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That darn moderation see-saw

Once again I ponder the question, how much of the real world do I let into my world?

Fun songwriter, name of Matt Nathanson.  Checked out his CD from the library even though I was tempted to buy it straight out.  Glad I did.  On the first few songs, it sounded fun.  But eventually it became an entire CD lamenting his relationships with women.  I avoided buyer's remorse.  Huzzah!

However, my more topical concern is that of... well, the topics.  The second song, "Higher" is essentially and ostensibly about a subject that I don't ponder over too much.  Sex.  He's talking about her holding him close and hips moving... then there's a clever play on words about "coming on" where he lingers on that first syllable for a dramatic amount of time.  Yes, the liner notes say "come on"... but please.  Who're we kidding?

Look, somebody wants to sing about sex (as clearly he does), that's fine.  Freedom of speech.  Artist's Voice.  Expressing oneself.  I'm behind all of that.  But that doesn't mean I'm going to make time for it in my personal life.

There's the common myth that men think about sex every 7/8/52 seconds (pick your number.  It changes depending on the source).  I think that concept is bunk, but I don't think the logic behind it is.  People get a little too consumed by sex.  Why do you think rape happens? 

I figure there are better things to deal with, so I try to limit my sex-obsessed behavior. I don't read Playboy, I have no interest in Angelina Jolie, and I can do without songs that spend 3 minutes babbling about sex with some partner who they don't talk to anymore.  All that being said, there is a song of Nathonson's on my MySpace page because I think it is fantastic.  It's fun.  It's played with gusto.  And the crowd loves it.  So I'm not going to pretend that I avoid all references to sex.  (Shoot, I have several DVDs where women appear topless.  Not my preferred scenes, but I'm not one who usually throws the baby out with the bathwater in media.) 

Short version?  I keep it to a reasonable amount.  As my Mom put it about 15 years ago, "You're the one who has to answer to God at the end."  I don't think there's a hard set limit.  I think you and God can figure out what amount of indulgences are allowed in your life.  I think it is always wise to aim for the side of simple/least indulgences... but to each their own.

Shoot, I was considering taking a break from church.  Skip a few Sundays in a row.  But then a black woman told a fantastic story about segregation in Florida and it made me quite glad that I had attended.  And the more church I miss, the more stories like this I might not hear.  Doesn't mean I won't skip to visit family or if I've had a friend ask me to go fundraising with them.  Though it will encourage me to limit the time I spend away from church (espeically since the "other" world does quite a good job at distracting me as is).  Yeah, my church ain't exaclty sexy, but apparently there are enough things around me that are.  I'll commit a bit more to that first group than the second, thanks.

Toodles

-PC, see-saws, balance; I don't even have the balancing skills to ride a bike, darnit!