than you, anyway, since she knows how to use complete sentences, and can post a message that is both interesting and topical. You, on the other hand, are just taking an unprovoked cheap shot at a very well thought out message.

Have it crossed your mind this is misplaced?

Hi Aces!

Yes, you're right. I do use a lot of "I"s, because I can only speak from my own experience. In no way do I feel my choices or experiences are better for everyone; again, I can only speak for myself. That's why I've opened the discussion- so that I can understand another perspective. What's yours?

For clarification: here is the wikipedia definition of compartmentalization:
Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves.

Compartmentalization allows these conflicting ideas to co-exist by inhibiting direct or explicit acknowledgement and interaction between separate compartmentalized self states.

I think it is good for clarification to post the definition of compartmentalize that I am referring to for this discussion:
---
Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves.

Compartmentalization allows these conflicting ideas to co-exist by inhibiting direct or explicit acknowledgement and interaction between separate compartmentalized self states.
---

But I don't really feel I do this. I relish my experiences in this. I wholly accept and recognize what I do as a human as adding value in some way to who I am.

But there is another definition of compartmentalize:
---
com·part·men·tal·ize
transitive verb \kəm-ˌpärt-ˈmen-tə-ˌlīz, ˌkäm-com·part·men·tal·izedcom·part·men·tal·iz·ing
Definition of COMPARTMENTALIZE
: to separate into isolated compartments or categories
— com·part·men·tal·i·za·tion noun
Examples of COMPARTMENTALIZE

   He compartmentalizes his life by keeping his job and his personal life separate.
   The company has compartmentalized its services.
---

And even this wouldn't be 100% true for me, but I can see the instance of the first sentence being prevalent here.

You sound like Lungman's brother..

His smarter brother, nonetheless.  At least you can write complete sentences, and I didn't have to read your mangina write up, for lack of a better word, three times to make sense out of it..

The date has a euphoria like a drug. You get there and the high begins and you enjoy the ride till the climax and you come down. We all know that coming down will be difficult, but the high is worth it.

I think everyone puts things in compartments just to exist in our daily lives. I do understand what Sarah is saying about it bleeding over into our daily lives, as some of my experiences have made me a better lover and more importantly a better person.

We all put up walls to hide what we do here. Those walls have windows that let us peek inside to remember, and doors that let us go back through to re-experience.

that I personally do not find creepy at all.

As long as that doesn't cross the wall, so to speak, and your fantasies don't turn into something you want to make real. This is where the wall is so important.

invest emotions like that for a meeting with someone who may or may not have any real interest in me. i don't mean romantic interest rather,  a generic compatibility.

I have not yet met a provider I would befriend in civvie life.

Thank you for understanding the way I

am using the term "compartmentalize". You get it!! You see it for what it is: a temporary connection that is as intense and enjoyable as you want it to be for you. I need to post another post about the definition- I think I left it too vague, and people are misunderstanding me.

It would be a pleasure to meet you should you find yourself in Tampa.

We all compartmentlaize the various aspects of our lives. My home life with family, my work life my life as a sports fan, all have their own "compartments". But they are all part of a much broader picture that encompasses the totality of who I am. Each is a genuine part of me, although they might be different in certain aspects from each other.  Each is piece of the whole mosaic that is my life.
My hobby "me" is another part of me, undoubtedly differnt from the others, but still inseparable from the whole. Although I was far more tentative at first,  I now realize that I am as genuine in my hobby activities as I try to be in everything else I do. In practical terms, if I don't feel an attachment with the woman whom I am in bed with, I am a very poor lover. But when  the big head is driving the little head, the sky is the limit.
So for me the real question is, can I have such intense feelings for a"service  provider" when we are together while at the same time realizing that it is temporary, only for that moment. I think that for me at least the answer is yes.  
For many providrers, I am sure that Mr. Fisher's analagy holds true. A  hobby date is nothing more than a master performance for an audience of one. The better they are as an actress, the more satisfied the client, the more he will return and draw other clients through his reviews to the same  "show".
For other women in the business,  I beleive that  a hobby date is much more than a performance. I beleive that there are many women who connect with some of their clients in a personal, genuine way - knowing that it is only a very short lived and temporary connection.
I am also a service provider (in a very different kind of industtry LOL) and I know that in a competitive market, I have to offer a superioir product as well as be "business GFE". But I don't have to fake that or put on an act. I genuinely do like most of my clients and enjoy doing business with them. In a number of instances, we have even become close personal friends.  
I think that is what Sarah is saying. That even in this business, the connection can be genuine, even knowing that it is limited and temporary.

YES......I go to an appointment willing to suspend my disbelief and if the lady is really good, I will succeed. It is theater.....performance art.....allowing yourself to dream in real time.

compartmentalization.

Here is how I am using the term:

From Wikipedia

Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves.

Compartmentalization allows these conflicting ideas to co-exist by inhibiting direct or explicit acknowledgement and interaction between separate compartmentalized self states.

Here is how you're using the term:

com·part·men·tal·ize
transitive verb \kəm-ˌpärt-ˈmen-tə-ˌlīz, ˌkäm-com·part·men·tal·izedcom·part·men·tal·iz·ing
Definition of COMPARTMENTALIZE
: to separate into isolated compartments or categories
— com·part·men·tal·i·za·tion noun
Examples of COMPARTMENTALIZE

   He compartmentalizes his life by keeping his job and his personal life separate.
   The company has compartmentalized its services.


So I am not saying one is better than the other at all. I am certainly not saying I am better or worse- lord knows I could very well be worse. But that's not the issue I am trying to tease out here.

Providers isn't  your work, like the actor, require you "to be in the moment" to do it well.  How many view it that way?  Whether or not you think you compartmentalize.

Hallelujah!! You get it!!

This is exactly what I was posting about. This is the definition of compartmentalization I am referring to- not the everyday way we organize ourselves and activities.

I carry my core self into everything I do. Knowing myself deeply has been a fabulous process in my life, and being true to that is important- I am not interested, at this point in my life in being any other way. Nor would I engage in an activity that required me to be someone I am not.

Thank you for that clarification.

In the case of people who feel they have to compartmentalize (using your definition)- right or wrong, I just want to know how it works.