#gabbalot

Angelhood - What is one of your favorite memories?

I’ll be honest: I’ve been in A Mood™️ (code for “stunningly-bad mental health”) for the past week or so, and it’s left me in need of some Prime Comfort, so the memories I’ve been holding close in that time are some of the ones that calm me the most—ones like getting those really good, long hugs from people without asking, because they can tell that you need one; cuddling with all of the babies/kids that I know, because they’re all lovebugs and I am #blessedt; even times when people have said nice things about my writing, or stuff like that. I need reassurance and tranquility, and good memories are some of the best balms I have at my disposal. Lucky for me, I have a ton to fall back on.

Box office - What is your favorite film?

It’s Disney’s Pocahontas (1995). It probably shouldn’t be, given how #problematic the film is (and it really is, guys, there’s no way around it)—but it is. I love the themes of wonder, internal conflict, and justice that it openly explores, and I love the vibrant colors and lively spirit that’s found in every corner of it. (I also love that the film doesn’t end in a marriage, but that it ends in a levelheaded evaluation of both love and obligation, and making a decision that, while not easy, is ultimately right. It’s an ending that I could identify with, even as a kid—because she always listened with her heart, even if that didn’t always mean romantic love, and had the courage to follow where it lead her.) I learned a lot from that movie, and it’s played a large part in shaping who I became as a person. That’s another one of those comforting things that I rely on when I’m in A Mood™️.

SO GUESS WHAT I’M GONNA BE WATCHING AFTER I POST THIS ASK LOLOLOLOL

Tiger - What is your bravest moment?

Easy: when I switched to insulin pump therapy. 

For context, I’ve had Type 1 Diabetes for 18 years now (!!!!!), and I spent the first 13 of those taking three shots a day, all because I was TERRIFIED of the pump. (I mean, it was an understandable fear—just look at THIS.) Finally, though, I mustered up the courage, went to my endocrinologist, and said, “BALLS TO THE WALL FAM LEGGO,” and the rest is history.

(…by which I mean “I filled out the paperwork and did the trial basis and went to pump training sessions and did a week-long dummy trial and finally went live on pump therapy roughly 6 months after I started the entire process AND I WAS STILL SCARED OUTTA MY MIND THE DAY I STARTED—but the second I realized that I didn’t have to take shots anymore, or that I could go to a restaurant and eat whatever I wanted and however much of it I wanted, I knew I’d made the right decision, and I’d never even think of looking back.)

To cop a line from FDR, “courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something is more important than fear.” For me, that “something else” was my health, and a freedom I didn’t know I didn’t have. There aren’t many decisions where I can look back with pride and know unequivocally that I did the right thing, but this is certainly one of them. It took a lot of bravery to make that jump, but I’m so glad I did.

Metal - Do you have any piercings?

WE’RE MOVING FROM “BRAVERY” TO “WUSSERY” SO FAST I THINK I JUST BROKE A LAND SPEED RECORD 😂😂😂😂😂

Yeah, so right now, I have your standard earlobe piercings, nothing big. If I weren’t a BIG OL’ CHICKEN, though, I’d love to get a stud in my nose, and maybe a helix piercing, just so I could rock some KILLER EAR JACKETS (and you KNOW I WOULD TOO). I don’t really know if I’d get anything else pierced, tbh (although if you liquored me up enough you could really do anything BUT I GUESS WE’LL NEVER KNOW HUH).