photograph: Pinterest

Hi everyone, my name is Brooke Harrison, and welcome to Lust, Lore, and Sometimes Love!

For some background, I’m a current junior at Emerson College majoring in journalism and minors in women, gender, and sexuality studies and peace and social justice studies. Being a sex and relationship columnist has been my dream since I was in high school, watching Sex and The City and reading my mom’s Cosmopolitan magazines.

When I first came to Emerson, finding out about Your Magazine's Romance section was like entering heaven. I’ve been fortunate enough to write a couple of stories for the magazine – most prominently the Romance section (duh) – so when I saw a blog position was opening up I quite literally jumped for joy. Getting to have this blog is truly a dream come true for me.

Now that we’re acquainted, let’s get into the juicer bits… sex and relationships are my two biggest hyperfixations – I could honestly talk about them forever. I identify as queer, so I feel like I can offer a broad scope of intersectionality when it comes to talking about partners, desires, and experiences. I grew up leaning on my grandma’s advice and a plethora of women’s magazines to understand the complexities of relationships and all the fun – and not-so-fun – times that occur when having sex.

As you read along each week, I hope it comes off as a raw venting of my inner psyche– as if we're besties and I'm writing you a story-length text. Due to the fact that I want us to have no walls between each other I thought I would explain a little behind the scenes of creating your own blog. So, let’s break down the title of my blog:

LUST

We have lust because I’m very comfortable with my sensuality and discussing it, which I’m incredibly grateful to feel that way with the way society shames AFAB (meaning “Assigned Female at Birth”) individuals for liking sex– and having a lot of it. Sex should always be an open discussion because sexual preferences are ever-evolving and sexual experiences are ever growing. This blog is a place where as long as we're being respectful, consensual, and communicative you don’t need to feel shame for your innermost desires.

LORE

We have lore because to me sex is never just sex and relationships are never that simple, there’s always a deeper layer to peel back and explore with each other. Not to oversexualize existentialism, but the bigger meaning is always worth knowing, and having that level of understanding between yourself and your partner or partners is such an aphrodisiac to me. I’m also Gen Z and we have a newfound obsession with the word lore and I love alliteration too much not to include it.

SOMETIMES LOVE

It’s only sometimes love because I’m currently single and love is not currently what I’m looking for, but romance still is. I’m a human being who can be prone to flippant emotions, so maybe my feelings toward love can change. Plus, we don’t have to be only talking about romantic love — I have experienced love at its purest within my friendships and I’m sure to write at least one story about them.

I hope that the more you read the more comfortable you feel about sex. While you don’t have to have it, discussing it in the right way can break down the stigma and bond people with the discovery of similar kinks, fantasies, or problems in and outside of the bedroom.

Sometimes Always with love,

Brooke

The Beginning

photograph: Pinterest