Trans* Asterisk Conference
The 2nd Annual Trans* Conference is coming up at the end of February and I'm so excited to get to be a part of it! I'll be offering a presentation entitled "The Talk," dialogue and suggestions around the Coming Out Process.
Don't forget to register soon! Registration with guaranteed lunch and tshirt closes on February 5th. Check out information about the conference here on the Trans* Asterisk Conference Blog.
Good Morning REVOLUTIONARIES!
You may have been wondering where we skipped off to last week. We were enjoying ourselves at UC Riverside's Trans* Asterisk Conference and, in truth, didn't quite recover in time to sing it's praises last Monday morning during the Mash-Up! Nevertheless, we couldn't let such an amazing weekend go unsung!
Today's intersection is FEMME-INIST MASCULINITY! You might think that sounds like a contradiction, and while it might be rare, we assure you it exists. We saw it, felt it and engaged in it at the conference last weekend and it was utterly magical. A unicorn glittered demonstration of community building, space making and dialogue.
We got to spend some time with old friends, had serendipitous run-ins with folks swirling in nearby communities and gathered more new crushes than we can count! So many amazing hearts and spirits and utterly fabulous accessories! We were absolutely impressed by the warm and efficient organizing and honored and flattered to be among the ranks of the other speakers. Our only regret to participating was that presenting kept us from attending other workshops! However, with all of these other wonderful pieces what will shine the brightest in our memories was our spontaneous extended workshop turned community summit!
We were so excited to run Taming the Hulk: Temperance for the Transmasculine Journey and will likely post some of the activities at some point. As we got going on planning and prepping we quickly realized that time was short and our activity list grew/shrunk as we discussed and organized. We did the math and figured, maybe 30 folks at the most? We spent some time thinking, okay, if 10 folks show up for this gig can we still do our activities? Would the processing exercises resonate for folks that were unfamiliar with gender deconstruction? Were we offering real tips for temperance or were we just echoing the narrative that finding and remaining consistent with our own versions of masculinity was an uphill unsupported cultural battle?
Needless to say, we were pretty blown away when we returned to our room to find that there were already about 40 participants waiting for us and participants continued to roll in for the next 10 minutes until we were up to probably around 60-70! As these things go, we scuttled about, took a breath, re-routed where we could and then just surrendered to being around and in such amazing community. We tried to sink into the fact that in a lot of ways this gathering in itself was a movement towards transmasculine temperance- that folks were seeking out space to come together to find balance in this journey often wrought with extreme ups and downs.
The participation and experiences that got shared in our workshop were already more than we could have hoped for but as we took final comments we were again pleasantly surprised. Folks voiced that there wasn't as much deconstruction as hoped and that they wanted to know if there was more space to keep the conversation going. Participants went to speak to the conference organizers, found us an empty room during the final workshop slot and spread the word. As we rolled into Taming the Hulk Part Deux, we were again floored as a good 30-40 magnificent humans came in to discuss and deconstruct the narratives of masculinity that support us and constrain us. With very little facilitation the group made space for each other's voices, witnessed and validated each other's stories and generally commiserated and problem solved around the hulking presence of masculinity in all of our lives and gendered journeys.
It brought me an intense feeling of Kim Katrina Crosby's prezi on Femme Science and Community Based Research in action. I implore you take a look at it, take it in and add Laura Mvula's That's Alright to your conquer the day playlists! As a community we took on the community agreements that Crosby discussed:
Community Agreements
Express care, concern and consideration to yourself & others. Speak for yourself. Protect each other & yourself. Examine your prejudice. Share your needs and give ample space for others to do the same. Treat others the way that they want to be treated. Ask.
Another’s experience does not invalidate your own,
but it should and necessarily does complicate your own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYjHixQ9Ns4
We were so thoroughly grateful for the heart opening and intuition practice that we experienced at the conference, that drew folks to our workshop and that left space for folks to take and create what they needed. A lot of the discussion surrounded the struggle of binary systems, the way that accessing masculinity sometimes felt mutually exclusive from feminine energy/nurturing/space and the loss of one identity/community as another solidified. Folks voiced the desire to be conscious of the unique nature of this journey into privileged space and were desperately seeking ways to honor it as they also took on masculinity in ways that felt holding to them.
It felt like we not only started to "Tame the Hulk" but that we started to build a framework for "Femme-inist Masculinity."
Even with our extended time together, we know that we've just barely scratched the surface. We're figuring out what would feel like the best ways for us to continue the conversation and we'll leave more information here as it comes. If you would like to be a part of this continued conversation please shoot us an email to compassionaterevolt@gmail.com.
In COM|PASSionate REVOLUTION,
Skye + Traci
----------
Skye is a youth worker, educator, activist and white transmasculine human. Traci is a therapist, yoga teacher, educator and queer vegan femme-inist of color. They reside, practice, navigate, process, survive and flourish in the Southern California area.
Hello COM|PASSionate REVOLUTIONARIES and happy Monday!
We're sorry that the Mental Health Mash-Up is going up a little bit late today. Our schedules have been a little overwhelming recently... oh, what's today's podcast about you ask?
It's about how to pause for self-care when you start to get overwhelmed! Even when you're overwhelmed by lots of wonderful and healing community building and discussions!
You can listen here:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/compassionaterevolt/Self-Care.mp3
Or on our LibSyn Page.
So take a listen and then don't forget to come hang out with us this weekend if you're local! The Trans* Asterisk Conference starts Friday night and workshops happen on Saturday!
Feeling overwhelmed and need a little pep talk before heading out the door and onto the traffic of the 91fwy? Here's one of our favorite sources of silly internet self-care (Notice VERY Calming Manatee above.)
We hope you enjoy and we'd love to hear your thoughts!
As always you can reach us at...
compassionaterevolt@gmail.com
www.compassionaterevolt.wordpress.com
In COM|PASSionate REVOLUTION,
----------
Skye is a youth worker, educator, activist and white transmasculine human. Traci is a therapist, yoga teacher, educator and queer vegan femme-inist of color. They reside, practice, navigate, process, survive and flourish in the Southern California area.
----------
There are photographs in this post that were borrowed lovingly from the internet and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the photographers and websites who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the subject's or artist's identity or beliefs. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email compassionaterevolt@gmail.com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.
Happy Friday REVOLUTIONARIES! We hope you take a second to take a breath and heed these wise words from the incomparable Kurt Vonnegut. If finding a breath of happiness seems like a daunting task at the moment we wish you the best in your search and journey towards it. Hopefully, you might find some inspiration or community reflection here that will help. Here is our event round-up and announcements for upcoming fun community loving!!!
EVENTS
Get out, take care of yourself and heal in community!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Don't forget there's lots of upcoming ways to get involved!
RECOMMENDATIONS
Feeling like some quiet time at home is what you need?
----------
*Events are put on by the CR Community/CR Community members. Other events are by friends of the CR Community or of interest to the CR Community. Feeling a little nervous about getting out and involved? Email us and if we can we'll make some introductions so you have a friendly face to say "Hi" to when you get there!
**Most of these events will be local to Southern CA (unless we notice an event that sets us off into road trip dreamland.) If you want to do a COM|PASSionate event round-up for your local area let us know!
***Are you an individual, meet-up or community group that has some COM|PASSionate events of your own? Email us for details on how to submit your event to our calendar!
compassionaterevolt@gmail.com
****More about Maryam****
Maryam is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT#84366.) She received her master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University, Maryam has worked in various organizations dealing with issues such as trauma, abuse, domestic violence, depression, anxiety, premarital and marital matters in Orange County for the past six years. She has also provided school counseling services for the past three years. Maryam has provided counseling and case management services to diverse communities including immigrants and newly arrived refugees. She has provided counseling services for youth, adults, couples, families, and groups. Maryam also speaks on various topics dealing with psychology and counseling at colleges, high schools, elementary schools, and community events. Maryam is fluent in Farsi and Dari and is conversational in Urdu. Orange County. She received her bachelor's in Sociology with a minor in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine. Additionally, Maryam is a certified Prepare and Enrich Facilitator for premarital counseling, and a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. You can reach Maryam at 657-201-7508 or email her at mrasouli05@gmail.com
----------
There are photographs in this post that were borrowed lovingly from the internet and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the photographers and websites who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the subject's or artist's identity or beliefs. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email compassionaterevolt@gmail.com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.
Good Morning REVOLUTIONARIES! Happy Monday!
Today's Mental Health Mash-Up Ep5 is about Visibility. Skye and Traci will discuss the changing nature of queer/trans visibility in the media, the way we are in control and not in control of our visibility and the choices we make about our visibility that may or may not feel good to our bodies, brains, hearts and spirits.
As always you can listen here:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/compassionaterevolt/Visibility.mp3
or visit our Lib Syn Page.
Here are links to events/info we reference in the podcast today:
We hope you enjoy and we'd love to hear your thoughts!
You can reach us at compassionaterevolt@gmail.com
www.compassionaterevolt.wordpress.com
In COM|PASSionate REVOLUTION,
Skye (He, Him, His|They, Them, Theirs) + Traci (She, Her, Hers|They, Them, Theirs)
----------
Skye is a youth worker, educator, activist and white transmasculine human. Traci is a therapist, yoga teacher, educator and queer vegan femme-inist of color. They reside, practice, navigate, process, survive and flourish in the Southern California area.
———-
There are photographs in this post that were borrowed lovingly from the internet and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the photographers and websites who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the subject’s or artist’s identity or beliefs. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email compassionaterevolt@gmail.com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.
