[blueerica]

I subscribe to the 'everyone is selfish, and that's not necessarily a bad thing' philosophy of life.

I have sex because I like to feel good.
I volunteer at homeless shelters because it makes me feel good.
I do my homework because I want to finish school, so I can get more later... and feel good.
I go to so-and-so's funeral because I would feel bad if I didn't - so therefore it makes me feel good, even when I'm feeling pain. The two emotions aren't mutually exclusive.

I don't think there's an unselfish thing I do in my day. Giving of yourself is selfish - and it's not a bad thing. I wish people would take that nasty connotation out of their minds and realize what a positive thing being selfish can be/ I is to realize that I do things, I help others because it helps me in some way, emotionally, physically and monetarily. Even when I'm being self-destructive, or someone is being destructive to me, I know that I stay because it fills an emotional component I believe I need at the moment (doesn't mean I actually require it, that it's right, or even that it's healthy...).

Transaction of emotion, might be a good - if not a bit cold - way to look at it.

So, maybe a way to connect it is even doing something like sex out of obligation is a way to feel good, if feeling good the opposite of feeling guilty, or the opposite of being haggled and good is the silence that comes when the nagging goes away.

I need to revisit the subject when I'm not so harried. I'm not even sure I'm making sense to myself.