We absolutely love this conversation! So much of this episode is about the never ending journey of trying to figure out how to embrace who you truly are and how to love others for who they are.

As Casey was growing up, she often had different interests than many of her friends and people around her. She learned quickly to stuff those desires down and developed a lot of shame around who she was.

Casey started dating and got into her first relationship when she was a junior in college. However, she found herself struggling to maintain monogamous commitments and often ended up cheating or pursuing serial monogamy. Neither of which felt good to her, or were the ways she wanted to be relating to people she cares for and loves.

About a decade ago, she entered into a partnership that was open from the very beginning. She and her partner worked together to open slowly in a way that worked for them and gave her the space to process some of the shame that she had been carrying for her whole life.