Dr. Liz Powell

If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE love. Let's be real, one of my guilty pleasures is romcoms. But, I have to admit that I think the unconditional love they often showcase is best left to the stories and fairytales rather than real life.

Not only is unconditional love an easy way to get us to sacrifice our boundaries for the sake of our relationships, but it's often unfairly pushed onto women and femme-presenting folks. Men are rarely held to such a high standard of sacrificial love for their partners, creating unbalanced relationships. 🤨

I say forget unconditional love. Instead, we should focus on building ethical, equitable, and respectful relationships. Love shouldn't ever mean sacrificing yourself! 💜

Intent matters, but it isn’t magic. Hurt doesn’t go away because the actions or words leading up to it were an accident. 🙌

So what should you do if someone hurts you?

You can look at their intent. Did they mean to hurt you?

If they didn’t, was it due to a general thoughtlessness? What do you need to process the hurt? Can they accept that they hurt you even if they feel like they didn’t do anything “wrong?”

From there, can you have a conversation that understands the difference between the intent and the impact of what happened?

No one can communicate perfectly 100% of the time. Our lived experiences give us each a different idea of what’s okay to say and what might be hurtful. What’s important is how we respond after.

Do you love falling in love or playing with lots of different people? I do! 🖐️ It’s one of the reasons that I am non-monogamous. 💜

If you have all this excitement and desire but don’t know quite where to start, my book, Building Open Relationships, is here to be your guide in building and maintaining healthy relationships.

Whether you prefer paperback, ebook, or audiobook, you can pick up a copy directly from me!

🔗 https://vist.ly/4yve6

People are complicated and messy. We are all different, whether it’s how we do things, the way we think, or even how we fold laundry.

That’s part of what makes talking to others and building relationships so fun! However, it also means that misunderstandings are bound to pop up. 😜

When those misunderstandings occur, approach the situation with genuine curiosity and humility. That creates an environment that's easier to share information in!