I’m back to the Furnace! No, not hell, Phoenix, AZ. Although I do like the dry heat it’s easy to mistake the two….
Telling Mom went better than I could have ever hoped. She’s a socially liberal Republican like myself. Her first response was, “Hmm, the small details you don’t tell Mom.” She knew I had worked on and off, part time in a bar. Since I had bartended all through college, it was natural to assume I was doing the same.
She had an two interesting spins on the topic. The first is that she is teaching a Women of the Bible class this fall and decided to make Rahab the prostitute one of her studies. Originally she had divided it into Good Girls/Bad Girls of the Bible, but quickly scrapped that idea because we all exhibit both good and evil and it is not our place to judge.
I think it made a big difference being 32 year old veteran of the industry than a 24 year old newbie. In my early twenties I was still under my parents’ influence, and she may have felt she had to shield me from the industry’s negatives. By presenting it to her after the fact, I was able to demonstrate that this was an adult decision that has truly brought only positive things to my life.
Then I showed her my new webinar curriculum for www.dancerwealth.com, and the work I’ve done with Starlight Ministries. my travel site www.destinationavalon.com, and my new site/store that I haven’t revealed yet (hint hint) “So, you are using all the stuff you learned in college after all, aren’t you?” she asked. Maybe not the archeology, but definately the cognitive psychology, journalism, theories of learning, and communication.
The second interesting point of view Mom came up with was when I asked her if she thought I was going to Hell. She gave me a very thought provoking response. “This is Hell” She said. At first I thought she meant the collapsing dollar, skyrocketing oil, recession, war, etc….but then she clarified “For many of those women working in the clubs, who don’t want to be there, who don’t have any other choices, who don’t have control of their finances, and are doing this just to put food on the table…this is their hell.”
I never thought of it that way before.
Tags: family, how to tell mom im a stripper, strip club, stripper, stripping
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