Restoring Integrity

Hey Everyone,

Bridget a.k.a Professor Playtime here. 👋 I'll start by saying this post will be lengthy, and I know that many will not read through everything. For those who have been following me/forLove on social media or here on our email list, I would like to restore integrity with you around the way I've been showing up on these platforms.

I value authenticity and integrity above all else, and the truth is, I don't think you've been getting that from me here. In fact, I know you haven't... my drive for certain successes or to accomplish something "important" has morphed into social media selling tactics and weighted email campaigns. What began from a place of advocacy and service has taken so many turns around the capitalist roller coaster over the last 6 years that I've lost track. And I am certain people in the community have felt this and been impacted by it. I know I turn to my community spaces to be sold to, and I can see how that might be what a lot of our engagement has felt like over the last year. Today, that begins to change. I've spent the last 6 months really looking at what forLove is, who "Professor Playtime" is, and how that all interacts with the bigger picture. What I've realized is that those things are just brands. Each represents something important, yes, and still, they are brands; a tiny sliver of the whole. "Niche yourself down," "sell high ticket programs," "post 3 times a day"—these are all things I've absorbed and then projected forward, all the while feeling out of alignment. In part because the whole can be messy; it's unpolished and untamed in ways I've been conditioned to believe people don't want to see or, worse, that people won't understand. I take accountability for the ways that I've bought into this and participated in this. Moving forward, I'm committed to radical authenticity and personal accountability in that growth process. I'm sure this will continue to unfold and transform in glorious and terrifying ways over the next year. Starting right now, here are some of the ways we're going to be moving differently here. My hope is that you only stick around for the next leg of this journey if this resonates with you. If it doesn't, that's okay!

STARTING OVER:
Over the last 6 years, this community has grown across multiple continents and platforms. It served as a beautiful place for connection and expression during COVID, it grew into IRL events and then into global education summits. We've done so much with so little and in such a small amount of time, and the best thing we can do now is allow that part to die off so that we can be reborn into something new. The managing of multiple technologies and digital community spaces is not something I have the capacity or desire to do, and as a result, they have fallen into marketing spaces rather than communities. We've got thousands of emails, and I know a fraction of them personally or through the community. Rather than continue to spam people with emails they don't care to receive, I'm going to start a smaller list of those who want to continue on this next leg of the journey. Those who want to be a part of a group of people who are DONE with the status quo created by late-stage capitalism, who are done paying into systems that fund wars around the world, who recognize that we have been taught so many things that we MUST unlearn in the pursuit of cooperation, etc. I'll slowly roll this out via emails for the next month to give people a chance to decide if they would like to self-select out. If you'd like to join me in the midst of transformation, >> let me know here <<

NO MORE HIDING:
I'm no longer speaking on behalf of, or hiding behind a brand name. I've used this as a way to silence myself and make the content I offer more digestible. The truth is, I don't care to be digestible, I don't aim to be cutesy or demure. I aim to attract authenticity, and the only way to do that is to offer my authentic self. So, I'll be speaking and organizing with my voice. Which means I'm going to talk about the messy, the imperfect, and the feral. It also means that topics won't be niched down and will expand the conversations outside of sex positivity and non-monogamy into deconstructing larger systems of harm. When forLove started, many of the core leadership team came from different pockets of liberation and advocacy work, myself included. While sexual health and freedom are an essential part of the fight for liberation, it is not the only path. This is me stepping back into that more boldly.

TALKING ABOUT FAILURE:
I have a laundry list of these to share... but I'll start with one. I recently released a few "high ticket coaching" options that completely flopped. I followed a prescribed outline, did the whole "40% discount if you join now," and the truth is, no one cared. Not because the content isn't valuable—people already pay for it in my coaching and workshops. It's because it wasn't authentic. It didn't come from me, it came from a soft launch marketing framework, Canva templates, and ChatGPT. While I know this is how many businesses are thriving today, it's not who I am. It feels disconnected and manufactured in a way that loses its touch with the human experience. So to remedy this, I'm going back to what I've always felt was right, which is a pay-what-you-can model, a.k.a. You tell me what you need support with, how you think I can help, and what you can comfortably afford, and we go from there. No more over-structured coaching packages and one-size-fits-all approach to transformation. I'll still leave my >> current packages up for people who are seeking a more prescriptive approach to something, but the 1:1 work needs to get back to holding intentional space and allowing for whatever energy shows up. I can't tell you how many people have advised against this. How many times I've been told that people will take advantage of this, or that I'll end up resenting my clients... I trust myself to know my boundaries, I trust that the universe is abundant, and I know that when I'm in alignment with my integrity is when things tend to work out as they are supposed to. More on that below

WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER:
I've embraced the fact that I have a skill set that I have been privileged enough to earn through life experiences, education, and mentorships, and a more intuitive skill set that I have been gifted by something much larger than myself that drives me to seek out truths. I know I am meant to continue to offer that in ways that help people go deeper and deeper into authenticity, because once we get there, the natural cycle is to step into service of others. When I really sat down and asked myself what it was that people came to me for, I realized that people are paying me to listen without judgment and offer a mirror with a slightly different lens for them to reflect with. But I am just one reflection. While I know transformation can occur in a vacuum, I believe integration happens in community. So I'm making some changes to the way I offer support to refocus on group work, which is where this all started for me. I'll be opening up a waitlist for people who do wish to do 1:1 work but will be taking on fewer clients in that manner. If you want to be updated on this, >> let me know here <<

PLAY PARTIES:
I won't be organizing any Play Parties or Kink events over the next 6-12 months. I know many people have come here because of our play parties, and I want to acknowledge that this change may shift your desire to be here. Holding space for these events is a great honor and also a huge responsibility, and I take that very seriously. I know I need to take a step back from the large-scale organizing and anchor back into smaller spaces for connection so that the others who feel called to hold that space can continue to do so with reverence. If you aren't sure where to turn for this, please reach out to me, and I will help make recommendations on communities and places you can connect with.

There is a reason why you don't see a fully formulated plan presented before you. I am certain this will unfurl in ways I can't imagine from the place I sit today. To tell you anything other than that would be false, this is me embracing the art of transformation. 

I'll leave you with this... I once heard an expert say, "the way to navigate anxiety is to make the choice." So often, when we sit at a perceived impasse is when the fear kicks in. Once we make a choice, and move forward with it, the anxiety dissipates. Today, I've made the choice to change.

Thank you for being here!

cheers, 

B