck, however- but just like w/ sex, i am very selective with people i meet. i am lonely because i choose to be- not because i lack the ability to create/sustain relationships. i would say that by conventional definitions, i am not lonely either- but my metrics are based on my own standards. from you what you point out, it seems that this isn't very clear lol  

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with all this, imma put this journal back to its focus- talking about how i'm doing:

visited my closest person this week- my summer vacation, technically. saying "person" because it's hard to put any label on our relationship (like with most people i am close to, heh). i think that we've adjusted our boundaries in both emotional proximity (smaller) and general intimacy (expanded). this trip has made me notice how my emotional awareness decreased- there were plenty of moments where i struggled to read myself and my *person* (lol). BUT, i did try to make up for that by practicing providing care and compassion- i.e. intimacy :) ultimately, this trip left me excited to not just meet more people, but develop deep relationships, again. just have to remember to be patient- all of my closest relationships are 1+ years old. 

tomorrow, i am seeing two more old-time friends. first time in over a year, crazy! excited to see how/if our relationships will adjust, as we ourselves have changed so much, too. 

then sunday, i am helping a more recent (but so, so dear) friend make an important life change. it will be a whole-day trip, and i both look forward to and dread it- lots of logistics, even more effort.

beyond social life, i have stabilized, it appears, the next 6 months of my life. if i move at a good pace in the next week, i will be able to set solid plans for my life all the way through summer of 2026. lots of exciting plans, but i don't want to chat much until they come to fruition. what's missing from these plans is my social life- @Celgost and my summer vacation really made me think about how my low-prioritizing of social life negatively impacts my satisfaction and drive. more on that later, but i think i know what needs to happen <3

to all those reading- may your day pass with ease, and may you make mistakes and learn from them :)

Po 

[Celgost]

If you didn’t send me a PM I would never have seen the answer. So this was probably for the best.
 

“(and you do miss that point in your response)”

No I don’t, I have written expensively on this. I have read the scientific studies (of course not in whole detail) referenced in the article you sent. Which was itself expressed in my sentence:

“Example from your article: "A number of peer-reviewed studies have found a link between pornography consumption and mental health outcomes like depression" at "depression" there is a quoted article which is this one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5387769/“

When referencing to articles in the scientific field it can itself reference to studies, because those studies are published on scientific reviews (which is where the peer-reviewed studies name come from for that matter). I was not clear because it was obvious tobme, but you should’ve probably visited the link to get an idea.

I will not answer to the rest here, but I will gladly say that I am happy you got to self reflect and admit where your knowledge was limited (as much as mine, don’t take it the wrong way). This was not expected and so my last sentences were wrong in that regard. 

 

Edited August 31 by Celgost

[Pochatok]

quick entry: on admitting my weakness, and searching for strength

too often, i fail to acknowledge that my energy is lacking. someone i look up to in this regard, and who makes me aware of my gaps in searching for strength is Ismatu Gwendolyn. she often writes that her day begins with a dropping out of bed, kneeling onto the floor, and praying for strength for the rest of the day.

for awhile, i misinterpreted that as the strength to simply make it through- but now i recognize that Ismatu may be asking for a different kind of strength. the kind that moves you to move mountains. 

for me, every moment that i spend with ease feels off- why is it so light? i'm always suspicious of easy times, because most often that has to do with me forgetting/neglecting my responsibilities, my timelines, my dreams.

today, however, i was questioning the difficulty of movement rather than the ease- i was doing the most ordinary, easy things, but they felt incredibly difficult. i was forcing myself to eat. i was struggling to enjoy getting distracted with a YouTube video- and, upon reflection, I'm glad. because both were a compulsory response to me not engaging with my promises and axioms. i was eating to silence the call to action, i was browsing internet to alleviate the weight of sadness. and at this point, i recognize the harm of those behaviors without even thinking- they no longer feel good, at all. there is no tricking myself into "this is the right thing"- i see the addictions, the drugs for what they are. 

but i still indulge anyways. and that's the kind of strength I - and Ismatu, i think - are looking for. the strength to look deeper, to not avoid responsibilities, to not shift away from what matters.

because when i look critically, there is so much today that matters. and i should engage in all of that. 

i really have not been journaling sufficiently. not at all. and it's wearing me down- because i am not reminding myself, in a routine fashion, of who i am and what shapes me and what i want to shape. 

here's to a brighter day.

[Pochatok]

i think that some people quit "forever", and yet drugs are pretty inherent to living in the Western world- it's really, really hard to get by without them. most people who i see "quit" here or elsewhere turn to other drugs- often without recognizing them as such. earning lots of money, attaining other status quo goodies, simply staying busy- all are encouraged and rewarded by societal structures. and that's the reason it is very hard for me to quit games- i don't conform, and not having those drugs at hand moves me towards gaming. 

when i first quit, i immediately jumped onto the "success via career development + social status" drug. now, i'm off of that one- and games are making a return. over the last year, slowly, they really have been crawling under my skin. 

i don't want to go back.

i believe that there is a 3rd option, where i neither conform, nor compensate with gaming for the isolation that results in me standing my ground, living life my own way. 

and i'm looking for it, now.

[Ikar]

3 hours ago, Pochatok said:

i think that some people quit "forever", and yet drugs are pretty inherent to living in the Western world- it's really, really hard to get by without them. most people who i see "quit" here or elsewhere turn to other drugs- often without recognizing them as such. earning lots of money, attaining other status quo goodies, simply staying busy- all are encouraged and rewarded by societal structures. and that's the reason it is very hard for me to quit games- i don't conform, and not having those drugs at hand moves me towards gaming. 

when i first quit, i immediately jumped onto the "success via career development + social status" drug. now, i'm off of that one- and games are making a return. over the last year, slowly, they really have been crawling under my skin. 

i don't want to go back.

i believe that there is a 3rd option, where i neither conform, nor compensate with gaming for the isolation that results in me standing my ground, living life my own way. 

and i'm looking for it, now.

I think you conflate meaning and addiction into one thing. I can agree that making a lot of money just for the sake of having a lot of money is a bad goal. It is a goal though, so the person has something to work on. The problem comes when/if this person reaches their goal. If this person doesn't have any other goals, they will fall into an "undefined limbo". This state is not easy on people, because they have no identity at this point and they don't know what to do.

Without making consistent effort (being dedicated, perhaps addicted or having some meaning attached), they'll never be known for anything and never get anywhere. They won't build up a reputation as a hard worker by working hard once a year and they also won't build up a reputation of being kind to others by helping somebody once a year. I think that's why "working on something" is generally considered a virtue.

If I had to hazard a guess, you derive a lot of meaning from (and perhaps are addicted to) being in opposition to "normal things" - your belief to not conform, to stand in opposition, gives your life meaning.

[Pochatok]

On 9/8/2024 at 1:29 AM, Ikar said:

I think you conflate meaning and addiction into one thing

Yes, you are correct! Appreciate the clarification you make. 

What I must have intended to say is that some drugs are hard to recognize as such- and therefore it's harder to acknowledge that they can be addictive. And, some drugs are fundamentally harmful, no matter the "benefits"- like alcohol, which is poisonous at any amount.

None of that means i'm against consumption- but making informed choices matters. and i see a lot of people not thinking about, for example, how much they're chasing promotions (which is rewarding) vs. doing things that have intrinsic value OR going to protests (which is fun!) vs doing actual political work. 

On 9/8/2024 at 1:29 AM, Ikar said:

If I had to hazard a guess, you derive a lot of meaning from (and perhaps are addicted to) being in opposition to "normal things" - your belief to not conform, to stand in opposition, gives your life meaning

I would say that's a correct guess- myself, i think of things i'm aligned towards, rather than in opposition on. but, i do focus a lot on non-conforming (which just means i'm conforming to something else, lol). what gives my life meaning is knowing that i leave the world in a (systemically, structurally- not just individually) better place than i found it. 

wouldn't call it an addiction though- i categorize addiction as being unable to pace consumption at a desired rate. most of the time, it's the opposite problem- every day requires a long sequence of actions in order for me to do all the "non-conforming" things.

speaking of which...

--

Journal Time!

want to keep myself accountable with the recent-most addiction (as in, i struggle to control how often i engage with the activity): news-reading, aka getting irrelevant but easily-digestable information into my brain at an inefficiently-high volume.  

why this is a problem: since i do enjoy learning, reading a faulty headline often results in me doing "research" on the topic- i end up reading a bunch more articles on something that was barely, if at all, relevant to what i set out for the day with. commonplace news are just not something that's valuable to me at the moment.

how i want to resolve this: set a goal- i will only be reading news 1hr/week. awesome- now, a system: i will be reading news on sunday evenings. for now, i can spend however much/little time as i want indulging in this activity, but only on that day.

why this method: i already know news is unappealing- but cold turkey is impossible, as i don't have the right tools for such an approach. my hope is that 1 day a week will soon prove itself needless, and i will be able to limit my news-reading to 1hr/week or less.

stepping stones: tomorrow, read news ONLY in the evening. on Friday and Saturday, read no news at all. Sunday will be my "news" day, and from there onwards I should be able to uphold my system. 

cheers! more updates coming later, but all is well overall. just praying for more endurance and strength.

 

[Pochatok]

wow, only been a week (and a bit), but feels like I haven't visited here in awhile.

just wanted to provide a brief update on goals I've set here, and where I'm moving to now.

news-reading:  still something I do daily, but, by restructuring what news mean to me, i am able to filter what i pay attention to. but, that's not what i promised myself- and i feel quite upset that all the past iterations of myself until today were unable to accomplish this. i'll do better! no news for today- just one day, can i do it?

other life: my current largest stone to turn over is the difficulty of self-expression. i keep putting off creative work- and it feels like i'm just wasting my time, hovering around the task but never getting myself to really do it. and i think that the world would benefit greatly from my voice- but i keep silencing myself. 

how i want to resolve the above problem: re-calibrate my creative responsibilities. think about who i am making this for, why, and how i believe this will change the world. i worry a lot about the process, and mostly b/c the end-goal is so hazy and cloudy. 

why this method: the one time in my life where i was deeply committed to completion of a project- last year's september through december -had a lot to do with my dedication to the process. BUT, i still never finished the project- because i did not know whom i was making this for. this time, i will have a specific, localized audience i am making this work for. all my smaller projects succeed not because of their size, but due to having that localized audience. so, let's see how this goes.