2014: Out of the darkness and into the light!

Life! A curious adventure in learning indeed.

This year there were so many things that happened, to be joyous about and grateful for, to learn from and be surprised by, which made me glad that I got to live this year.  I swear on my femme diety Trisha, I know that depression and mental health and people and the world can fuck you up AND please, hang the hell in there because you do not know what is coming and it could be wonderful.

Photo by Sarah Deragon, The Identity Project, 2014.
Photo by Sarah Deragon, The Identity Project, 2014.

In no particular order, five things I’m happy I did this year:

5. I read ALL the sci fi I could pack into my face and I’d have read more if I could. Neuromancer, The Fifth Sacred Thing, The Holdfast Chronicles’ first 2 books, Woman on the Edge of Time, The Dispossed, Discount Armageddon, For the Win,  Big Big Sky [reread], and perused a 1980s Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. I thought a lot about the tropes and assumptions in the genre: that there will be a world to survive into, that there are other ways people can and will work together to survive when the time comes. I made plans to start a transformative justice scifi readers’ action club over the winter, more details soon.

4. I went places I’d missed, wanted to see, and that I never dreamed of. I traveled with friends, lovers, and colleagues to: Miami, Haiti [twice!], Austin, New Orleans, thru the NorthEast on Heels on Wheels Roadshow, Montreal, Brattleboro, Saratoga, pastoral Connecticut and Mass., Tennessee, the bay area, Reno, and Rochester. I saw Roadside America, the horse races at Saratoga, a Victorian graveyard in Reno, the Muses at Mardi Gras.

3. I participated in art projects, including a bit part as the bicycle gang leader in Wild Ponies [Quito Zeigler’s community movie], Coral Short’s scream choir, Sarah Deragon’s Identity Project, and the AOMC’ ETLE project. I was interviewed by Melissa Morrone and showed up on Queer Fat Femme’s blog again. I collaborated on a Femmeifest piece at the Encuentro.

2. I cleaned house, getting rid of things I didn’t need, so I could have nice things instead: literally and metaphorically. I quit drinking and restarted going to the gym. I decided I wanted to make more friends and then I made them. I fucked up and thought about why and started doing some things differently. I went to mediation where it was needed. I got my shit together in work, completed sweat equity at my tech co-op business and landed gigs I wanted to land. I got better health insurance. I got my van in my name and finished the loose ends of changing my name. I apologized to some people I owed apologies to.

1. I made things and shared them, which is, an artist and cultural worker, what I’m supposed to be doing. I made mail art. I wrote sci fi. I made videos. I gave workshops and lectures. I did photo shoots, like the one below with Sophie Spinelle of Shameless Photography above. I co-produced a monthly salon and a fifth/final tour. I started collecting for an anthology. I made a new performance piece and wore bread on my tits.

Damien1_SSpinelle
Photo by Sophie Spinelle, Shameless Photography, 2014.

For 2015, my five areas of focus are:

  • Book writin
  • Work hustlin
  • Heart growin
  • Relationship buildin
  • Health carinWhat are yours and why? What did you do last year that you never would have dreamed of?