Before launching into this week’s topic, I want to add a postscript to last week’s discussion of polyamory. I ended the column on an ambivalent note, professing my uncertainty about engaging with multiple sexual partners at once. Upon further reflection, I’m ready to take a stance. I think there are two reasons people seek multiple partners: 1) To manage your emotional attachments (like my juggling Econ concentrator friend or my friend waiting on an answer from the commitment-phobe) and 2) To explore a genuine fascination about a variety of people for a variety of reasons—you may be really into one’s body, another you like because you get along really well, and a third intrigues you intellectually (like my friend with the hyper-diversified stock portfolio). I believe the second motivation is healthy, the first unhealthy. I also believe it’s a rare individual who truly ascribes to Option 2. Inevitably, almost all of us end up basing our decisions on Option 1. That said, it’s your choice how you get it on. This is just something to consider for your future sexual adventures and conquests. Now, onwards and upwards to new and sexier things.

Walt Whitman once opened a poem by famously declaring, “I sing the Body electric.” Without mincing any words, I believe we should all join Walt in singing the Body electric. Here’s why.

The human body is a miracle. It provides us with transport from the Ratty to the Rock. It tells us it’s working as it powers a bike up College Hill by a burn in our muscles and the sweat on our brows. Our bodies allow us to screw in a light bulb and shovel snow. In the course of one day our bodies do a million different things for us. After all, we live in them every day, all the time. As incredible as our bodies are in ordinary use, here’s why I think they are extraordinary. Bodies, even when busy carrying out their most mundane tasks, harbor a secret: When stimulated in a certain way, they become channels for ecstasy.

I really do think that it’s amazing, almost unbelievable even, that our bodies are built to work as conduits for pleasure. I feel such wonder when I think about the staggering array (and I don’t use this phrase lightly) of ways we can electrify our bodies. Even more remarkable is the fact that each approach yields a unique result.

Think about it—both masturbation and sex with a partner can elicit unmistakable sexual response, but those responses feel drastically different. I’ll admit that this dichotomy is somewhat crude; each of these two categories contains a host of nuanced distinctions. Masturbation, for instance, feels different when it involves external stimulation (erotica, porn, music, lube, and toys) than it does when it’s just you and your hand. But that’s just one set of differences. The possibilities really expand when we start thinking about the way our bodies respond to stimulation from different partners. The dynamic between two people affects that way bodies react in profound ways. Consider the body response arising from a smoldering attraction to some unknown person in comparison to the body response yielded by the deep comfort you feel with someone you trust deeply. Think about the distinction between intimacy in public versus in private. Think about how the experience of your sexual body changes when you’re drunk or on drugs. And for those of you who experiment with fetishes, that kind of sex feels different too, right?

So, what’s the point? All of these examples are actually in the service of one simple message:

Explore the myriad ways to unlock your body’s potential.

There is SO much to discover. Case in point: tantra, energy orgasms, multiple orgasms, the blending of pleasure and pain in BDSM. Bring the same fervent curiosity to your physical life that you bring to the activities you feel most passionate about. Don’t be shy. Don’t settle. Embrace the unexpected. Take risks.

Implicit in this declaration is the idea that we should love our bodies for what they can do and not how they look. But even more than that, the point is not just to love our bodies for their functionality but to marvel at the diverse and astounding results they can produce.

I sing the Body electric because it is the only song I know. Do you?