Inspiration Comes in All Shapes and Sizes

I didn’t plan to write again this soon, however I promised
to let you in on my life currently and as each day passes. So, currently…
I have a friend… We will call her Keeley. We have known each
other for 4 years now. My freshman year of college I went to Shakespeare’s
pizza. (Those of you who aren’t from Columbia haven’t been introduced to the
incredible goodness of Shakespeare’s, but trust me. It’s great.) I met up with
my basketball team to have lunch with a recruit. I arrived late as usual. When
I walked up they were already seated. I looked at her. Cute girl. A lot of
make-up. Not too much, but… well… she was obviously straight. I mean does hair
and makeup before a game AND IT’S IMPORTANT kind of straight girl. I remember
thinking (I can’t act to gay.) She wound up going to another school. She told
me later she regretted it.
Fast forward two
years. Somehow thanks to a mutual friend and the social networking phenomena
that was facebook we began talking and slowly became friends. She was
interesting. She loved music. Great athlete. And for some reason she liked
talking to me too.
Now I’m sure many of you lesbians are already thinking “They’re
about to hook up.”
I wish. ;) She is pretty great, but we were genuinely just
good friends. We connected well. The only problem? I was gay. She was from a
really small town. She hadn’t been exposed to a lot of things. Especially a loud
and proud lesbian like me. I mean it’s Missouri after all.
She used to drive two and a half hours to come hang out with
me. We would all go out. Tear up the town, and eventually crash back at my
place. That was College, and it was fun… But I graduated and moved out to
California to work for an LGBTQ production company. (I was THAT gay.) She
stayed behind to finish school. We stayed friends, occasionally sending each
other songs, or photos and a catch up text every now and again. She was slowly
beginning to forget that I was “gay”. I even got her flowers once. She didn’t panic.
J
When I left California she was one of the first people I
reconnected with. When I moved back to Missouri she came to visit within the
first month. Once again we all went out (we didn’t go quite as hard as we used
to). While at one bar for drinks and appetizers we were deep in our
conversation when a very drunken frat boy walked over and sat down at our table
of 5. He stared for at least a minute before he finally spoke to me.
Him: “I want to hug you.”
Me. -__-
Him: “Can I hug you?”
Me: “No thanks.”
Him: “Why?”
Me: “I’m a lesbian.”
Him: “Great. Me too.”
He proceeded to stand up and walk around behind me to another
booth. He began leaning across my seat
to grab me. He quickly wrapped his arms around me as I tried to sqiurm away. By
this point my friends were becoming angry. Even Keeley was seeing firsthand
some of the things that lesbian’s go through on a daily basis. When he finally
tried to grab me, my best friend stood up and pushed him back. (She’s a beast.)
Then he turned his sights on her and her girlfriend. Annoyed, all 5 of us stood
up. I thanked him for so impressively clearing a table of 5 women, and we left…
When we were finally outside my best friend said something
to me that changed Keeley forever. She said “You know better than to tell them
you’re a lesbian. It becomes a challenge.”
Keeley was infuriated. She texted me from her home a few
days later.
“I’m writing a paper about you.”
I was shocked. What kind of paper? No one ever writes about
me. It’s always the other way around. She was writing a diversity paper about
growing up in a small town with a narrow concept of life (and sexuality), and
how becoming friends with me opened her eyes to the very real pain that some
people have to face just for being themselves. She is now a strong advocate for
equality… And a very strong shoulder I lean on. She often thinks that I saved
her. The truth is she saved me. It’s hard to keep going. It’s hard waking up
each day knowing that someone somewhere probably isn’t going to like you, not
for who you are, but for what you are. It’s even harder thinking that no one
really cares, but I have proof. Sometimes one person can change a life. Someone
can make a difference. Even if it’s one person, one time, it’s still worth the
fight. So the next time someone writes you off, write them a letter. Tell them
how thankful you are to have met them. You never know who comes into your life
that might end up staying.


Side note:
So today I asked some of my followers to submit some of
their work. Art of any kind. I got a few
responses, and it turns out exactly as I expected. My followers are talented AS
HELL.
So for starters… Megan Littler
Words that will woo.
Yes I said Woo… Because literally the first 45 seconds of
listening to Preston Gunderson sing the words that were co-written by Follower:
Megan Littler all I could think was DAMN… She actually almost made this boy
seem attractive to ME. The song (Accidental Love Letters) has a great vibe and
the lyrics were great. It flowed so well. I noticed in the comments that
someone actually thought it was Jack Johnson Cover. And while it is similar to
his style, I have to admit it has a little more soul. “My accidental love
letters were always written to you.”
Well, Megan. Feel free to write me a letter anytime.
For Megan’s work, click here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foL1mI6Utc4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Bridget Beall - Girl Wonder-
The great thing about not putting any restrictions on what
you call art is that you get to experience a lot of great new things. Bridget
has been a devoted follower for quite some time, and while I’ve often tweeted
her, I never knew that there was so much incredible talent bottled up inside. A
wonderful composer with a large variety of style, I put Bridget’s soundcloud
page on repeat only to find that I loved every single piece. I think Three
Sixty Six is my favorite. Check it out.
http://soundcloud.com/bridgetbeall
Kaitlyn Gaskill- If Nicki Minaj had a white twin.
Naturally I expect most lesbian musicians to carry a guitar
and sing Melissa Ferrick. (Nothing wrong with that. She is one of my
favorites.) I can’t tell you how pleasantly surprised I was to find that THIS
GIRL is a rapper. I mean legit. Not stutters when she tries to spit a rhyme or
talks about her pencil skirts and lunch box. She actually has relatable lyrics
(and some of them are lesbian specific which I love.) I really like her latest
song “Move”. However with 15 tracks to choose from, your favorites may be
different from mine! See for yourself!
http://soundcloud.com/kay22gee
Hope you enjoyed all of this awesomeness! Until next time:
“Everyone has potential. You might not have found what you’re
great at YET, but that’s why we try new things and make mistakes. Some people
never step outside of their comfort zone, and in return never find true
happiness. Some live life as it was intended (to the fullest) and in return live
and die completely satisfied.”