“To survive, you must tell stories.” - Umberto Eco. I love reading. Books have been a safe haven where I can explore bold stories from the comfort of my bedroom. Long before I felt safe enough to start speaking openly about my sexuality with people, I was devouring books that introduced me to stories of other people like me.
Re-writing the Script Together
In my last post I talked about the idea of cultural scripts that tell us how to live and behave: what to aspire to. Cultural scripts embody the virtues a community values most highly. But what do we do when our community doesn’t value things that ought to be valued? What do we do when the cultural script we are handed is inadequate in guiding us to a life of flourishing? I think our culture needs to re-write those scripts.
Inventing a Dream
“There is the ache of a dream not fulfilled. But what about the ache of a dream never dreamt? A life without hope or aspiration.” Tonight a friend shared those words with me. We were reflecting on the hopes and dreams we had for ourselves when as teenagers we came to an awareness of our sexuality. What does a young Christian teen dream for themselves when they realise they’re gay? What sort of life can we aspire to?
New Episode: The Distillery
It's been a big week for me! Tonight I had the great privilege of joining Lee Shang Lun for an episode of The Distillery where we chatted about things like what the Church--and the LGBTIQ+ community--can do to help people flourish in our communities.
Podcast Episode
This week I joined Sam on Conversations with Earl Grey for a podcast episode. We had a fascinating chat about the complex nature of identity: both how we see ourselves and how others see us, and how questions of identity play out in different spheres of my life like my music career, ministry, and sexuality. … Continue reading Podcast Episode
Celebrating Singleness
What does it mean to celebrate? We talk about valuing singleness and single people in the church, but is valuing something the same as celebrating it? What makes a celebration?
Dual Citizenship during the Plebiscite
To continue exploring the idea of dual citizenship, I thought I’d share some stories of my experience during the same-sex marriage postal vote in 2017. This is not a feel-good post as it contains some heavy-hearted stories taken from my journal as I struggled to cope during this time.
Dual Citizenship
How being a celibate, gay Christian can feel like dual citizenship. Translation exhaustion, code-switching, and the search for solidarity coupled with the joys of hearing and telling beautiful stories from another culture.
How Singleness Did NOT Prepare Me for the Coronapocalypse
If yesterday’s post gave you the impression that being single while stuck at home during a pandemic is fun and games, today I’m here to tell you it’s not. I’m all about celebrating stories of flourishing single people, but I’m also all about honest vulnerability and admitting when things suck. So here are some of the things I’m struggling with that singleness didn’t prepare me for.
How Singleness Prepared me for the Coronapocalypse
As someone who [mostly] identifies as an extroverted people-person, I’ve been extremely surprised to find how much I’m enjoying the self-isolation life. I might even go so far as to say I feel like I am flourishing more right now than I have in years. This has been a bizarre experience to make sense of, especially as I see people all around me struggling with loneliness, anxiety or despair.
