Damnation Poster International Lesbian Day 1993? On display at Prejudice and Pride exhibition, Museum of Brisbane, 2010, poster by trishweston

I wrote this a few months ago after seeing the heart-swellingly wonderful Prejudice and Pride exhibition in Brisbane. The exhibition finishes on 17th October 2010 …

I had a few hours spare while in Brisbane on a Saturday afternoon recently and decided to check out the Prejudice and Pride exhibition that’s currently on at the Museum of Brisbane.

Not only was I captivated for hours by this amazing exhibition but I also came away having rediscovered my own pride – for the people who have lived according to their own truth in a culture that has often violently repressed their authenticity.

I am of course talking about all the gays, lesbians, transgenders, queers and every other permutation of other-sexuality and gender you with to throw under the GLBT umbrella.

The exhibition explores the GLBT history of Brisbane through stories, flyers, magazines, letters, photos, videos and other ephemera. It’s not easy being different but throughout all the items collected here, I saw the common thread of people standing up and saying, “This is who I am. This is how I live.” I could only imagine the courage it would have taken to be gay in sleepy old 1950s Brisbane – when homosexuality was still considered a sexual deviancy. (We are talking pre-Kinsey). And yet folks did.

I was beautiful. It is beautiful.

The personal is still political

On the same weekend I visited the exhibition, I saw Nick Douglas’s film People, Parties, Pride & Politics. Nick’s film explores DIY culture and activism in GLBT Brisbane and the impact of decriminalisation in 1990. So once I got to the exhibition I was quite sentimental for a life I used to live, where I belonged to a community, where I felt appreciated and loved, where I got to use the skills and talents I had (as well as develop a few unusual ones – spray painting anyone?) and where I could be myself. (Well, at least if I wasn’t in the company of the PC Police…)

The exhibition was personally touching for me as some of my posters (above) from the period were on display. These were posters / artwork that had been accidently thrown out in one of my house moves and so to see them again just brought back so many memories.

There was something very special about that time and that community. Homosexuality had just been decriminalised in Queensland and this major victory had me believing that I could indeed make the world (or at least our little corner of it) a better place.

But I also appreciate that I was able to experience the joy of belonging to a vibrant, exciting community and part of something that was bigger than me. It’s made me wonder how I can create that vibrancy and sense of belonging in my life now.

If I take a moment to look, I see it is there – albeit in a different form. The players may be different but those communities still exist. I still get to discover new talents – mostly legal nowadays. And most importantly, I still have the belief that my actions can contribute to the world becoming a better place.

Pride is not a sin

A few years ago I came across a reference to pride as a negative emotion (see Power vs Force by David Hawkins). I really wrestled with that as a concept, because for me, pride is a positive. It’s about believing you are as worthwhile as the next person. But our culture insists on loading it up with religious baggage – giving it a ‘deadly sin’ status and insisting that it is merely a precursor to an ignominious fall.

However, after spending time with the stories of the Prejudice and Pride exhibition, I knew I could trust my experience of pride. The feeling I had on leaving the exhibition was overwhelmingly positive. I didn’t think myself better than anyone else. I had merely glimpsed what it means to be human and feel worthwhile.

Happy International Lesbian Day!

Ahh, there was a time when you could win awards for being a lesbian. Miss Stray Cat trophy award to Ms Gai Lemon 1992.

Pushing buttons.

Dykey Bridge, West End, early 1990s

Related posts:

1. Up The Coast: A history of the Sunshine Coast through photos, art, memorabilia.
2. Best chocolate croissant ever at Oxford St Bakery in Bulimba (Brisbane)
3. More unexpected moments in street art: Craft graffiti in Pomona and Rogue Cosies in Brisbane

To see this acknowledged on a global level is incredibly exciting. Not only because “We’re on the right track. Yay.” but all is in alignment…

Engaging in Creative Friction

Andrew Cohen

“In an inspired spiritual context where the evolution of consciousness and culture is the goal, coming together with others is not just about sharing an experience of peace, bliss, and harmony. It is about what I call creative friction.

“In fact, to me, the presence of ongoing creative friction is what indicates deep spiritual, psychological, and emotional health and vibrancy in this type of collective or intersubjective context. Creative friction is the very spiritual lifeblood of the new culture that we need to create, through consciously engaging with each other and the life-process itself, as we strive to deconstruct and transcend old structures and creatively construct new ones.

“If we are all committed to the same higher goal, there is room for many opinions and points of view—they are all colliding in a living, dynamic, creative context, in which everybody benefits from the friction. To be true evolutionary partners and pioneers means being so completely in alignment at the level of our fundamental motive that we are free to disagree and debate in such a way that we are challenged, each and every one of us, at the deepest level, to evolve.

“This takes guts and it takes heart; it means you always have to be willing to reach beyond the familiar, take risks, and continually let go. But if you have become deeply aligned with what I call the Evolutionary Impulse, you will not be afraid. You will experience creative friction as an ecstatic engagement with essence of Life, of Love, of God, and of your own Authentic Self.”

No related posts.

For this month’s Design Notes, I wondered if it was possible to have conversations at this time of year that went a bit deeper than “surviving the silly season” or “coping with Christmas”.

What can this season, this time of year, teach us about our lives? What values does it celebrate – or throw into conflict? What cultural expectations do we unconsciously subscribe to that bring us unstuck because they go against our personal values? Mass consumption anyone? Presumption of religious affiliation? Presumption of family or loved ones to share the season with?

A north American study found that 45% of people surveyed dread the festive season. It’s a time when many people reflect on their lives – and don’t like what they see. For some, it’s a reminder of loved ones lost. For others, it’s a reminder that there is no one to love or be loved by.

So what gifts could we give that will truly help share the love, peace, joy and goodwill that we espouse?

Does a gift have to be a material object? Can it be your time, your attention, your ears, your heart?

This article first appeared in Design Notes, the newsletter of the Work/Life Design Program. You can find out more about Design Notes and the WLD Program at www.worklifedesign.com.au

Related posts:

1. Finding meaning and joy beyond the hype of the festive season
2. One hot day in December
3. My Ten for (20)10: Priorities for a life well lived.

Most of us do want to belong.

The values the season purports to represent – joy, peace, love, goodwill – are things I definitely want in my life. But I am still unsettled by the way it’s all played out. For many years I resisted Christmas. It represented everything that I didn’t want – mass consumption of gifts and food, spending time with people I had little in common with and didn’t accept me for who I was, and having to play along with the illusion of happy families to keep the peace.

Early in this decade, as I began to re-examine my life and what was important, I looked for, and found, the good in the season. Those values I wanted everyday in my life were buried under some leftover gift wrap and a half-eaten piece of pudding (complete with brandy custard).

I looked to see what others got out of Christmas. Why do people go to extraordinary effort to make this day happen? There was the ritual of it – suddenly everyone knew what was expected. Crackers on the left and Santa serviettes on the right. There was the coming together of people who usually didn’t come together, there was the opportunity to show your love and give gifts to those you cared for, there was the affirmation of deeply ingrained religious beliefs that it was all alright. The saviour had come.

Intellectually, I got it. I understood why people would run about like headless chooks to get the perfect gift or perfect glaze. I understood the symbolism and hope of a saviour – that brought joy, peace, love and goodwill too.

Christmas became a cultural experience for me where I ventured into a different land. A land I was quite familiar with, as I knew the customs and rituals, but I saw it with new eyes.

With these new eyes I marvel at the sheer amount of food prepared and consumed. It fills me with joy that I can live in a time and place of such abundance (as I’m acutely aware that my everyday life does not include such feasts). But this overflowing isn’t due to affluence, it’s the result of everyone bringing one thing to the table – literally.

So, as we move into the second half of December, I’m wondering what we can glean from this time of year? What’s so very important to us that our culture virtually stops (commercially anyway) to celebrate it?

This article first appeared in the December 2009 edition of Design Notes, the newsletter of the Work/Life Design Program. You can find out more about Design Notes and the WLD Program at www.worklifedesign.com.au

Related posts:

1. What is your gift?
2. One hot day in December
3. The silly season begins …