Not every bad choice is a mistake
It’s possible you ended up here because you read my essay about sex work. Or it’s possible you’re here because you read my new book, The Reckless Oath We Made. (Or my last book, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things.) Whyever you came, you may be thinking about bad life choices and mistakes.
Whether you came here to judge me or to sympathize or to say you’ve been there, what I most want to tell you is that not every bad life choice is a mistake. Sometimes the only choices available to you are bad, worse, and worst. In that scenario, the best choice you can make is a bad one.
Sometimes those bad choices bring good things. They’re not all mistakes. I never felt like the choices I made around performing sex work were mistakes. They brought me here, where I am alive, succeeding at my chosen career, and have people who love me. May all your “mistakes” be so beneficial.
The characters in The Reckless Oath We Made are also in situations where all they can hope for is to make the least bad choice available. Those choices may look like mistakes from the outside, but that doesn’t mean they won’t bring good things. So if you’re here to process your thoughts about your own choices and “mistakes,” welcome. If you’re here to lecture me about my choices, you’ll likely leave disappointed. I’ve had plenty of time to evaluate the choices I’ve made in my life and I’m okay with them.
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I wish I had the vocabulary or a rocking good thesaurus to explain how I felt when I finished Reckless Oath. I was bursting with joyous pride (not the right word) for you, Bryn. Whatever choices you have made so far, the choice to write and keep writing and then write some more means the rest of us have these wonderful gifts you keep giving. I appreciate you more than I have words to express.
I really enjoyed this complex story. It was multiple stories on one story. I especially was touched by the pure love that Gentry had. I also had the song by Coldplay, When we ruled the world get stuck in my head. The audible was also well performed. I am addicted to hardcover books and like to follow with audiobook. Congratulations on a magnificent piece. I will also be reading All the Ugly and Wonderful Things.
Beautifully spoken. Hearing about your journey lifts your books up even more - who knew that was even possible! Your stories touch a certain part of my soul (& many readers I presume) with such a delicate delivery of truth and raw emotions that so often go untouched in mainstream society. I appreciate your boldness, your fearlessness, to tell the story to such depths that it can be felt for years to come. I read Reckless Oath with such vigor and joy (same with All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, too) - I felt each pain, each thrill, each challenge, each urge. Thank you for not being afraid to be real!
