(Re) Opening Post

Just over the crest of summer, and the days are getting shorter. A good time for EC to start again, for writing to be one of the things that sees me into the Fall.

I had a conversation on Sunday with a friend about gay relationships and sex, after which I wondered, why had he been so committed to having an open mind about open relationships even though he was sure that he did not want to be in one himself? I reassured him that he could in fact have an open mind even if he wasn't in an open relationship (or participating in one by being the person to whom the relationship was opened).

The whole thing opened my heart a little bit, because here was someone so generous and so soft (he even had a sweet fuzz that day on his face, like a salt and pepper peach) that he felt that in some way his decision to live differently was an injury or offense. Which is true, as much as we like to think that it isn't, in this individualistic and hard society. What is interesting is how to negotiate that hurt and the reality that people will perceive difference.

Do readers feel like their life choices sometimes hurt others by their mere being and open proclamation (as opposed to the kind of "direct" hurt that choosing to, say, punch someone in the face, inflicts)? I know it's a profoundly anti-liberal thing to say (though they'll defend to the death my right to say it, I should hope), but I sometimes feel that way.

Photo: "Open" by Monica's_Dad