Ophelia Bell writes about sex. She doesn’t write sex to arouse others, though that is a happy side effect. She writes sex for the very specific and personal reason of experiencing those things that tie her to the earth, that keep her grounded. It might seem counterintuitive – that sex elevates us (at least if it’s enjoyable) because of all the analogies to flying away we see in erotic writing, but Ophelia thinks Milan Kundera asked the right questions:
“The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?” – The Unbearable Lightness of Being