EEDA Newsletter Vol 5, Iss 11: Returning to the Good Parts of Who You Were
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Hi friends! Before I get into it, I want to share again a fundraiser I am taking part in for TGI Justice Project. Every year I make a donation to TGI Justice Project and they’re currently trying to raise $5K. I set up a site for my network to pull together $500. We are over halfway there! Thanks to the folks who have donated. We are $138 away from goal and have until the end of May. Please donate and share!
I finally started reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. The story begins on Saturday, July 20, 2024 so I wanted to be sure to read it this year. I know it’s going to be a hard read so I’ve been trying to build up my fortitude.
In case you missed it, last week on the EEDA Pod, we share advice on how to find a therapist that is right for you regardless of your identity with added advice for folks who are queer and/or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). You can find our show, Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
This past weekend marked three months since I got my septum pierced so I was able to go and get it changed out for something that I could replace myself. I bought jewelry fashioned after the araw (sun) in the flag of the Philippines.
Last week, the Wicked movie trailer dropped and I feel obligated to give you a heads up that they’re splitting it into two parts. Part one is in theatres this November and part two won’t release until the end of 2025. Still, I am incredibly excited. I have seen productions of this show maybe four or five times. I’ve seen it from the front row of the orchestra section and I’ve seen it from the back row of the balcony section. I’ve brought many loved ones to see it and it was also a favorite of my mother’s. In fact, Mom and I saw the show when it premiered in San Francisco before it went to Broadway. The show was different in small ways and I vaguely remember the romantic male lead having a different song entirely. Seeing a show when it’s in the not-quite-final form is so incredibly special to me and one of my favorite things to do. I have the Wicked vocal selections and the Grimmerie. I used to have the book it is based on but it was a gift from an ex and I didn’t want it in my space so I don’t remember what happened to it.
I cannot adequately express the importance of having a character, Elphaba, who can be and is being played by a queer Black person. A bit after college, I quit musical theatre. I didn’t want to be a sex worker character or in a historical show or a show about jazz. There wasn’t any space for someone who looks like me but sings like Maria from The Sound of Music. To be fair, the space that there was had solidly been claimed by Audra McDonald and I am blessed to live in the same timeline as her.
So when I watched the Wicked film trailer, I cried through the whole thing and for a good 10 minutes after. I cried because Cynthia Erivo is amazing and I’m so excited for her to bring Elphaba to the screen. And I cried because I grieve the theatre kid that is still inside me.
The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that theatre kid in me isn’t dead, just dormant. There is no reason I cannot coax that kid out of slumber, maybe not to actually start doing shows again, but putting on our flomasks and seeing more live theatre. Also, technology is totally different than when I was singing over twenty years ago. I have practically unlimited access to vocal exercises and dance classes online. I made a huge Spotify playlist of all kinds of songs that I love to sing whether they be from shows I did or my audition songs or cast recording selections. So far there are 314 songs and over 19 hours of music on it. I can just sing. At home. Out loud. Whenever I want.
There are plenty of things that I used to love doing that I don’t do anymore and I think it will be good for my soul to pick some of them back up in some capacity. Am I going to start playing basketball again? Absolutely not. Will I go back to being a Disney adult? Unlikely. Will I start teaching sex education again? I’ll think about it. There are some health benefits to nostalgia, and it’s part of why I insist on bringing Nicole and our friends cherry-picking every year. I always pick way more cherries than I use but it is something I did as a child with my family and I have a lot of happy memories doing it. Just because we stopped doing activities that we enjoyed and filled our cups does not mean we can’t start doing them again if we want, perhaps in a new and different way that fits with our current lives and our current selves.
That’s it for this week! You can shop many books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. In fact, any Bookshop, Amazon, or Etsy links in this newsletter are affiliate links so if you shop through those, it helps support my work. Or you can leave me a tip on Ko-fi, Paypal, or Venmo.
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