Matt Joseph Diaz

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In the spring of 2013, I met a woman on OKCupid. She was petite, with a kind smile and a voice so soft that it could melt all your troubles away. Her shock of red curls went down to her shoulders — and because of this, and the fact that we no longer speak, let's call her Ann.

Ann was a few years older than I, wise and mature. She also, it turned out, spent her professional life beating up strangers for their sexual satisfaction.

This week: Find what fuels you, and don't beat yourself up if what's fueling you right now is "surviving."

We met Matt a year ago when he showed us his post weight-loss body.

You aren’t half of something waiting to be made whole — you’re a complete human being with your own important thoughts and ideas, looking for someone to add to your life. You're neither incomplete nor missing out on anything just because you’re single.

This Monday, Matt talks about female comic characters. Batman? How about BatNOTSOMUCHMAN.

It's time for #MondayMotivation with Matt Joseph Diaz. Today Matt is talking about vulnerability. 

This Monday, Matt helps us celebrate Masturbation Month! (To say anything else would betray the beauty of this video.)

Once I became a body positive writer and speaker, I told the story of that night on podcasts and in interviews as an example of the sort of reaction I was afraid of prior to my video about my excess skin going viral. Every time, the interviewer made a comment about how Dana was “the ugly one,” not me. And every time, I told them I didn’t want her to be vilified or insulted.

How embarrassing is this story, and is the value in it (be it entertainment, educational, or both) enough that the benefit in sharing it outweighs how mortifying it is?