Fabulously Impractical
About last night... It was so fun to GO SOMEWHERE and DO SOMETHING and SEE PEOPLE. I own exactly one dress that's not a summer dress. I planned to wear it last night to the Transhealth Holigay Party in Easthampton. But at the last minute realized I had no tights, and also no suitable dressy shoes. I am, shall we say, fashion challenged. Luckily I am married to someone who loves clothes and shoes and has a great eye and enjoys shopping, so we set out around 3:30pm to track down tights and shoes. Struck out on the former at three stores before finally finding a pair at Target. (I cringed for the workers who have to clean up the disaster of strewn items in that part of the store.) And found a pair of inexpensive and fabulously impractical heels at TJ Maxx. Way sexy and way hard to walk in and way fun to wear for two hours. I like us dressed up. We so rarely do this.
Being in a space filled with queer folks was so good for my soul and also so poignant. I feel this way in synagogue all the time, too. You just kind of know there is the chance of violence, and then you choose prayer/joy/community as an act of resistance and thriving, and you know you are not alone in feeling and thinking these things as you people watch and mingle and sip a mocktail, and get chills as Mary Lambert sings Ave Maria and later, "They keep me warm..." all while raising money for an incredible organization that's doing life-saving work. We even danced a little, though with masks on didn't last long. And I got to see a dear friend from Vermont!
Now I'm sitting under a blanket watching the snow fall, dinner cooking in the crockpot, dog snoozing. Anyone who is busy wasting their precious life energy hating this community is seriously missing out on so much beauty, power, goodness, creativity, ingenuity, fun, authenticity, and heart.