Hello there. My name is Erik. I'm planning on being a regular blogger here, but kind of want to introduce myself.

I'm in my early 20s. I enjoy life and love friends and family. If I want something, I go after it. If I'm passionate about something, I'll strive for it until it is achieved. I'm gay, and kind of am seeing someone right now. I love being outdoors, and water fascinates me to no end. I'm funny sometimes, but mostly I'm very talkative. I love learning about people. People watching is one of my favourite sports, and I play it way too often. As much as I talk, I listen to others. I love listening to what my friends have to say, or even what a stranger on the street has to say.

But back to the gay thing. What does being gay mean? The word "gay" is defined by society as someone who is solely attracted to the same sex... but I am attracted to some females too. True, I am attracted to many more guys than I am attracted to girls, but that doesn't deny the fact that my attraction is for both sexes. Do I choose the label "gay" because I ignore the fact that there is some attraction to females, or do I choose the label "gay" to because I choose to associate myself with the term and it's connotation?

Who are we anyway? These labels that we put on ourselves in attempt to describe who we are both help and hinder us. People make judgements on the labels we use to describe us, and assume certain things until they get to know us better. By telling people I'm gay, they get the assumption that I'm not attracted to any females. On the flip side However, if I were to tell people I was bisexual, I would be more accepted by my fellow males, and girls would view it differently when I "hit-on" them, and everyone would think that I was attracted to anything that was human.

There are no good terms to describe those people who are in between totally gay and totally straight. Technically, anyone in between the two terms is considered bisexual, and some theories state that most all of the nation falls somewhere between there. If there are so many people who are technically "bisexual" but associate themselves with straight or gay, why aren't there other terms out there to use? I would love for people to be able to say "I'm slightly crooked" or "I'm sorta sexual" or something like that.

To me, knowing yourself to the point where you have figured out where on the spectrum you are is much better than the label associated with that place. I have straight friends I know who are much more bisexual than they let on to people, but are so concerned about what society would think about them if they used the term "bisexual." I also know a whole lot of gay guys who do admire the female body and have attractions to some females as well, but deny that fact because they are "gay"

The point that I'm trying to make is that sometimes we are too wrapped up in labelling ourselves something. We worry about the words we want to call ourselves and forget about the central issue: figuring out who we really are. I spent so much time in High School trying to uphold the label I was placing on myself. As a person, we should be ourselves and figure out who we are first. The labels will never fit exactly, but neither do T-shirts. We just need to take our time, look at the scenery, and chill. Eventually, the words will come to us.