Category: Coaching

We Are in the Darkest Timeline…

    K Ghislaine

And When We Need Empathy the Most, It Doesn’t Seem to be Working

Let us start at the beginning, what does empathy really mean?

It is “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.”

I have always thought of myself as an empathetic person.  Putting myself in other people’s shoes is something I do without thinking. Perspective is everything, and I love having the capacity to experience and understand more about the human experience through this skill-set. Using this mindset it feels valid for me to claim that I am an open-minded sex positive individual and in turn coach and help those who are struggling with various aspects of their non-monogamous relationships. It’s difficult to write this, without appearing like I am bragging, but the honest truth is developing empathy was how I survived a difficult childhood. As an only child, moving every 3 years, I had to efficiently learn skills to fit into new situations quickly and without any previous frame of reference.  And if you believe in such things, I am a libra, and I have been told this brings a natural balance to my perspective. 

Now, to the post at hand. There is a lot going on in the world. People are justifiably angry with, well, pretty much everything. From being forced to isolate, to the disgusting murder of a black man by people of authority, to the fact that it is supposed to be pride month, and quite frankly we have very little to celebrate. All in all 2020, has sucked so far. And being a person with a platform (no matter how small), I believe it is my duty to speak out and show support for all the people who are suffering. But there is a huge problem with this, empathy doesn’t seem to be working.

In all my years of blogging, and being active on social media, never have I felt this total chaos.  And by chaos, I mean this completely helpless feeling where everything I do is wrong. Empathy, up until now has always been a strength and has helped me be an ally to the people who truly need it. Now though, people are just so damn angry I am at a loss of how to help. Being silent is never OK, but when I am called out for being “obtuse” due to asking what black charities small businesses can donate to in my local community, it is obvious that anger is at the boiling point. Again, I want to make it clear, that I have complete empathy and want to learn, help, and ensure that racism is extinct from out future. But, I have to say again, I am at a loss of how to do this.

One theme I keep seeing is that activists are exhausted from providing lists, resources, and links to those among us who keep asking what we can do. The frustration seems to be that it is far more important for the white ally to just do some research to find the best charity etc. on their own, thereby taking a more active approach. But I hope you understand, there are many of us who just don’t want to make anymore mistakes or make things worse. I for one, have always been taught never to use race as a means of dividing people. So it goes against everything I know to do a specific Google search for black owned/run companies or charities. It feels, like I am doing something wrong. Why should it matter what race/orientation/ etc. a company is run by? That is the preconception I go into this with. And the confusion doesn’t end there.

When one person says that they don’t want to see any white person use #blacklivesmatter, and another says that “silence in white people is supporting white supremacy” or that unless you have experienced racism you should just shut up and let black people talk, it becomes less and less clear how not to mess this up. I am at a complete loss as to how to be an effective ally. Racism needs to end. All humans should have fair access to healthcare, education, and due process under the law. Equality for all needs to be fought tooth and nail to achieve. So I ask again, please, tell me how I can help?

I would love to boost black authors, sex positive educators, and support in anyway I can. However, I don’t want it to seem like I am just pandering for the here and now. I want desperately for these actions to be meaningful, insight real change, rather than a temporary increase of exposure, unless that’s all you want me to do. I’ve seen call outs for specific contributors, and I am going to be brutally honest, looking for one specific voice has always made me uncomfortable. Again, my bias has always been an open space where anyone should feel comfortable commenting, interacting, or even reading. And if this is not appropriate at this time, I need to know.

Empathy used to be enough. The complete willingness to learn, support, and stand up for what is right has always worked for me, as I said, until now. I’m not rich and famous. I don’t have a lot of resources at my disposal, but I do have my words.  I don’t want to remain passive, but I cannot constantly fight for a cause I very much believe in, if I keep getting told I am wrong by the very people I am trying to fight for. Help me learn, do better, and above all, be the ally you need. 

If you have a resource or book that you think would help me, and others, please link it in the comments or on social media.

Do Not Open an Online Message with Sex

    K Ghislaine
Serenity now!

Now that I have definitely proven to myself that there is absolutely zero gender bias when it comes to people saying the most boundary crossing, absurd things for an opening online dating message, I feel more confident writing this post.  Instead of this post just being a rant about how men are ruining online dating because they believe any reaction is a good reaction, I can now open this up to… we all suck at opening conversations online.  In the past two weeks, I have had both couples and presumably single women open their conversations to me with great detail about how they want to get inside my p*&sy.  As flattered as you think I should be to read that you want to spread my legs, and go down on me for hours.  And by extension, that I have chosen such great photos, written a prize winning profile, and apparently am just online at the right time and right place for you to invite me over to your place…it’s going to be a hard no from me.

I thought for a long time that it was only men who sent rude and crude messages, as a matter of shock value (or that’s what I tell myself when I am shaking my head while blocking them).  I know, that it’s a numbers game, and quite frankly I understand putting message after message out into the abyss to crickets.  And then feeling like any reaction is better than no reaction as no one wants to be ignored, especially when you’re lonely.  But guess what I have recently learned?  It is all of us, men, women, absolutely everyone who signs up to online dating has that moment of, well, I am tired of being ignored, so let’s just go all in!  And yes, I include myself in this, because I had to do a lot of trial and error to even get my response rate up to the 50% mark it is currently at (average of men, women, and couples).  Yes, I am numbers person, and keep track of that sort of thing for “science”.  As part of my dating coaching business, I like actually knowing what has a chance of working, and being able to validate that versus just sending my clients out there as my guinea pigs.

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At this point, before you think I am a prude or get the wrong impression of me, thinking, perhaps there are woman out there who would get wet at the crude opening message and I have no business chiming into this conversation, let me tell you this.  I grew up in a machine shop, surrounded by all levels of blue collar, white collar, you name it.  Being in sales, I am fluent in the art of match the voice of your customer.  And well, if you have met me in person, or heard me speak, I have a tendency to use colourful language to help boost a story. Or when I am out at a pub, talking with my friends, I love shooting the shit, making dick jokes, and cracking euphemisms with the best of them.  And that is the key difference I want to make here.  When there is context, body language, and just a basic rapport with a real human being, you can be yourself (whatever that may be).  However, and I cannot stress this enough, when you are using the written word to make an introduction, you are going to find yourself dead in the water if you open with something rude or crude.

Let me put this in a new paragraph for added emphasis.  Even if you are just looking to get laid, believe in total blunt honesty, etc, opening your message with anything sexual is a bad idea. Telling a person, you are only in town for one night and have a fancy hotel, is a dumb opener.  Sending your dick or genitalia as a way of getting someone’s attention is… a bad IDEA!  

Normally at this point, I try and be reflective.  To understand human nature, and why all genders think this is an appropriate way to introduce themselves.  Why there is a large number of people who believe that the only way to get something is to just come out and ask. But the thing is, I’m tired of repeating myself here.  If you honestly think that pissing off 9999 people to get your 1 yes is worth it, I have zero time for you.  There is a right way to discuss a hookup, and way that alienates everyone else.  Learn the difference, figure it out, and STOP opening is sex!  Simple rule of thumb, open with something you would be willing to say in person completely sober.  This is not difficult!

Are you looking for some non-monogamous conversation starters, I have created a whole series on Medium!  Or you could sign up to my Patreon to see the full breadth of my work, and behind the scenes photos!

Why I Don’t Use DM

    K Ghislaine
Serenity Now! No DM’s!

I will tell you straight up I am writing this post, so I don’t have to type this same message over and over again.  And if you feel the same way and are tired of getting inundated with strangers in your private messages, feel free to save the link, and share it with those inbox invaders!  Simply, if we have never interacted, I will not respond to your DM (private message, direct message, basically anything in my inbox).  If we are friends, please disregard this post. 

Why? Initially I took this stance because I was tired of getting Dick Pictures.  But it has since evolved into so much more. 

Business accounts use auto DM bots to help sell their products.  This is impersonal, and whenever I receive these, I unfollow the account immediately.  Take the time to personalize a message, after we have interacted.  If you have your product clearly on your profile, and I am following you, guess what?  I am already interested in what you are selling, so please don’t push that potential sale away, by basically being a used car salesman.

Social Media as a Dating App, bleh!  I use social media as a way to learn new things, engage with other’s, and share what I have learned.  I use dating apps for dating.  For me, these two do not mix.  I want my social media engagement to be a safe place, where I can say what I choose, without the risk of constantly being hit on.  If I want to flirt with you, guess what?  I will tell you!  Consent matters.  So please don’t send me a DM in hopes of getting to know me.  Want to pay me a compliment?  Do it publicly or jump onto my Patreon and buy me a beer!  Want to say hi?  Do it publicly by engaging in my tweets, and all those groovy accounts I follow in the incredible sex positive community.

Simple rule of thumb, if you don’t feel you can say something on my wall, I guarantee I don’t want to read it! 

Ready to express yourself with your own blog/website? Consider going self hosted using this simple to use link. I will earn a small commission if you sign up, but you can start earning as well if you have your own content!

Time Management, is the newest one for me.  Quite honestly, I love engaging with people on social media.  I enjoy a good conversation, being challenged, and the back and forth fun of questions and answers.  Taking the time to like, respond, or send a GIF to each and everyone who takes the time to interact on social media matters to me.  Adding responses to every single DM on top of that?  No thank you! 

The One Exception to my no DM rule is when I ask to DM, or when you publicly ask if we can DM.  It’s all about consent, and sometimes I will ask for various things that I know people will be more honest via DM.  That being said, in this case, I am asking you to DM, or you are asking me.  It’s this whole consent thing, and I don’t feel obligated to send the same cut and paste message of “thanks for the message, but I don’t use DM”.

Do you have a reason you don’t use DM?  I would love to hear it, publicly of course on Twitter or Facebook!

Building a Sex Positive Brand

    K Ghislaine
Building a Brand, while marching to my own drum!

What You’re Not Supposed to Talk About: The Lows

On July 30th I will be celebrating 8 years of blogging and as I have written a few times, I have certainly learned a lot and grown into the Sex positive soul that I am today.  But there is one key point that we, as content creators are not allowed to talk about, and that is the low’s of building a brand.  And that is just what my writing has become.  It has evolved past my own words, and into an identity all of it’s own.  It is a blog, a website, a coaching business, a podcast, and a place that has grown far beyond what I ever could have imagined at its conception.  And the reality is that it was incredibly hard, and I have shed countless tears over it.  And yeah, here I go again tackling another taboo subject, building a brand and what you’re not supposed to talk about, it sucks and is hard.

Social Media Skews Reality

For whatever reason our society has decided that social media is a place where you can freely share all the joys, highs, and amazing points in your life.  By extension, the same is true of starting your own business or brand.  We want to build this illusion that we are successful right from the onset.  Fake it till you make it is the rally cry we here.  If you want to get funding, support, accolades, or any sort of exposure you need to be unique, successful, and solve people’s pain in a way no one else can.  And yes, these factors definitely play into building a brand and are important for growth and success.  But, this is only a very teeny tiny fraction of the truth behind any creation, company, product, or in this case a brand.  The truth is, it is 99% percent blood, sweat, and so many tears in the beginning, and very few ever find success from all that hardship, and yet, we keep up with this smoke and mirror anyways because we cannot let go of our dream, or our what if.

But you see, I am not supposed to talk about this.  By sharing with you that blogging about my first open relationship, all the trials and errors of non-monogamy, and all the hardships I have faced by publicly sharing nude photos will give you doubt about my abilities as a writer.  It will make you question why you follow me, interact with me, or share my work.  If I go out, into the world showing the entire picture, I will be showing the truth behind the magic.  And then, what am I?  Just another hack, pushing and prodding, waiting for my next big break.

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The Creators Myth

I am supposed to tell you that I blog for fun.  It’s my hobby and if I ever make it great, but if I don’t that’s fine too. I love what I do.  And I will be completely honest with you, this statement is true.  I adore what I do.  And I am the entire embodiment of this brand I have built.  It has been worth almost every second I have put into it, and it is my passion.  That my friends though, is not the entire story.  The passion is the fuel that allows me to write a little more every day, and create engaging content, or photos.  But, you cannot feed yourself on passion alone, actually you cannot feed yourself at all.  And that my dear friends, is what we are not supposed to talk about.

I have a very dear friend who has created an incredible product, and has received awards, accolades, and international exposure for his invention.  People are constantly telling him that they love what he does, he is on the cutting edge of something big, and that they will support him any way that they can.  So he tells them that he needs funding to build the next prototype.  Guess what happens when the investors hear this…?  You guessed it, crickets!  Now again, I am not supposed to share this, and he is not supposed to share this pain.  Instead, we are all supposed to keep fighting the good fighting, wishing and praying that one day our ship will come in. Hard work always pays off we tell ourselves.  And yes, someday it will.  However, when you are in the thick of things, treading water, desperately hungry, and trying to fuel yourself with dreams, it gets…. disheartening.

Why am I sharing this with you?  Are you going to see a huge Go Fund Me link at this end of the post because I have guilted you into paying for the content that I offer?  Nope, that would feel weird, coercive, and honestly challenge my whole identity and belief of free flowing information.  While there will always be an affiliate link and a Patreon offer with each post, your interaction with those offers will not change the content I love producing.  This post is more directed at the other content creators, inventors, entrepreneurs, etc.  I want you to know I hear you pain, I feel the loneliness of hearing nothing but crickets post after post, and I acknowledge you wanting to throw in the towel and say screw it this isn’t worth all the shit, and abuse we get online daily.  We aren’t supposed to talk about the pain of building a brand, so I say screw it, let’s talk about it! 

Sharing is Caring!

I want to hear your stories, so please write a post and link it in the comments, or link it to my twitter feed (with a note it’s OK to share) and I will add it to this post!   It’s OK to talk about the bad.  It’s human, and we need to feel safe to do more of it!

How Do I Get My Partner to Explore Non-Monogamy?

    K Ghislaine

This question, right here, is the question that has been asked over and over again, when a person discovers non-monogamy for the first time.  They ask it in earnest, as if, there is some magical answer that will allow them to keep their spouse and start sleeping with other people immediately.  And it is the most frequent query I personally get when advertising my relationship coaching business.  But for a long time, it was the most difficult one for me to maintain composure and give a thoughtful, well crafted response.  So, I decided to put into writing the best answer I can give, which I hope will encourage any of you asking this question to make healthy decisions and not ruin your current relationship because you discovered something shiny.

Step 1:

First things first, you have to know your partners communication style.  And if you don’t, don’t worry, most couples don’t, but they figure out very quickly what not to do over the course of a relationship.  Finding out both your own and your partners way of thinking, processing and talking is something that is necessary if you want a healthy non-monogamous relationship, because you are going to be talking, and communicating a lot!  If you think a relationship with 2 people takes work, just imagine what happens when you bring new dynamics into the mix.  You need a solid foundation whereby you can talk about safe sex, mistakes, wants, needs, and time management, and do it in a respectful and loving way.  A relationship is a partnership, and your success in non-monogamy will depend on your foundation.

Step 2:

Second, you have to have an idea about what you want in non-monogamy.  Be it simply physical connections (Swinging), dating other people (Open Relationships), or even exploring new relationships (Polyamory).  And here’s the big one, once you figure out what you want, you have to be willing to discuss, and even negotiate (in a healthy way) a relationship norm that will actually suit both of you and fit into your current lifestyle.  For example, if you have 3 kids, work 80 hours a week and barely see each other as it is, jumping into a polyamorous relationship may not be feasible.

Step 3:

Third, research, network and more research.  When I first discovered non-monogamy on date one with my current partner, I felt like I was plopped in a foreign world and I made every mistake one could possibly make.  It wasn’t until I started reading books on the subject, in my case open relationships and non-monogamy, and finding online resources that I began to understand it.  Shortly after I started blogging as a way of sorting out my thoughts and emotions and sharing the research that I learned along the way.  And I think it was at about year 4, that I started building a little bit of a community of more open minds.  Friends that I could talk to about what was going on.  And that was when the real turning point was for me.  Once I stopped feeling alone, had done enough research and figured out what I wanted out of non-monogamy our relationship was able to blossom.  So don’t overlook the background and research step, as it may save you many headaches.

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Step 4:

Fourth, time.  Let’s say, you have read the book, Sex at Dawn, and you are pretty convinced that humans are non-monogamous by nature, and this is now something that you need in your life.  Perfect, the seed has been planted.  You’ve researched, soul searched and you are ready.  But what about your partner?  An all too common thing I see, is someone rushing home excitedly to tell their partner about this amazing new lifestyle they want to explore and expecting the other person to jump right on board with the new adventure.  And, it almost always ends in disaster.  Why?  Because, we are raised in a society of monogamy.  Flipping a person’s life upside down can take a lot of time to process.  Without getting too much into the coaching side of things, it is an emotional roller coaster for the other person, and often they feel blindsided or worse when presented with the notion the first time.  While non-monogamy may have made perfect sense to you, it often does not immediately resonate with the partner.  And this is where you have to put your own relationship above the needs of your libido.  Giving time, space and allowing the person the opportunity to research, and build their own network of support if this is a direction that they are open to.

And if you get a resounding, Hell No! from the get go, put it on the back burner.  If your relationship started in monogamy, and those were the initial terms that you agreed to, then you may have to accept that that is how it will remain if you stay with your partner.  And remember, the grass is not always greener on the other side.  Non-monogamy is work, yes of course it’s play too, but especially at the beginning it is a lot of hard work and takes an emotional toll at some point or another.

Step 5:

Fifth, do not go into non-monogamy to fix something.  And by this I mean, fix the problem first, talk about it, address it, etc.  Do not, I repeat, do not, expose other people to your relationship issues or use them as Band-Aids.  The goal is to be ethical to yourself, your partner, and all the outsiders that you interact with.  Non-monogamy is not the same as cheating.  It is not a way to get your needs met on the sly, and it is certainly not an easy way to avoid having the tough conversations.  It things aren’t repairable in your relationship, end things before you start swinging or dating together.  Do unto other’s and all that jazz.  No one wants to be used, or find out they were a quick fix, or simply along for the ride in your relationship drama.

Final Thoughts:

And finally, don’t think you have to do it alone.  Many couples on online forums seem to feel all the blood, sweat and tears is more of a badge of honor that each relationship should go through on their own in order to be non-monogamous.  They went through all these mistakes, and you should too.  No shortcuts allowed.   Well, I am here to tell you that if coaching, podcasts, blogs, etc. were an option when I was first introduced to non-monogamy I would have taken that up in a heartbeat.  Learning from other’s mistakes can be as valuable as making them on your own, if you are willing to listen and really learn.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help, or to ask questions, during your exploration and encourage your partner to do the same.  Sometimes all it takes is a little mentorship, or even just an ear to bounce your uncertainties off of to gain the insight you need to move forward.

So have fun out there, practice safe sex, and remember no always means no.

If you want to learn more about my non-monogamous coaching services, or would like some reading recommendations please check out my site, www.breakingawayfromrelationshipnorms.com.