Gilead

In her comedy show Nanette Hannah Gadsby tells her story of growing up and discovering she was a lesbian in Tasmania, where homosexuality was illegal until 1997. I don't know what I was expecting when i turned on Nanette on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I had heard excellent reviews, how both hard truths were revealed intertwined with hilarious comedy. But when i sat down in front of the screen, i didn't expect what hit me. and maybe that's the brilliance of it all. In an hour long feature more story telling than comedy show i was hit face first with the human experience. Hannah shares about shame. She talks about how before she even knew she was a lesbian she knew to be homophobic. 70% of the people in her immediate community - the Bible belt of Tasmania - thought homosexuality should remain illegal. And shame, she said, doesn't just go away. In the mind of a child it grows like a weed, ruining the pathways of being able to think things for oneself. The closet keeps yo...

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer" And this is a year full of questions. Who am I? In the face of crisis when all is stripped away what is left? Who are my people? What do I really want out of life? A year ago I thought I knew the answer to all of those questions. even in December as I sat around making a list of highs from 2017 and wishes for 2018 I would have called myself extremely happy. I knew what I wanted, and I said so many times that I was living the dream. I finally felt like I had an understanding of who I was, and I felt ready for the great rising. I had a tribe of people I thought I was going to be with forever. And then March of 2018 happened. Crisis and trauma has a way of making shit real. and that dream job I had didn't have time to wait for me to collect myself. And the people I thought I would be friends with forever decided I was too much for them, or as the months passed and I wasn't 'over it' they moved on wit...