ponderings

So I've been pondering all these nuances of human psyche, relationships, sexuality etc. And I find I am still quite confused about a great deal of it. For example, I wasn't aware that "physical" and "sexual" attraction are not one and the same thing. I had always used these two words as synonyms in that context - but recently I've seen a comment where someone differentiates between them, saying that asexual people often experience physical attraction which is NOT sexual in nature. I am not absolutely sure what this means - finding someone aesthetically pleasing, I suppose, or having a preference for a certain physical type even in platonic/non-sexual relationships. Which reminds me that I am also confused about the distinction between "romantic" and "platonic". I had always assumed that "platonic" meant "romantic, but without sex" - but I have recently seen someone describe friendships and family relationships as "platonic", as opposed to romantic ones (which can be either sexual or not). All of this makes me realize how important words and definitions can be when we are trying to convey our experience to other people. If we use different definitions of a certain term, we might not even realize we are/aren't talking about the same thing. A great example would be the word "queer", which can mean a thousand different things to a thousand different people...

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