Self Discovery Archives

Publicly Asexual

By : Miranda Kargol June 12, 2021 No Comment

Fluidity is a concept that has interested me for years, but I was not very familiar with how it worked. When I first started learning about the LGBTQ+ community, I read about the spectrum of gender and sexuality, which gave me a foundation for my knowledge, but still didn’t answer many of my questions. Over time, my thoughts about queerness have been transformed to the idea that labels don’t have to be fixed and that societal standards can be restrictive. This is also true of living in a publicly authentic way, which reminds me of my experiences as an asexual person. Whenever I meet someone new, a question that I am always asked is if I am dating someone. When I say no, I am met with even more questions,

Coexisting

By : Miranda Kargol May 15, 2021 Comments Off

Throughout my life, I have found it difficult to understand how queer people have found ways to reconcile Christianity with their identity. This is something that I struggled with for years because of my upbringing. Growing up, I attended a very religious and private school in the suburbs, and we were constantly taught about the dangers of the world and the things that we needed to beware of. It was because of these lessons I was taught throughout my life that I did not know that it was possible for me to be anything but straight. Once I gave myself the space to learn about the queer community, the oblivion that I once had become bitterness because I had spent years of my life being unaware. While I still find

Growing up LGBTQ+ in a Small Town

By : Bobbie Padgett May 11, 2021 Comments Off

When people think of small towns, I think a lot of the time they imagine some cute little place with a welcoming community where everyone gets along and loves each other. And while that’s not completely untrue it’s also not completely true either. As someone who has lived in a small town - that is technically labeled a village - for their whole eighteen years of living, I can say that small town aren’t always what they’re sometimes romanticized to be. When I was growing up, I thought it was exciting to live in my small town. I was fooled by the rumors of small towns being cute and loving, but I soon realized that if you weren’t a certain way, you didn’t belong in this small town. In my

How This Pandemic Challenged My Mental Health and Relationship

By : Vaneza Sosa April 30, 2021 01 Comment

When it came to dating, I never seemed to choose the right people for me. I had a terrible pattern of dating people that were emotionally stunted or had personal issues beyond any help I could give. I ignored red flags that were waving directly in my face for as long as I could. I spent so much time playing therapist to my partners that I never allowed myself to confront my issues. I knew I had them; I just never knew how bad my emotional trauma was until recently. I started dating my now partner a little before the pandemic began. A whole new can of worms had opened up for me in this relationship, and it opened my eyes to the amount of self-healing I needed to do.

a bubble of silence

By : emc April 30, 2021 Comments Off

a bubble of silence sometimes being alone makes sense, i’m alone with my thoughts and my feelings and my discomfort. nothing really make sense these days, the world is in shambles and i’m lost in my own mind; but sometimes when i’m alone it makes sense. it makes sense that i’m tired, well exhausted really. i understand that there’s a toll on my body and my mind from what i’m feeling inside, i get that. it’s fine. sometimes I just need a moment to breathe and understand that this will pass because in the moment it doesn’t feel like it, in the moment it feels like i’m ripping my insides out of my body, it feels like my heart is on fire and i’m doing nothing. so when it makes

Queering Paganism: A Gay Practioner’s Perspective of Wicca-Craft

By : Parker Zimmermann April 30, 2021 Comments Off

I stood outside in the darkness reciting over and over, "New moon. New me, New energy.” These words of affirmation are something you might hear from a pagan or someone who self proclaims themselves a witch. I am one of those people and as such, I honor the Old Ways abiding by the laws of nature. I worship the ever-changing cycles of the moon and the natural turnings of the seasons. I watch the ebbs & flows, and the death & rebirth of the world around us by participating in them accordingly. The sacred ground of the earth mother we walk upon was beneath my bare feet. I took the time to remember this blessing as a child of Gaia like all other living things, including the plants and the

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Category: Self Discovery