Friendships

I am reminded of a discussion I had months ago. I spoke with a man regarding SSA issues. He had read much about reparative therapy, and understood the principles. As we talked he described how he made regular efforts to build healthy friendships with other men, to get outside of himself, and to apply what he had learned. From our discussion, it seemed that he had made significant growth, and that his level of attractions had decreased.

This seems to be a recurring theme. As I talk with men, they indicate that the level of inappropriate attraction to other men decreases when they have healthy interaction with other men. (I recently spoke with a man who knew very little about reparative therapy, and he told me the same thing.)

I believe that we all have need to have social interaction. I am self-employed. At certain times of the year, I spend a lot of days in a row working alone at my office. After a few days, I am ready for a change: for some human interaction. We are trying to fool ourselves if we believe that we can maintain a healthy perspective on life while not interacting with other people.

The quality of our lives depends upon the love we have for others, and the love we feel from them.