12 Steps for Getting Over a Validation Addiction Part One

Last week I confessed my Addiction to Validation and promised my 12-step routine to get over it. I also outlined a potential Magic Pill solution, whereby an Ultimate Catch can teach you to love yourself by loving you. 

That's right. Ignore the writing on the wall. He really does love you.

Problem is too often this seeming Ultimate Catch is more likely a seasoned Player Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. He finds an unsuspecting and undeveloped soul with limited self-worth to satiate their own need for a relationship power fix. When the player kicks the played to the curb, we enter a dangerous Stage Three Validation Cycle, fueled by broken dreams and cynical disillusionment. All it takes is one douchebag asshole to forever corrupt a naive soul, making them believe true connections don’t really exist. This jaded notion can lead to a Validation Addiction so virulent it could be lifelong. These wounded warriors can become the Players for Life we fear - forever praying on lost souls like you or me. Be weary of these these hope-crushing, insecurity-fueling Incubus slutbags. Fall pray to their dark temptations and you could become one yourself.   

Stage Three Validation Addiction comes with high risk of becoming a Player For Life

Cautionary tales aside, this blog post is, after all, about hope for change. Luckily I have the wisdom to avoid that villainous path and I’ve chosen to call a spade a spade and beat this addiction once and for all. So let's get that soul cleansed and learn how to Validate Ourselves!

1. STOP HAVING SEX WITH STRANGERS!  

Whether you use Grindr or random bars to find your hookups, there is simply nothing to gain from having anonymous, meaningless sex. Besides of course nasty STIs, heartache and/or soul-rot. If you’re ambitious, or fancy yourself the entrepreneurial spirit - especially if you’re even remotely artistic and creative - chances are you could be doing something more productive with your time. You could argue it will train your aptitude in bed, but the empirical reality is that great sex requires an intimate connection, typically formed after repeat, and therefore increasingly more meaningful encounters.

Strap yourself in one of these if you have to. 

Obviously not all sex is bad. As Steven Pressfield says in The War of Art: “you can generally tell by the feeling of emptiness you have afterwards”. This is to say, quality sex with an intimate partner is rejuvenating, even inspiring, and comes fully endorsed. If, however, you’re a Validation Addict like me, you probably try to justify Meaningless Sex encounters as Meaningful. You’ll probably have to go cold turkey for a little while. Consider it like Lent in the Bedroom. The sexual frustration is good for you.

2. STOP RANDOM DATING COMPLETELY (AND AVOID THE COMPLACENCY TRAP)!

Stop going on lames dates with guys a decade your junior and justifying them as more than what they are. "But I'm not looking for sex or hookups, so it’s different, right?" 

Wrong. An addiction to meeting new potential romantic connections (that you never see again 93% of the time) is the same, if not worse than meaningless sex, because it eats up way more Productive Time. If you’re not just using a “dinner/drinks date” as an appetizer before getting off, you’re probably on the hunt to fill that missing hole in your life. A hole that can’t be filled by another guy (or gal). If it can be filled by a guy, then welcome to the Complacency. And guess what happens to relationships based on Complacency? 

That's right, mid-life crises, temptation for better things and inevitably broken hearts. And guess what those lead to? As yes, Stage Three Validation Addiction. 

They say 94% of Complacent Relationships End in Heartbreak or Broken Dreams 

To pull off this extreme form of moderation, you may need to delete your online dating presence for good. Not only is E-dating a real waste of time sifting losers from monsters, but incompatible personality, sense of humor or sexual chemistry just can’t be detected on the web anyway. The reality is the vast majority of online daters aren’t amazing “catches” that are "just so busy, this is the only way they can can meet other quality guys". They’re people just like you, with a warped sense of priorities that feel a burning need to be validated by others. 

3. FILL THE GAP IN YOUR SCHEDULE WITH PRODUCTIVE TIME!

Okay, so you’ve cut two dangerous temptations from your life: hookups and crappy dates. Give yourself a serious pat on the back. If you’re a Validation Addict, this probably opened up a massive gap in your schedule you can now fill with Productive Activity. Writing new scripts or a chapter in the next YA blockbuster bestseller. Brainstorming new business ideas with your mentor friends (but not fellow validation addicts).  Learning a language, building your portfolio or taking up the violin all count. So if you think you're creatively blocked, then go workout or spend your time un-cluttering the workspace for future, focused working sessions. Take on new instructed classes if you require some kind of dictator to keep you from slipping off the path. This is all time better spent than an evening without a real connection, that likely won’t be remembered a week later.

If you're using the laptop to access hook-ups site, it doesn't count.

Unfortunately, potential Productive Time clearly does not equate to actual Productive Time which is always governed by a unique combination of Discipline and Willpower, things you almost surely lack. Here your restless mind tends to wander, routinely drifting back to dangerous feelings of low self-esteem and a tendency to procrastinate. Don't worry. We'll work on that. 

4. DEVELOP YOUR DRIVE WITH DISCIPLINE AND WILLPOWER! 

If you’re trying to stick to a productive routine, nothing helps by trading bad habits in your life for disciplined good ones. This means keeping up with your daily iron-pumping workouts, while avoiding cheats on your diet, to help achieve or maintain your Adonis figure.   

But wait a minute! Doesn’t this just enable your vanity? That preoccupation with looking and feeling good that inevitably leads to Validation Sex and Broken Routines? Well not if you've removed Sex With Strangers from your timetable! The reality is, Discipline and Willpower love company (just like misery). So if you apply this kind of measured routine into your life, the drive to produce work and resist cheap validation will begin to come just as naturally for you. 

It's okay to use beauty to motivate Drive. Meaningless sex isn't the only thing its good for.

I’ve discovered Beauty Gives me Power and not just in terms of confidence. I get my best ideas when I’m working out and are endorphins are flooding my neo-cortex. If eating well and training hard makes me feel so good about myself, why the hell would I slip back to square one, by eating my feelings or skipping the gym? Don’t listen to friends or family who tell you to "relax" or say its okay to “live a little”. These are your Negative Influence Friends. They probably gave up in their own quests for self-validation and they probably don't enjoy that you're better looking then them. Now, what to do about them? 

5. RECOGNIZE THE NEGATIVE INFLUENCE FRIENDS AND CUT THEM LIKE CANCER!

This might be the toughest band-aid to rip-off of them all. The friends that love you The Way That You Are will want you to stay that way and won't like when you change. They might enjoy your fun spontaneity or delight in the tales of your Boy Crazy Drama. In the worst case, they may enjoy making you the butt of all their sassing jokes, so you get used to seeing your insecurities as normal. Deep down, they're almost surely as insecure and unhappy as you, so the idea of you developing Discipline and Willpower they lack will only piss them off. Unfortunately, being addicted to Validation, you likely prefer these kind of friends, because lifelong masochism attracts you to abusive relationships, even in platonic form.  

Negative Influence Friends. 

I'm not saying you must create drama by publicly dumping all your Negative Influence friends on Facebook. Allow actions to speak louder than words. Hang out with your Positive Influence friends (if you have any) more than the negative ones. Say no to a party night of binge-drinking because you'd rather stay in and work on your book. I know, the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) will probably make this task nigh unthinkable (we'll fix that soon), but it is necessary if you want to avoid situations that make you prone to bad habits. Replacing bad friends with good ones probably sounds tough. But if you've successfully begun to take advantage of your quality friends and started to put in Productive Time hours, your Negative Influence Friends will naturally become resentful and probably cut themselves out of your life.

6. EMPLOY YOUR POSITIVE INFLUENCE FRIENDS IN THE WAR!

It's easy to identify these friends in your inner circle. They're the busy ones that have real lives and real jobs and aren't partying 3-4 nights a week. You probably didn't see much of them before because you were too busy focusing on your amazing sex-life or finding the one. Well it's time to surround yourself with these motivating forces. 

Positive Influence Friends.

But it's important you spend quality time with these buddies and stop inundating your Positive Influence Friends with tales of your depressing dating and/or sex life. Giving play-by-play commentary of that time you hooked up with the 17-year-old high-schooler and almost got charged with statutory rape (ah, good times). The problem of continually regaling your sexual exploits to your friends, you’re not only tainting your shared experiences, but validating the collective view that you’re a massive sleaze-bucket (and not the Oscar-winning Writer you’d like to one day be). The more air time you give these sordid affairs, the more you satiate your insecurity monsters instead of slaying them. Keep this stuff to yourself. Better yet, stop getting into the experiences you know, deep down, are bad ones.

Instead make a conscious effort to enlist your good friends in the war against Validation. Your good friends (the ones that never condoned your self-destructive lifestyle to begin with) make great Agents of Accountability in the War on Validation. You can brainstorm with these kind of friends, or engage in other kinds of Mutual Productive Time (as long as that doesn't turn into Mutual Masturbation). You can even sign Contracts with financial penalties for cheats, if your willpower is really that bad. The point is, when you’ve made a pact to make positive change in your life, don’t be ashamed to admit it. Your friends can keep you on track.

And whew! That brings us to the end of this week's lesson. I know, I know: we've only made it half-way and we still have so far to go. The thing is, you need some time to digest these first main points. Plus I'm super long-winded and this blog entry is already too long. 

In any event, you'll cure yourself of the addiction in Seven Days Time. 

I have a Confession to Make...

Okay. First a necessary precursor: It’s been over TWO months since my last blog post. I could say I was busy shooting the documentary and writing my book. Both excuses are based in partial truth so therefore might sound valid. But let’s also be clear: they’re also Bullshit, just like all excuses known to man. The unfortunate truth is I have an addiction, the satiation of which kept me from releasing this next post, which is actually the topic of the very post itself. How’s that for bitter irony?

Writing these blog posts is kind of like an exercise in cathartic release and psychotherapy. Once I use the digital page to exorcise one of my demons, I can’t exactly fall back on my word? That would make me Queen of the Hypocrites.  

If you've slept with any of the gentlemen pictured here, this blog post is for you!

So perhaps, subconsciously, I needed to go through one last cycle of tempting bad habits. Re-downloading Grindr (after I'd pledged to Never be a Hookup Whore ever again) and meeting up with 20-something prettyboys to gorge my need to feel young, hot and desirable. Getting lazy and eating muffins at Starbucks so that I could get fat again (by my standards), so I’d have an excuse to look down on myself, and blame the problems in my life on not being goodlooking enough. I know it all sounds crazy, but these are the Symptoms of a much more virulent addiction. And it’s one I plan to beat.   

So faithful and patient readers. Without further ado, I have a confession to make.

Bryce Pre-Addiction. He didn't smoke, party or do drugs. But he also never had sex. 

I’ve always put myself on a self-righteous pedestal because I lived my adolescence on the straight-and-arrow. I got straight A’s in the 90s. I didn’t drink or go to parties because I was too busy trying to be Hermione Granger and Alex Trebek's love child (okay Hermione wasn't born when I was in high school, so the idea of her sleeping with a man in his 70s is kind of gross, but you get the point). I’ve always resisted the boozing, drugs and even smoking that tempt mere mortals. 

But then I came out of the closet and you all know what happened there. That’s right, I excavated my deep insecurities and transformed into the delayed douchebag you love (or love to hate) today. Problem is, remember how I said I’m trapped in the third quadrant? The phase where one Makes Up For Lost Time where you trade your self-respect and dignity for a six-pack and high-school hookups. Well here is where I discovered an addiction to Validation (of Sexual Desire). A drug worse than cocaine. 

Stage One Validation Addiction: Former Fatties will know it well.

Anybody cursed with an addiction for validation knows it's pretty simple. 

You look in the mirror and hate what you see. So you go to the gym and pump iron until someone tells you "you're hot." It will start with friends, family and colleagues, but their empty compliments mean nothing, because they're not having sex with you. But eventually you'll start to get attention from randoms in the bar. Or you'll put up hot new pictures on Grindr. And just like magic, you'll start having sex with guys you could never have sex with before. You might wake up feeling empty or shameful you didn't do something more productive. But luckily there's always another sexy hookup to make you escape those shameful thoughts! 

Unfortunately, in Stage One Validation Addiction, you will be plagued by unrelenting Self-Doubt. As you break your routine (and lose your sense of discipline), this can subconsciously lead to Shame-fueling Binge Eating. If it's really bad you might actually get fat again, but, either way, that's what you will see when you look in the mirror. You might think the easy cure is simply getting validated. You could tell me I have a great body and mean it - but guess what, chances are I’ll forget by the next day, when I reach the next hurdle in life. When you’re truly addicted to validation, you keep raising the stakes, eventually adding Body Dysphoria and Perfectionism

Stage Two Validation Addiction: PLAYERS FOR LIFE suffer from this.

In Stage Two Validation Addiction, your self-sabotaging Stockholme Syndrome loses its grip, and you realize Upper Echelon Grindr Hotties can only be attained by going to ridiculous extremes of dieting and exercise. You'll believe you've Raised your Standards and adopt a truly visceral Body Dysmorphia. So when you look in that mirror, you'll still see the Fat Monster you always hated. And thus the Cycle of Validation starts anew, as per above. 

The fact that I decided to pursue a career in entertainment makes my validation addiction cripplingly two-fold. It’s sexual and creative! Basically I either need you to say you desire me or you think I’m brilliant! A daily bout of writer’s block can fuel a sense of creative talentlessness. To escape that feeling, I might try to score a (meaningless) date or hookup. If I fail in that, I'll blame my inch of pinch-able fat. If I succeed I might beat myself up for not being productive.  

The thing with an addiction to validation, there isn’t a set paradigm for curing it. How many validation rehab clinics have you heard of? A 12-step regime or Validation Anonymous? Sure you can spend hundreds on psychotherapy (and believe me I have), but chances are that will only solidify the idea that you're crazy, and make you dependent on Therapeutic Validation.  

Holy Grail Cure for Validation: If either of these Chris' falls in love with you, you can skip my next blog post.

The easy cure for an Addiction to Validation is a deeply fulfilling long-term relationship with a smoking hot Ultimate Catch. That's right, to become an Ultimate Catch, you must earn the love of an Ultimate Catch. He or she will accept you despite your insecurities because in their storied wisdom, they can see your unearthed potential. Because they’ve got a 9 face and 9 body, you’ll actually trust their esteemed judgement. You’ll become the effortlessly confidant hunkosaurus Rex pretty much overnight.

Alas (and this is a good thing), we live in a world where you have to love yourself before you can truly be loved. They call this Self-Validation. Now in lieu of magical, meaningful love from Mr. or Mrs. Perfect, chances are, you’re on your own in the big fight. The good news is once you beat this independently, there’s no going back, grasshopper. But if that Ultimate Catch above turns out to be a Player Douchebag and dumps you, welcome to Validation Addiction!

The bad news is I’m extremely long-winded and a bit of a tease. You’ll have to wait until next week for Bryce’s 12-Step Routine to Beating Validation Addiction.

What I Learned at the Creation Museum!

When I decided to go on a road-trip to the States, I knew I had to make a stop at the Creation Museum. Now why would an openly homosexual lover of science and truth step foot in this house of horrors parading the events of Genesis as history and fact - while busting “myths” like Darwin’s evolutionary blather? Well I am making a documentary about the biology and evolution of homosexuality, so it’s important as an openminded researcher to see what the other guys have to say.

Contrary to popular wisdom, I didn't burn up after passing the gates.

Okkkay, I’ll admit I really just went to scratch my itch for ironic curiosity. This museum had millions poured into it and to be fair, it looks as fabulous as the best of the Smithsonian exhibits in DC. It has dioramas of Eden - where all manners of creatures walk with Adam and Eve, yes including dinosaurs. It also has a to-scale mock-up of Noah’s arc through which you can walk. There’s a time tunnel that visually simulates the six days of God’s creation and explains how the universe only starting aging - after Adam’s sin of course. And it has plenty of colourful and informative timelines dismissing evolutionary thought as Man's Word.  

Hey, today's the 6006th birthday of our existence!

Take that, Darwin.

Sure it’s absolute asinine crazy-town, but maybe if I was raised in a Christian Fundamentalist commune and I only had a double-digit IQ, I might’ve actually been coaxed into believing this stuff was true. The thing is experiencing this museum and seeing droves of pregnant Amish women with scores of impressionable kiddies absorbing this dribble sent real shivers down my spine. Sure I’m there for fun, but these families are to learn about history and science, as told by the Bible. And because the exhibits are so well-produced - and therefore both cool and informative as all museum edutainment should be - these kids are for more to take this crap and lies as fact, informing their world view. How scary is that?

Hey impressionable kids! A model Noah's Ark you can actually explore! Don't worry it could fit the dinosaurs too!

At first I thought they were employees working for the museum... 

So the big question then is how should a guy like me respond? Do you stand for freedom of speech, and tolerate Ken Ham and his church of anti-gay, anti-evolution fantasies, no matter how threatening they may be to human rights? Or do you turn to activism, lobbying against this sort of propaganda, because it’s being used to corrupt innocent minds?

One of the burning paradoxes of history...

... explained!

A lot of my friends cautioned me (and my controversy-seeking drama queen) against voyaging into redneck territory like Kentucky’s Creation Museum, but here’s the thing - it’s not really dangerous territory. The more anti-gay the homophobe, the more oblivious they are to you actually being gay. I could be spitting rainbows, wearing painted on skinnies and blasting Britney from my jeep and these bigots wouldn’t be the wiser, unless I was recreating a barebacking scene from Sodom and Gomorrah. The thing is extreme-ist Christians are trained to take things at face value. Critical, skeptical thinking are tools of the Devil, but they’re the tools you need for reading between the lines and detecting gay people.

I personally wouldn't trust the word of a prop scroll over a dozen textbooks, but then again, I'm a heretic!

The curious thing is they’re not just neutral or tolerant, they’re actually open and kind. They’re courteous, conversational and genuinely interested in what you have to say, because those are the other tenants of being a good Christian. Sure they might’ve made a stoning exhibit out of me if they knew a card-toting homosexual was walking in their midst, so long as they remain blissfully ignorant, I’m perfectly fine they occupy this nook of backwoods Kentucky. Part of being open-minded and a sort of liberal storyteller means accepting all world views and walks of life, even the scary, delusional ones. 

What to Bring on the Trip of a Lifetime

It's not very often that you set out on a cross-country journey to do some proverbial soul searching and hook up with meet and connect with as many sexy guys diverse and interesting people along the way. But for a journey like this one, you must of course be prepared for anything. So here's my necessary checklist of travel items.

MacBook Air

This is a writing adventure after all. I plan to get up at 8am sharp, write for 3-4 hours, then drive and I can't do that without my trusty MacBook Air. If you're reading this Apple - and I get famous - you're welcome for the free product placement.

 Bookkeeping

The boring part, sure, but when we crazies inevitably get into trouble, sponsorship letters from the network and travel insurance are our guardian angels. And dear Revenue Canada, as this is all research for my work, I'll be keeping my receipts.

Artistic fuel

Some artists need drugs; some writers need validation that they're hot. My creativity is tied to my unrelenting quest for beauty. Plus it helps me get laid. You know what Elle Woods said about endorphins.

Overpacked Tickle Trunk

Fitted Lannister T's and Gryffindor ties to prove my geek cred to incredulous power-nerds at conventions and comic/gaming circles. Suits for the meetings I manage to land in LA. As any gay man knows, a multi-faceted wardrobe for all occasions is critical for blending in everywhere.

Inspirational Goods

Part of the creative process is exposing yourself to new things and cribbing them for your own expressive needs. Some people like nature walks and jazz festivals. I do all my best inspirational work playing Mass Effect or Bio-Shock. They're also a healthy antidote to avoiding the Siren's call of country bumpkin fresh meat when I inevitably get addicted to sexual validation (see above).

Support from my Loved Ones

For those lonely nights in when I'm fighting my grinder cravings and Commander Shepherd can't keep me company (cause I don't have an HDMI cable), JLO's adventures taming killer snakes and Sigourney's epic Russian accent will keep me company.

Welcome to THE BRYCE AGE

I’m a writer/filmmaker finally embarking on a real blogging effort. Here I’ll recount my cross-country experiences making my feature documentary, SURVIVAL OF THE FABULOUS for CBC’s Nature of Things, which we’re shooting in Canada, the US, Italy and Samoa! I’ll also document my pratfalls (and hopefully successes) bringing my first-ever book to life: GENEERED, a YA series based on a sci-fi short I sold to Space a few years back. 

Cast of Geneered

  

Now a little about me: I used to be a chunky, uglivious super nerd all through my teenage years and consequently didn’t lose my virginity until the age of 22. Although I missed out on the quintessential high school life of dating and getting invited to parties - instead hosting charity teacher Jeopardy tournaments or staying in for marathons of Star Trek Voyager and Tomb Raider - I luckily discovered I was gay and entered a world where bullying, shallow discrimination and popularity contests never go out of style. After a few insecure years of pumping iron and trying every diet in the book, I transformed myself into a hotter jock. Having survived the life of the insecure loser and discovered a small taste of popularity, I now apply my newfound wisdom into writing, where I can live the high school experience I never had.

Bryce's Transformation

Needless to say I’m obsessed with personal change, character growth and evolution and this blog is gonna be all about that. As I continue to mature, adapt and transform, I’ll chronicle my journeys in Tales of Bryce, where I’ll recount PG-13 versions of my misadventures in achieving my dreams. I’ll also give Bryce Advice along the way for insecure nerds and geeks looking to physically and spiritually transform into hot jock douchebags. But don’t worry, life isn’t all about getting a rocking eight-pack. It’s also about having chiseled pecs - and oooookkkkay, confidence. Sage Wisdom is where you’ll find my thoughtful pearls on everything from the creative power of beauty to assessing what roles your friends will play in the inevitable zombie apocalypse. 

The cool thing is I’m launching this blog when I’m actually embarking on a bonafide JOURNEY, as I drive from Toronto to Texas and out west to California, to stay for a month as I meet producers, and scope out Tinseltown as my eventual final destination. If I don’t get a shotgun beatdown by homophobe rednecks in Kentucky, I’ll document my pratfalls along the way. Just remember, I AM popping my social networking cherry, so if I instagram pictures of my food or obnoxiously tweet quotes from @OnceUponATime, just bare with me!