Good News & Pride Updates!
the consequences of my hubris, lol
What’s up!
We’re 11 days into pride month, I hope you all have been finding moments for celebration! For some reason, on June 1st, I set about planning an ambitious content calendar for the first time—something that has never worked for me in the past but hey, maybe it’s time to try it during my busiest month of the year!
One of the funniest, and most apt words to describe that frame of mind is “hubris”. I generally like to write my articles and books in plain, accessible language, but sometimes a hoity-toity word is just too perfect to pass up.
The dictionary defines it as “excessive pride/confidene”, but I like the Greek tragedy definition better: excessive pride/confidence to the point of defiance of the pantheon of Greek gods, usually invoking a response from Nemesis, the goddess of divine punishment and revenge.
In my utter hubris, I planned out 2-3 articles a week on top of multiple trips a week, multiple presentations a day, for all 30 days of June. I started working with a new trainer at the gym, told myself I would be able to run a 5k without any walking by the end of the month, AND that I wanted to start setting a higher bar for organization in my house.
If there is some kind of transgender pantheon (a la the delightful book Future Feelings by Joss Lake), Nemesis is a drag queen, and she came to squash me under her Louboutin.
This is a roundabout and dramatic way to say that last week, I passed out at the gym.
It wasn’t even that hard a workout, but I hadn’t eaten or drank enough, hadn’t been sleeping enough, and had pushed myself too hard. Luckily, my trainer caught me and laid me down until I woke up, I was checked out by the paramedics, and then my brilliant, beautiful doctor wife came and picked me up for an afternoon of R&R.
Talk about a wake up call! I’m feeling a lot better now, but I also recognize that I got really lucky last week. What if I’d been on a dangerous piece of equipment when I’d passed out? What if I’d been driving? This isn’t something I can allow to happen again. I spent the remaining days of last week focusing on eating enough food, drinking enough water, resting extra, and asking myself to look more closely at which of my to do list items were actually urgent. I’m rereading some favorite queer books, and some outstanding new books, too. Mid-way through an intense week of travel, I’m still keeping these things at the top of my priority list.
I’ll still be doing my best, at a more measured pace, to send out some great writing this month, but it won’t be nearly as ambitious as it was originally planned. I’d love to save you all some trouble: feel free to borrow my “sign” as your own. Have you been eating enough? Had water yet today? What conditions allow you to feel fully rested?
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you yet without a few major top ups of hope for the road.
1. If you’ve been following me for a hot minute, you know I’m obsessed with the GoodNewspaper and the free newsletter version Good Good Good. For their pride edition, I have a featured article on 50 things you can do to support trans people!! AND I was able to partner with them to make a discount code for signups to the Goodnewspaper using the code GOODQUEERNEWS for 25% off! It’s the best $8 I spend every month. Check out the digital version of the article here, and get yourself some hope in the mail!
2. A reader recently sent me a trailer for a documentary they’re making on Gotham Cheer, New York City’s adult queer cheerleading team. I watched it and immediately was OBSESSED! Ear to ear grin over here, folks. Check out the trailer and then donate to the fundraiser for the film!
3. GREAT news: Anti-trans congresswoman Nancy Mace, who left her seat in congress to run for governor of South Carolina on an explicitly anti-trans platform, came in FIFTH in the primary! Now she isn’t in congress or the state house. HALLELUJAH!
4. For a deeper roundup of the best trans news out there, check out KB Brookins’ latest episode of Trans News that Doesn’t Suck!
5. I’ve got a live, virtual event coming up next week with the aforementioned brilliant KB, as well as the wonderful Dany Gonzalez! We’ll be having a panel discussion called “Pride Everlasting: The History of Trans Joy Outlasting Oppression”. Check us out next Saturday, June 20th!
6. For a bigger swath of hope, check out the loooong good news roundup from Jess Craven, which is one of my favorite rituals of the week.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got for you for now! I’m off for some family time, research, hiking, and event hosting all over Oregon (and if you’re around the Florence area on Sunday, come join me and PFLAG Florence for a live event!)
All my love,
Ben
The Gotham cheer documentary sounds fantastic. I'll be checking that out.
I always overestimate what I’ll be able to get done when making any sort of content or creation or life schedule for myself, so I unfortunately relate very much, but I’m glad you were able to recover a bit! And wonderful possum meme choice, well done