in imageIve forgiven the teacher who let me fend off my
bully alone, even if I can trace Nex's death to him
too. I'll even forgive the 3 children in that bathroom
who just ruined their lives. I don't have time for
them today. I'd rather remember my other teacher.
The "bachelor" who read us poetry. Who, thinking
he was alone in the classroom one day, got into a
sweet argument on the phone with his "roommate"
about what couch to buy. How he whispered "We
can talk about it when I get home?" Who pulled me
aside atter my grandfather died to say "Crying is
not a weakness.'
Nex's death sits in our tummy next to memories of
child violence. Maybe this will spark some change.
America needs sweet-faced sacrificial lambs to
care about Queers. Ask Matthew Shepard's ghost.
As we struggle through rage and numbness,
remember a teacher who helped you survive.
Thank them in your mind.
War should make us grateful as well as angry.
2/2
Leo Herrera
@herreraimages

in image4 years since the WHO declared COVID-19 a
pandemic. Many of us never dropped our shoulders
after that. Some of us literally can't breathe the same.
COVID was not the great equalizer we naively hoped,
but it was an event of mass clarity. Changed how we
saw people and government. There are friends and
family I still don't talk to, not after I witnessed risks
and privileges so different from mine. Did I overreact?
The official death toll is 7 million, but related deaths
are immeasurably higher. Is 4 years enough to mourn?
When will I get over streaming my grandmother's
funeral on a shitty signal on Facebook Live?
COVID fractured our version of reality. How could
some of us believe in a disease and others not? See
masks and vaccinations so differently? And how do
we consider millions dead and disabled but
also...good things? How many origin stories start with
"during the pandemic, I..started my business, learned
to (blank), got pregnant, got this dog, fell in love."
COVID changed our center of gravity by 6 feet, forced
us to cross the Rubicon. What parts of us stayed in
that lockdown, and what parts were set free?
Leo Herrera
@herreraimages

in imagePrioritize your mental health.
Have a meltdown every day.
Really get that shit out.
@disappointingaffirmations

in image@michaeljoelhall
reflection incoming

in imageMany cultures believe that an eclipse is the sun and the
moon being devoured by mythological creatures. In Chinese
mythology, it's a dragon; in Norse and Korean, it's wolves. For
the Cherokee and Vietnamese, it's a frog. For the Maori in
New Zealand and Hindus in India, it's a demon. For the Pomo,
it's a bear. They all created "noise rituals" to scare away the
dark: whistling and screaming at the sky, or banging on
drums or pots and pans.
We've mastered noise rituals in our modern world, too. We
created plenty of places to yell at one another about things
we don't understand or can't control: elections, race, gender,
genocides, the climate. Even if yelling is more likely to move
the heavens than change another person's mind.
The Batammaliba in West Africa believe an eclipse is the sun
and moon in a celestial conflict. They perform the opposite
of a noise ritual: the community gathers for rituals of
forgiveness. Elders mediate conflicts, gifts are exchanged,
followed by feasts and music. They show the sun and moon
reconciliation by example.
There's no ritual big enough to heal current divisions. But we
can create rituals of absolution for just ourselves, quietly
warding off the demons of our own shame with a meditation
that says, "I may not understand what is happening, but life
is short, and the universe is infinite...maybe 1 really am just
doing my best in the darkness."
Leo Herrera
@herreraimages

in image—ac0s-
Knowing
what's right
doesn't mean much
unless you do
what's right.
-acos.-
-
-Franklin Ronsevelt

in imageHappiness Becomes You
by Tina Turner
1 hr 33 mins left
Happiness
Becomes You
A Guide to
Changing
Your Life
for Good
READ BY
ADRIENNE
WARREN
WITH
CHANTING BY
TINA TURNER
TINA
TURNER
the
section in which tina
talks about the "revolution
of the heart" and I
recognize my experience in
her words.
Streaming over cellular
Chapter 9 of 14
32:12
-08:00
K
N

in imageI BELIEVE THAT MY
SOVEREIGNTY AND
HAPPINESS ARE WORTH
FIGHTING FOR BECAUSE THE
DISCOMFORT OF FACING
RESISTANCE FROM OTHERS
IS FAR PREFERABLE TO THE
DISCOMFORT OF LIVING A
LIE.
140
YUMI SAKUGAWA
@yumisakugawa

in imageoliver
@itspapalou
It leads to empty rhetoric, rally's with
no political foundation, and calls for
"justice" from the very same people who
built a generation of "activists" they can
control. This is a systematic process.
A calculated step taken by the state to
account for social unrest.
@blackboysom

in imageSOMETIMES IT IS FUN TO REALLY
TUNE INTO ALL THE SUBTLE
NUANCES OF ALL THE WAYS YOUR
BODY CLENCHES UP AND TIGHTENS
IN RESISTANCE TO DOING THE
wOrK,
Fs
YUMI SAKUGAWA
@yumisakugawa

in image@mbodied.life
Embracing my own mystique
with inspo from
@mbodied.life

in imageIf you could wave your magic wand, what would you do with that new body?