by Cliff Rees
Remember a year ago? Almost no one was vaccinated, in-person events were completely out of the question, many people had gone almost a year with very little or even no human touch at all, and quite a few relationships had dissolved or radically morphed.
We were determined to keep the doors open, at least virtually, so continued with about 30 Zoom events in the first half of the year. Our first outdoor in-person event of 2021 was the Beltane Wine Social. We managed to not burn the forest down, and the profound joy 50 of you had at being able to interact with others once again in 3D (albeit masked) was inspiring!
That inspiration translated into us deciding to restart indoor, unmasked, in-person touch events as soon as everyone had a chance to be fully vaccinated, as we didn’t want to exclude those who were still waiting to get the vaccine. After careful review of the scientific literature and for the safety of the community, we instituted our vaccine requirement in June and had the Puja of Reconnection on June 19 followed a month later by two Massage-a-Trois.
In July, the delta variant raised its spiky little head, and we all became familiar with the depressing phrase of “breakthrough infection”! :( We briefly considered going back entirely to virtual events, but the deep need we all have for touch plus the great joy that loving, touch-based events had brought to a few hundred of you in the previous two months inspired us to do a major risk/reward analysis.
That’s where our current COVID Care protocol arose – vaccination plus day-of-event rapid test plus on-entry temperature taking. We realize that further variants may change the scientific equation and that further safety measures may be required. Our priority is to facilitate as much insight, connection, pleasure, and happiness as possible while minimizing risk. Since implementing our protocol, we’ve had 37 in-person events with 994 in attendance, and there have been 0 breakthrough infections that we’re aware of.
Despite COVID, Empowered Pleasure has grown by 150% in members over 2020! We hosted 82 events altogether, with nearly 1,900 participants! I didn’t have a heart attack at the end of the Glo-Party Puja! :)
We already have a very full calendar for 2022 – 18 events in January alone, including new-to-Empowered-Pleasure presenters Tanya Jarvik and Claude Cruz, hosting their Jealousy and Two Open Doors workshops, respectively as well as Rich Фалос and Benda Powell hosting their Cozy Mid-Week Cuddle. In addition, there will be the first EP Talent Show – Revelations!
February will see member Lachlan Croteau hosting his Connecting Intimately workshop, The Red Dance Party (Chinese New Year + Valentine’s Day), Psychedelics & Tantric Sex, and a second round of the Tantra Yoga Meditation course.
Come join us!
Love & Happy New Year,
CCM