But the wild parts haven’t always been so…on the surface.
You see, I was not born a sex coach. I did not walk out of the ocean like this….birthed from the foam ready to talk about pussy from a public platform.
I grew up moving all over the US and mostly kept to myself. The perpetual new kid. I also learned early in my life (like early, early) that nobody likes a loud girl.
And maybe my voice was never loud in volume but I am naturally so EXUBERANT and VIBRANT and, you guys, I’m so fucking funny.
But for so many reasons that so many of us can probably relate to—I shoved it all down.
And although it wasn’t originally in my plan (because I didn’t have a plan), one day, when I was around 20 years old, I made it to community college to study psychology….where I continued to keep my head down.
I transferred to a 4-year university where I added a minor of sociology and then promptly disappeared into the crowd of 50,000 other students.
Then I got swept up in the political moment of 2008.
Fast forward a few years later and my work is speaking for itself. I can’t even keep to myself if I want to because my success is always a step ahead of me.
And don’t think the wild parts of me were completely buried for any of this. It was always sort of leaking at the seams of my very proper pantsuits (and occasionally too short work skirts).
But even when I didn’t always blend in, I followed the trail of more and more work, bigger promotions, more money (I fought for every penny).
Until it all came falling down.
With the political shift in 2016 and 2017, I lost my job as a Presidential Appointee.
And when I couldn’t seem to find literally ANY other job after that I was completely trapped with myself and it was so clear that outside of work I had almost no personal foundation at all.
I had a long-term partner and a place to live, but I didn’t have much of an adult personality to bring to the table.
This dark night of the soul went on for many years.
I’ll have to finish another time, but I think at least you can guess for now that something juicy emerged from all of that shadow.
Love you and talk soon xoxox
Veronica Puryear, MPA