let me share
a few lessons i’ve learned
on how to hold my anxiety
in relation to others and
be true to myself
and love as deeply as i can
like
nepantla
which is an in between space
a liminal space
where creation happens
but it’s uncomfortable because
none of the old rules exist
thanks gloria e. anzaldúa
or like ch’ixi
which holds that contradictions
simply don’t need to be resolved
they just exist
we don’t need to resolve the tension
especially with one another
the tension is the architecture
thanks silvia rivera cusicanqui
or arrogant perception
which is the subconscious demand
that others fit into my world
with an alternative of being loving perception
which requires "world travel"
a playful engagement
and abandonment of competence
and a refusal to colonize their world into your own
thanks maría lugones
or the erotic
defined not as commercialized sexuality
but as our capacity for non-coerced joy
we are trained to fear that which we
can’t write down into a contract
cause it can’t be managed or commodified
we force everything into labels and performative identities
and it ends up replacing
true
visceral
connection
thanks audre lorde
or our right to opacity
that demanding to completely know
or understand someone
is an act of colonial violence and reduction
and that we deserve a right to opacity
the right to be complex and undefinable
not fully legible to those around us
if we really want solidarity
it cannot require full understanding
only respect one another’s distinct and opaque autonomy
thanks édouard glissant
or organizing through constellations
instead of a centralized movement
where we all fall in line
under one unified enmeshed identity
cause resistance and community
are built laterally
stars in a constellation do not possess each other
they exist autonomously
but together they form a picture that guides the way
thanks a michi saagiig nishnaabeg
as these new wisdoms
seep over my body
i wonder if i’ll faint again
