FabulouslyFeminist

I have rarely identified with and found comfort in the writings of a person in the way I do with the work of Mary Oliver. She reminds me not just to ground myself in my body, but also in the world. To look around and notice my environment and my relationship with the other creatures in that same environment. She connects me with a younger version of myself. The version who would wander through the woods, joyfully get lost, search out all the interesting and strange dried out plants each autumn with the hopes of making some kind of strange, sculptural masterpiece. The version who sat in a field, holding onto a notebook, trying to write down all the things she noticed around her. The small spider jumping in the grass. The birds swarming ...

I have been working on recognizing that I get to not do a thing simply because I don't want to. Not wanting to do something is enough of a reason, and no further justification is required. ⁠ ⁠ #emotionalbirds

Give yourself permission to dig into the things that interest you, that spark joy and passion. Throw caution and embarrassment to the wind. Be enthusiastic and cringey. This is your one life. Dig into it 💗

Hold On It's A Panic Attack

It has been so beautiful to get back to my life-long practice of reading. A gift given to me by my Mom, integrating reading into my daily life was core to my identity starting in childhood. I wandered away from that practice as life got busy, work got more and more stressful and my mental health deteriorated. I'm getting back there. Back to reading every day, back to exploring the things I love. And, I'm so grateful. "Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books" - bell hooks

Do you ever feel like… your spinning, cycling emotions are just too b I g ?? That you just need to let yourself experience them, even the negative or dark ones?? I do. I bet lots of people do.⁠ I had a lot of fun with this sketchbook drawing, part of the Emotional Birds series I started a couple weeks ago. What eM0ti0N should I do next??⁠ .⁠ .⁠ I HAVE BIG FEELINGS⁠

I have always loved drawing and painting birds and it occurred to me when I was doodling last weekend that their funny, intense expressions and gestures might be excellent fodder for a casual series of illustrations. This is often how my brain feels: diD i mEntI0N iM IN theR4Py??

Little By Little The Healing Adds Up

I have struggled for a few days to settle on what to write for this piece. What did I have to say about the words of Mary Oliver? This morning I looked out at the quiet park through my front window, and I thought about the strange and beautiful trajectory my life has taken.⁠ But why strange? I think that is what this line means to me. I want to be improbable. Improbable? Improbable when compared to my past self, my past lives, the limitations I accepted both from myself and from others. I want grace and joy and freedom. I want wings.⁠

Here is your daily, loving reminder to keep watering yourself 🌱 I find that it can still be easy for me to forget in my hectic and stressful life that I am a complete, autonomous and embodied being, who needs the same kind of care and nourishment I strive to give to others. A year into my intensive trauma informed therapy journey & treatment for PTSD and I am still learning how to let my spirit bloom. 💖✨ Remember, we deserve to thrive, not just survive. 🌸

Read Dangerously

Sugar Spice & Reproductive Rights

Something I’ve been talking about in therapy is showing up for myself the same way I have been trained to show up for others. What does that mean? For me it means practicing grounding and mindfulness. Embodiment. Noticing how I am feeling in my body. Actively thinking about my needs and then (this part is key) meeting them. Showing up for myself feels dynamic and it changes. I guess it means being in relationship with myself, and in turn valuing that relationship just as much as I value all my other relationships.

since ending my marriage and moving to Buffalo, I have been thinking a lot about how good things cannot spark and grow in isolation. How we need community in order to heal, to learn, to liberate ourselves. Our communities are made up of our neighbors, our chosen family, our friends, the people who support us and who we support. ⁠ I'm so grateful for the fab feminist community, the members of which have supported me since even before starting this business. I'm grateful for all the loving people who have been with me on this healing journey. And, I am grateful for my new family. ⁠ ⁠ "Without community there is no liberation." - Audre Lorde

The weather is changing. In fact, yesterday I closed all the windows and pulled on a sweater. And, one of my favorite autumn activities is to snuggle up with a big mug of tea and a book.⁠ .⁠ I'm looking for reading recommendations! What's your favorite autumnal read???

I want to practice saying yes to things. Well, not everything. The things that might bring me joy, the things that might be difficult or hard, but rewarding all the same. The things I am afraid to do, but want to achieve. I want to practice saying yes even when I don't feel like I am quite ready; this is how I give myself permission and room to grow. ⁠ .⁠ How many things have you said 'no' to, because secretly you were afraid?

"You are handling things many people would not be able to manage. And you are doing great. How you talk about yourself matters. You need to turn the spotlight of compassion you so freely spread around to others, onto yourself."⁠ That's what my therapist said to me when I called myself a hot mess. I don't think I have referred to myself as a hot mess after that moment. Learning to be unconditionally loving and compassionate towards yourself takes time, but it's so vital.

“The heart of justice is truth telling, seeing ourselves and the world the way it is rather than the way we want to be.”⁠ ― bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

I want to live fully, joyfully and in the moment. I want to hold time and space for all the feelings and experiences and relationships with kind, creative, loving people.⁠ "Tell me what is you plant to do with your one wild & precious life?" - Mary Oliver⁠ it's not insignificant that I made this drawing while my life was very much in chaos, as I talked to my new partner on the phone, rediscovering a joy of drawing. We talked and drew and cultivated a new life.

Yeah, Um I didn't ask sooooooo...⁠ .⁠ I'm working really hard on building distance between myself and unasked for opinions and instead trusting my own gut and self knowledge. Dang is it hard, though.

I used to have this debilitating, buzzing anxiety in the back of my mind at all times that my life was flying past, and the things I wanted were never going to come. It's strange how life works out, though. The things you want change, or perhaps shift, come about in ways you'd never expect, the rollercoaster takes a wild turn and sometimes loops back, but it's never quite the same.⁠ .⁠ For the first time in my life, I am taking a deep, deep breath and soaking in the here and the now rather than desperately aching for a different future. That feels absolutely beautiful.

I'm A Craftea Bitch

Asking For Help Is A Sign Of Strength

Revolution Is Not A One Time Event, Audre Lorde

Pansexual Babe

I have been trying to think about what to say about rainbow capitalism, anti lgbt legislation, shrinking human rights for people in the United States. if I am totally honest, I am struggling to just fully take it all in. The first Pride was a riot. Why? Because people have always had to fight for rights, for recognition, for safety. The first pride may not have been fought in front of a Target display, but it *was* centered around a public space where queer people dared to say, "We deserve to exist and to be seen." I think that merits some thought.⁠

May The Tears We Cry Water The Seeds We Plant

You know what we need infinitely more of? Well-educated, compassionate kids and adults who have access to a diverse range of badass books. Bigotry is so two-thousand-and-late, so why the f*ck are we even entertaining the discussion of book bans??? #banbigotsnotbooks #sorrynotsorry

It's finally *finally* feeling like actual spring here in Western New York. And you know what, it's a lovely time of year to get outside, do some yard work, some gardening, some exploring--and also some serious dismantling of systems of oppression.

Support Your Local Queers

I want to focus on all the beautiful, creative, strong, resilient, powerful and joyful AF queer folx I know in the world. Gosh darn it are we doing amazing things in the face of all this crap.

maybe it's monday morning, or maybe you're just anxious af and capitalism ruins the day again???

There are days I desperately wish this spray existed. And it would smell like patchouli, geranium, rose & freedom. What would your Patriarchy Repellant Spray smell like?

It's the time of year where all kinds of advertising geared at selling a negative self image start popping up just as rapidly as the spring flowers are blooming. F*ck that noise.

Gay As A Spring Day

Times are tough... and we keep holding on. Sometimes I think resilience is a muscle.⁠