journeying is built into us

Crackerbell, Mary Ruefle

I think self advocacy (with respect and tact) just comes with age. If i respect the person across from me, and simultaneously myself, then i have to assume in good faith that they can handle my truth. And that I can handle my truth, as well as the possibility of it being taken the wrong way. I don’t give anyone the power to destabilize my life. I have autonomy over my self expression, and I operate from a place of assuming other people do too. Even if they don’t, my ability to operate from this foundation gives them permission to do so too. My top values are integrity and sincerity. This builds trust with people.

― Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

Provincetown, USA（1977）

David Hockney

This is it, this is the one

well I asked the Glow Cloud (all hail) and it emitted a low whistleing and dropped a lizard on my head.

because it happened to me and im wondering if this was a product of the ongoing cultural change around gay issues. before i ever had the chance to say to my parents "i am this" my mom was already sitting me aside to tell me "if there is anything you want to tell me, i want you to know ill accept you no matter what"

Something I was really vulnerable about was becoming an ambulatory cane user. I think it really came from a place of accepting that it is a part of my life now and I will have a new normal moving forward. I won’t always have to use it. But between my hyper mobility issues and blackouts from dysautonomia it’s a safety measure that I am going to take.

[ID: A person with white face makeup, black lips, and sharp black eyeliner, bald, and wearing elf-like prosthetic ears. They are dressed in a dramatic black and white gothic outfit with a black corset belt, a voluminous black skirt, and a black and white vertically striped blouse. They hold one side of their skirt out with one hand and a black cane in the other. The background is comprised of tall modern buildings, trees, and a cloudy sky. /end ID]