Goodbye 2021/Hello 2022

 

2021 is counting down, and tick by tick, tock by tock, tick tock, tick tock 2022 is on its way. No one knows what 2022 will bring. What adventures and what challenges. What joys and what sorrows. This is a good time to pause and reboot. 

For some this means making resolutions (if so I would suggest listening to some of the recent short talks on the Make Your Damn Bed podcast on Spotify Resolutions, Resolutions 2, New Years) 

For some this means picking a theme (My theme for 2022 is "It does not have to be perfect")

For some this means taking on a challenge for Jan such as Yoga with Adriene's Free Move program, trying a short meditation each day, or if you are one of those people who typically drinks having a dry January.

For some this means reviewing the year past and seeing our accomplishments and where we need to make small tweaks to get where we want to be. 

2021 has been a year. I accomplished some things I would never of guessed, and did not get to things I thought I would this year. It has both felt like the fastest year of all time as well as the slowest year of all time. I had plans but we know what we need to do with plans (throw them out.) 

I do not know what 2022 will bring (no one does), but I am ready to face what ever may come. I wish you all a meaningful and bold and joy filled New Years that fills you with belonging and Love.

Advent Week 4: Joy

 

This is the final week of Advent and this week's theme is Joy.

What do you do for yourself to have joy in your life?

Joy

Joy Ever

Joy Forever

Joy Forever Growing

Joy Forever Growing Bigger and Bolder

Joy Forever Growing

Joy Forever

Joy Ever

Joy

Joy can look like a million different things

So seek the small actions that bring you Joy

I wish you a season filled with Joy

Deep meaningful and wonderful Joy

Longest Nights ...

 

Soon it will be the longest night

Though many of us have been living

In such a moment for time upon time

Times when the night is longer than the day

Times when there is doubt the sun will rise again

Times where a winter chill blows through

Bodies and Minds and Spirits

This is not a night for certainty

Nor for platitudes or common sayings

This is not a night to be rushed

Or skipped over in our hustle or bustle

Instead this is a night 

To sit, To watch, To wait

And maybe to hope

Soon it will be the longest night

And while we do not know for certain

If the sun will return to the sky

We do know that we all sit in the darkness

The darkness covers the whole land

And therefore we know we are never alone

Never alone in the darkness

We may not be able to see those around us

 We may not be able to see a light in the sky

We may not be able to see past this moment

But we are never alone in this darkness

Thank You: Responders To Letters

Department of Transportation beats the VP*** LOL

I have Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Chasten on my seasonal card list. I never actually expected a response since I bet he gets lots of encouraging fan mail, though I still hoped that the department would have some sort of thanks for writing department/intern. Well today I grabbed the mail, saw something I did not pay much attention to since I assumed it was some nonsense from the city. 

I am glad I opened it carefully since it was a letter from Pete. :) :) :) With a real signature as in the ink can be seen from the back so not just a stamped signature. The letter is clearly a kind of generic thank you for writing, kind of letter, but I got a response which is amazing and means I will continue to send him cards since he might actually see them, at least some of the time. It was a really cool piece of mail to get today. And reminds me that sending people cards is important even if I am not sure if they get them at all. Surly worth the cost of a stamp.

*** 

Back when Clinton was president me and my friends sent a few letters and I got generic thank you for writing notes with pictures from all the Clintons, from Sox the cat, from maybe a puppy dog? and a few others (They are back home with my parents so I can't quickly look them all up). I got enough I started to take them all for granted.

At that time I also wrote Gore and never got an answer and remember being annoyed he did not have as good a thanks for writing department/intern to sends this type of stuff/ etc. I have not written Harris yet so I really can't compare but right now the Department of Transportation responds better than the VP at least in my mind. Though now I feel like I have to do a scientific study and send notes to the VP and President and see if I get a response

Intersectionality ...

 

I recently finished "Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed" a collection of essays exploring the complexities and intersectionalities of the Latinx Diaspora and the Latinx identity. One common theme is not always feeling like you fit within your identities or not being sure how you want to identify in the first place. 

While I am coming from a very different place I too have experienced this "identity uncertainty", this struggle with language, this questioning who I am and where I fit into the world and communities around me. Sometimes simply having an identity does not lead to a feeling of belonging.

In the essays there was multiple cases of the various authors feeling like they were looking in to, versus belonging to, a community. Cases of questioning if their experience "counted" or which of their experiences that should identity with at any given moment. 

I know I often feel like I am looking into communities, or enjoying them like I enjoy a good story. When I read a story I can connect to the characters or the writer but that is different from actually being part of the story. (I have yet to pull a "Thursday Next" and physically end up within a story LOL) 

I find I have created a whole support system filled with characters, and actors, and writers, and creative individuals who I can connect with but who I have never met. 

For example: I bring a Captain Cold POP figure in my pocket pretty much no matter what I am planning to do. My Captain Cold is there when people become too much (Combo of my introvert nature and a much lower tolerance for in person interactions after the past two years.) 

For example: Wentworth Miller lives in my head and my journal and I lean on him when ever my mental health goes a bit wonky since I know he understanding what I am experiencing. There is power in someone understanding even when you can not always put what you are experiencing into words.

For example: I have turned to a group of Wentworth Miller, Victor Garber (Professor Stein Actor), Russell Tovey (Talk Art, Earth X Ray Actor) and Robert Diament (Talk Art, King of the Gallerists) when I want to explore the intersections of my Ace identity and the wider LGBTQ+ community.

And I could go on and on since my support system is a multifandom, multiuniverse, multitimeline creation. In the end while the particular intersections of the Latinx community will never be my own I do understand how identity can be both really personally and be rooted, or not rooted in community at the same time.

Advent Week 3: Love

Love can take many different forms. For example the Greeks had so many words that it is hard to pinpoint how many there really are. For example here is 10 of them. 

• Agápe: brotherly love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God
• Éros: romantic or passionate love
• Ludus: playful love
• Mania: obsessive love
• Meraki: to do something with love, creativity, and devotion, when you wholeheartedly put yourself into what you are doing.
• Philautia: self-love, to love oneself or regard for one's own happiness or advantage
• Philia: affectionate regard, friendship, usually between equals
• Pragma: enduring love
• Storge: love, affection and especially of parents and children (Or I would add found family)
• Xenia: hospitality, "guest-friendship" or "ritualized friendship"

This is a great season to take a moment and think about all the places love shows up in your life as well as all the forms it shows up in. This is also a great time to think about how to focus Philautia, Xenia, and Meraki into your life. 

C2E2 2021: My review

I made it to C2E2 this weekend. It was the first in-person convention I have been to since the before times. Everyone was required to be vaccinated and to wear masks the whole time and it had a much smaller turnout than past years so I felt comfortable going. 

(I know many others who did not feel comfortable enough to go especially with uncertainty around Omicron but doing a risk assessment and talking to those I have regular contact with I felt ok going)

This year C2E2 was much smaller than in years past and even so I was very gentle on myself. Since this was the first extended period with a large number of people in two years I knew I was going to get tried much easier than normal. This meant spending shorter days at the convention.

I went to 7 panels (which is much less than some years but I found sitting and trying to focus for hours on end was challenging this year)

1. Coffee & Comics: Writing Masterclass 101
2. Amplifying Black Voices and Bold Stories in Comics and Creative Tech
3. Witches, Gods, & Monsters
4. Celebrating & Creating Diversity in Pop Culture (featuring one of my friends)
5. Caped Crusaders: Creators talking About Crimes Alleys and Dark Knights
6. Hip Hop and Comics: A Dynamic Duo
7. Tis the Season: Hack the Holidays (and Save Your Sanity) (this was an interesting panel but for various reasons the topic of the holidays did not really come up it was more about mental health in general)

This year I ended up spending much more time on the show floor. I was glad that it was spread out more than in past years (in part because there were fewer vendors) so I very rarely felt like I had to get within 6 feet of anyone else. Many of the traditionally big names were not there such as Marvel, DC, or the larger book publishers but it just made it feel like a smaller more local con instead. 

I ended up with a few of the free books offered by the Science Fiction Outreach Project.  One that stood out was the above magazine that covers Legends of Tomorrow and even included two photos of my Captain Cold. I also ended up walking up and down artist alley much more than is typical for me which felt like going to a free fandom art museum.

While there were clearly fewer people there still were good costumes including a whole range of Loki variants, and several holiday based cosplays. Since C2E2 has traditionally been in early spring all the holiday themed items kept surprising me. Overall I had a good time and I am glad I decided to go this year. Now I will need a few days to decompress from so much people time but that is fine.

Rituals Not Resolutions

 

The last few days have been a little wonky. For various reasons I fell away from my normal daily task list (Fitness, Health, Self Care, BBJ, and Other) and could really feel the impact on my mental health. I felt a bit stuck and had low energy levels. (Today I am back to doing my daily list and I am feeling better)

I think we all recognize the importance of rituals especially at this time of year. Some rituals involve candles, some involve food, some involve music, and some involve being in relationship with others. While no two people's holiday rituals look the same most of us have some ritual that makes the holidays feel like the holidays.

On a related note during this season we often are thinking about resolutions for the New Year. I am still working out what my theme will be for 2022 (For example for 2021 my theme was Belonging, Boldness, and Joy) and was talking to a friend about how my resolutions are not typically resolutions and are more amorphous. 

Thinking about it, my resolutions tend to turn into rituals instead. I tend to pick categories such as say fitness or self care and instead of defining what that looks like, I go I will do a set number of activities in each category each day but am flexible on what that looks like. 

If the weather is nice might go on a long walk, if cold and gloomy maybe yoga instead or a dance fitness class. Or one day I might burn candles and drink tea, while a different day I might do a mediation and journal, or use lotion and give myself a self massage. In this ways I am creating rituals not resolutions.

Rituals can be very powerful (one of the reason we have so many holiday traditions that have been passed down through the years), and we can harness this power and create our own rituals. Rituals are a great way to center ourselves and make sure we are connected to our inner selves so that we can be at our best in any given situation. 

Advent Week 2: Peace

 

This is the second week in Advent and a time when we focus on peace. Peace can look like a whole range of things and looks differently to each and every one of us. Advent is a particularly good season to focus on inner peace. The holiday season is often a series of running to and from events and celebrations and we can forget to focus on ourselves. 

Personally I know there are several things on my to-do list which have become "impossible tasks" to me so I am trying to be gentle with myself. I will get done what I get done and that is all I can ask of myself right now. While we all should be finding ways to nurture ourselves all the time so we can in the word of Wentworth Miller "vibrate at the right frequency" this is a particularly good season to do so.

Oh and I have found in the past if I do some inner work during this season it helps me create "smart" goals for the new year because I have a better understanding of where I am and where I might like to go in the future. So I hope that this season is filled with peace for you. Peace around who you are. Peace around what your life looks like. Peace around your relationships with others. 

Beebo's Holiday Lessons (Spoiler Free)

 

This week was the introduction of the holiday special "Beebo Saves Christmas." If you don't know Beebo is a stuffed animal from the show Legends of Tomorrow. He first accidentally became a god to the Vikings in "Beebo the God of War." (Why you have to be careful when you accidentally time travel) 

In "Beebo vs Mallus" the Legends fight an army of Romans, Pirates, and Vikings and a demon called Mallus in the wild west and save the world by combining there powers and becoming a giant Beebo (in Captain Planet fashion) so you know Beebo's Holiday special is going to be strange and fun.

I really enjoyed some of the lessons of Beebo Saves Christmas including:

Everyone celebrates the holidays in their own way. There is no right way to celebrate and sometimes activities that don't appear festive are festive for those celebrating. This is an important reminder not to judge how others celebrate and a reminder to not judge how we celebrate either. No one is "doing it wrong." This is especially important during a year where a lot of things do look different from years past for a wide range of reasons. 

There are a wide range of emotions we might feel at the holidays including joy, nostalgia, melancholy, sadness, … I was especially impressed by this because the majority of Christmas/holiday movies are about people finding the holiday sprit and becomes joyful and happy or moving past tough emotions simply because it is the holidays. Few holiday films include the fact that many people experience other emotions which is why Blue Christmas/Longest Night services are popular. 

Now Beebo saves Christmas is pretty wild and silly but what else would we expect from a Beebo Christmas special. :)  And among the silliness there are some important lessons that we all could do to remember. It is important to remember we do not have to compare our celebrating with how others are celebrating. The holidays can be however we celebrate and whatever we are feeling. The holidays are big enough to hold everything in our lives. And that is an important lesson for us all.