November 16

NOVEMBER 16

A man is known by the company his mind keeps. — Thomas Bailey Aldrich

We are often judged by the friends we have, but perhaps we are also known by what we read and listen to and see at the movies and on television. Certainly, everything that happens to us affects us, and everything that affects us influences our way of dealing with other people and viewing the world. Many sex addicts devour pornography, go to X-rated movies and watch “blue” videos. “It’s harmless,” we say. “We have a right in this country to see and hear what we like.” Freedom from censorship — that’s an issue in itself. But as sex addicts we are particularly vulnerable to material that focuses narrowly on the human body as an object of lust and exploitation. As sex addicts, we tend, in any case, to dehumanize people and view sex as an act without consequences, divorced from intimacy. Exposure to material that insults sex increases our fixations, our isolation, our fantasies, and our shame. There’s so much to see and hear and savor in the world. Why demean ourselves with actions that only drive us deeper into shame and despair?

I need to open my mind to the wonders of life and knowledge.