Rants, Ramblings and General Diary of Juliana Wathen

Posts tagged ‘coming out’

Coming out of the closet……

You would think, in this day and age, that educated people would readily accept the fact that GAY people are everywhere and that the need for a NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY  – like today – would just be unnecessary. You would also think that they would have an understanding that gay people live, go to work and pay our taxes just like everyone else does.  Some actually do know that and no longer consider sexuality as a DIS-QUALIFIER  for acceptance in their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

The truth of the matter is that there is still a social stigma so great that it is literally killing our children. Think you aren’t part of the problem – think again. Children are taught to hate at home. They are taught who to accept and who to shun. Who is less and who is greater than. It is reflective in our schools where kids as young as nine years old are committing suicide because of the unrelenting and unmanaged taunting from other children. At that age, most children have no CONCEPT of their sexuality so it just makes it harder for them to comprehend the negative and harsh treatment they endure at the hands of their peers.

My sexuality is not what defines me as a person anymore than my skin color, race or religion. But it is just as large a target for discrimination.  So today…I stand up for those that can’t. I stand up for the little boy who runs thru the playground with “Jazz Hands” and defend his right to a safe childhood…I cheer the little girl who would rather run drills on the basketball court than the runways on Toddlers and Tiaras. I thank the great contributors before me that were gay but didn’t let their sexuality keep them from living and reaching for their dreams. Tchaikovsky to Bessie Smith, Alexander the Great to Pope Julius III and Barbra Jordan to Socrates all incredible individuals who contributed their beauty and talents to the world and just happened to have accomplished it loving someone of the same sex.

My hope is that someday ones sexual preference becomes as small a blip on others radars as ones preference of dogs over cats, chinese food over pizza or choosing to wearing PJ’s  rather than sleeping naked. If you’re a cat lover who likes eating pizza and sleeping naked…..call me.

HAPPY COMING OUT DAY!

I love each and every one of you.

Juliana

Copyright 2011 Juliana Wathen

 

 

 

 

 

Category:

Inspiration, LIFE, motivational

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Weightless moments…..

I empty my mind and wait for the feeling of weightlessness to wash over me. Movement becomes more fluid. Breathing becomes less necessary, butterflies bounce around my stomach and time stands still. It feels like it will never end.

Memories of weightlessness flood my mind.

I remember when I was a little girl  how I loved the swing sets. The drive and determination to swing higher and higher possessed me. What joy awaited you in that perfect moment when you were as high as high could go and just before falling back to earth….you were weightless. Hanging in the moment in time and space.

When I was a teenager I had pneumonia and had been home in bed for several days. After a whole evening racked with a cough I fell asleep. That evening, I became aware of an incredible sensation. I was floating above my bed and had the presence of mind to assess my situation. I ran thru a mental checklist. Yes, I was still in my bedroom. No, I no longer felt pain or fatigue. I was neither hot nor cold and I found it amusing that I no longer needed to breathe. I felt a smile in my heart and it crept across my face. I was most content with my new found situation. Summoned by the silence, my mother came to my room and immediately called for my father. I remembered thinking…”No, Go Away – I’m fine”, but I suddenly felt like I had been grabbed and thrown to the floor. A rush of air filled my lungs and the pain was so intense I was certain my lungs would burst. I was home. I was awake. I was weightless no more.

The sensation eluded me up until 4 days before my 22nd birthday. It was New Years Eve and we had been blessed with the vacant yet well stocked home of a friend’s “out of town” parents. We were told to make ourselves at home. Which we promptly did. My best friend and I were there with guys that were friends from high school that we each had some sizable interest in. After all…it was New Years Eve. We played with Oreo the house dog and drank from the wet bar all night. I’m sure we danced and joked for hours but you see I don’t remember it that much. At the stroke of midnight my best friend grabbed my hand and pulled me close to her and kissed me..long and hard.  I had never been kissed by a girl before. I couldn’t feel the floor. The butterflies in my stomach seemed to lift me right off my feet. Time stood still and the noise of the midnight revelry gave way to silence. I thought to myself how amazingly soft her lips were. How sweet her breath. i could stay there forever in that embrace. In the moment of that kiss I discovered who I was. And I was weightless and finally free.

There are more weightless moments to come in my life.  Moments that will suspend me in time and lift my feet off the floor. Life is a ride. Won’t you ride it with me.

I love each and every one of you

Juliana

Copyright 2011 Juliana M. Wathen

Category:

Friends, LIFE, Love

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