So for years I didn't get the whole Tumblr thing. Sure, I'd visit particular Tumblr blogs I liked, and enjoy them, but I didn't see why anyone would want an account, would reblog things, leave notes, etc. It all seemed sort of vapid to me.
But about a year ago, I started my own, primarily as a way of sharing erotic images I like with my girlfriend Alissa.
One thing about us, we have what's largely a long-distance relationship. She's in the midwest, and I'm on the east coast. We deal with it though. I talk to her every day, and we stay connected-at-a-distance using every available resource we have. We try to see one another as often as we possibly can.
One of those ways is by sharing erotic things we enjoy with one another. We started doing that using an application called Flipboard. We each had this sort of private magazine we would bookmark images into, that we could peruse and then like with a little heart, to show something really spoke to us.
After some updates, Flipboard got a whole lot more unfriendly to custom content, especially of an erotic nature. It felt like we were struggling to share stuff, and asking for trouble. So I ditched it for Tumblr.
The other day I was laying in bed, reading the Tumblrs, like you do, when I stumbled across a series of images that appealed to me.
One of them were dirty stuff, sure. (It was a manga about some gentle femdom, where a woman held a man's head in her lap, and he could smell her scent. Yummy.) But some were not. There was this one, a cartoon of naked men of all shapes and sizes, that said "Men need body positivity too", and another, a little grid of pink squares with white writing in them, that said, "ALL. OF THIS. IS. TEMPORARY."
I reblogged them, along with a few others. I went back and had a look at my tumblr, at the various themes of eroticism in it, and the various exceptions. And it struck me, all at once, that this was a way for me to know myself.
I got to see previous things which had so appealed to something in me, that they were worth curating, and sharing.
I think it's kind of hard to know yourself. It takes time and effort.
Then it also struck me, that what made Tumblr yet more awesome was that it was an opt-in way for others to know me too, and for me to know them.
What I mean is - it's a simple, voluntary way for me to look at stuff important to you, and vice-versa. It respects consent, and allows you to state with vigor and enthusiasm how you feel about something.
How cool.
What a great way to learn more about myself, and share it. What a great way for me to learn more about other folks, that they want me to know.