The Brightest Beginning.
A rekindling for story-telling.
It has been such a long time since I have written here.
Oftentimes, I felt like I was tagging the internet with my writings.
Long ago, this was my place to speak my truth, be witty, annoying and sometimes, looking through my stories, a little cringey. Now, I understand that it is normal for artists to look back on their earlier work and be a little embarassed. And anyone that survived leftbook, tumblr and old twitter or just lived long enough to be on the internet, ignorant and learn better to do better later can attest that the cringe factor of looking back on your words.
I feel like back then, I was yelling into the void by writing first recepies with a little side dish of discourse, then recording receipts of horrible things that were happening to me in real time, trying to give my side of the story on one thing or another over and over again. Never expecting to find readers and community here and in other platforms. Thank you.
A few months ago I applied for a prestigious Fellowship. As I was gathering my strongest work to showcase, I came back to read all the old work and wondering how much I should keep up, now that I received awards for my writing and such, maybe it is time to archive some things? I quickly opted out of that line of thinking as much as I did at 30, or 25, allowing my growth from weird tumblr girlie to a maturing writer to show.
All of the fuck ups, the flaws, the comma runs are out there on the internet, a testament to my growth. Someone wise told me once if you’re not cringing at your younger self, you ain’t growing.
I realize that I have not written in here intentionally like I used to do. Most of last year’s writings here were transcripts and translations of my sermons during my time as Reverend Leo for Iglesia del Pueblo. The story of stepping away from faith based work isn’t for here, nor the point of this post. If you love the liberation theology of those old sermons, please continue turning to Kairos Center for Religious Studies on Sunday evenings for the Freedom Church and Iglesia del Pueblo. There is good people doing good work there.
I failed to tell you how I felt about my big win, in which I established my own professional services company, entered a pitch competition and won first prize. Or the amazing times I spent with Defensores de la Cuenca, getting deep into nature and becoming an enviromental justice advocate… Or that walking 45 miles through the Florida highways in the heat last year with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers was a spiritual experience on its own right, or how proud of myself I was receiving an award for my enviromentalist efforts last fall, my own kid nominated me!
Life has been joyous, and that is worth telling as much as all the trauma, probably more so. So as winter thaws out, I am happy to be back, more intentional, more intersectional and more me than ever.
Oh, I also did win the fellowship, and I want to share with you all I learn as see as well. So, this is my pivot post. More to come!
Leonina Arismendi
