I just went toe-to-toe with a vampire who insists on returning to my life. Here's the trouble: I love her (platonically or professionally; this is NOT romantic love/about my wife), and I do feel that her disturbing unwellness does not reflect the butterfly within, sort to speak. It gets in her way. Aside from her professionally diagnosed disorders, I consider this to be an additional type of sickness, and I despise the sickness, not the person. I think of it like a behavioral disability which she cannot currently control with the life-tools in her arsenal. I find her responsible for her actions, but I don't hate *her* for her sickness. I really want to make it clear that they're separate in my book. Illness doesn't need to define us, and it's clear when the sickness is talking vs when it's her. That sickness though...

After I finally broke myself free from Christianity, I took a lot of pleasure in researching other religions. The modern term for this is “path,” and I suppose this is supposed to bring about a gentleness and sense of inclusion to those folks who break off from the mainstream and want to do their own thing while still trying to call themselves whatever title they originally donned. …I suppose. Regardless, I found Paganism. The information available was confusing at best because everyone seemed to be on a different “path.” There was a path for this, there was a path for that… people said they lived under an umbrella, and all I wanted was a book referral to tell me what it was all about. I really was clueless! Hey: I was raised Christian! All of those Pagan-folk were devil-speakers! (Ma, look at me now. #Satanist)