“Pride….the Absence of Shame”*
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Dear Little Nan,
Look at you.
Oh.
I love you.
I love that shirt—
That is a
Great shirt!
I write this from the distance of…
???
Probably 65 years.
I write this with
A perspective
Of experience,
Of strength,
Of hope.
I offer
Today
To you,
My dear one,
My
Assurance.
My love.
I offer you
My guarantee:
You are awesome.
Being exactly
Who you are—
That is
The
Journey.
Dear One,
YOU GOT THIS.
Yep, life will be hard.
Yep, you will feel
Alone,
Ridiculously
Alone.
You will feel
Different,
Absurdly
Different.
You will feel
Terrified,
So
Very
Terrified.
And dear one,
You will,
You
ABSOLUTELY
WILL
Outlive
Those feelings.
Dear One,
You will
Step
Into
Them,
And
You will
Walk
Through
Them.
And you will
Absolutely
For sure
Find
Your
Home
Inside
Yourself.
You want
To kiss girls,
Right?
What a good idea!
You know what?
The day will come
When
Kissing
Girls
Will
Be
Beyond-
Perfect,
Beyond-
Normal.
It will be
Your right.
The day will come
When
Kissing girls
Will
Be
YOUR
RIGHT.
The shame,
The
Separation,
The
Aloneness
That you needed
To
Protect
Yourself
Will
Begin
To
Be
Irrelevant.
But for now,
Dear
Little
Nan,
Be brave.
Take care.
Know
That
In
The
Bigger
Moment,
You
Are
Held
In
Love.
Please know,
My
Dear
One—
You are
Not
Alone.
I’m right here.
~~~
My prayers and hopes for you?
Today,
I
Offer
You
Love.
Today,
I
Offer
You
Hope.
Today
I pray
That
You find
Your way,
With a
Strong back,
And
Soft front.
Strong back,
Soft front.
To take
A step
Forward,
To open
Your heart.
And
To keep
Yourself
Safe.
Dear One,
I love you.
I’m
Right
Here.
You don’t
Have to
Hide
From me.
The day will come
When
You
Won’t
Have
To
Hide
At
All.
Love,
From Big Aruni
~~~
Dear Friends, here is a familiar song, filtered through Brandi Carlile’s experience, strength, and hope. She is singer, songwriter, producer, activist, advocate of LBGTQIA+ rights and women’s rights, all.
I heard her perform and discuss this song during an amazing documentary about Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah—Leonard Cohen. A Journey, A Song. Please! See it if you can.
Here’s Brandi:
~~~
And here’s Brandi telling her story of coming out in a powerful four minutes:
~~~
Speaking of storytellers, I would like to introduce you to my brilliant and forever-friend, Adam Mastoon, remarkable photographer, graphic designer, and multimedia storyteller. Please check out his stories. He both sees and captures the beauty in our strength and in our vulnerability—in us all. A modern-day storyteller, here he is:
~~~
Dear Friends,
As a child, what parts of yourself did you hide?
What’s the cost of that hiding, today?
Consider. And Ponder
Shame has a purpose.
Denial probably kept me alive.
Until the moment
It began
To rob me
Of life.
Find a picture
Of your little kid,
You.
Write to them?
Talk to them?
Write to me?
Write to somebody?
Brandi said it:
Pride
Is
The
Absence
Of shame.
Of what part of yourself
Are you proud?
~~
May the work
We do
Together
Benefit
All
Beings.
With love,
Aruni
~~~
COME TAKE THE INNER QUEST!
LET’S RELAX AND LOOK TOGETHER.
SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 2
KRIPALU CAMPUS
*Brandi quote