It's all about love, isn't it?
On connection through visibility
I’ve been describing the past few years of my life as a retreat. I’ve been in my cocoon era, if you will. Learning a lot about all sorts of really beautiful and really difficult things through a process that has been mostly private. I’ve been sharing the highlights and the lowlights with my very closest, but most of the processing has been through very personal meditative practices.
It’s this public sharing part that’s felt quite vulnerable at times, in all its familiarity. Connecting through one-on-one conversations feels very different from all that being an artist can involve, especially with the public release of a new project. In preparing for it all last year, I kept feeling uneasy. In exploring that discomfort, I found the source to be something so distinctly human.
Fear of rejection. Because what queer kid from the nineties hasn’t felt that fear so intimately? But really because, wow, can the world be so unkind—especially when we navigate it without solid boundaries, like I used to. Yet, what our fears ultimately reveal is what our souls need. And, for me, that is connection. I’ve set connection as the intention for this “stage” of HAMPI.
Post-manuscript, this project has already engendered the sweetest collaborations, which I can’t wait to share with you this year. Today, I want to thank my press for designing, illustrating, and soon producing this book. Thanks to Matt and Kiki at For the Birds, HAMPI’s handmade craftsmanship will carry the centuries-long wisdom of the art of bookmaking.
I also look forward to how this book will deepen our connection. And introduce me to new ones, especially those on similar journeys of embracing Indigenous wisdom, recovering from emotional injury, and navigating physical disability—as weirdos, no less. The opposite of fear is hope, and the source of hope is…love.
I am in Utah for the week, visiting my partner’s family. This Thursday, I’ll be at Under the Umbrella Bookstore in Salt Lake City for a poetry reading. If you are in the area, come connect! If you know someone in the area, please feel free to share the event with them. I’ll be reading from both HAMPI and faith/fe (2021) in all the languages featured in these collections.
❤️