Natural Attachment

January 24, 2011

our stories – part 1 – who are we (if we stay closeted)?

Filed under: Family & Friends,Life,Religiosophy — Tags: , , , , , — michele james-parham @ 11:06 pm

“We spend so much time stifling ourselves. So many years spent trying to be who we aren’t, who we don’t even want to be. Gay, writer, witch – even things we think are no big deal, we often hide from the world. We hide from ourselves. We trivialize pieces of our identity, trying to be normal or small or unremarkable, because we’ve learned that that’s the way to be.” Being a writer is like being a lesbian

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.” ~ Brene Brown

Owning up to and coming out about ourselves is simple, but hardly ever easy. These past few months have been a time of major reflection for me. A time to really taste, mull and chew on truths within and without me. To try and feel like me. Someone whom I’ve never truly felt like. Someone whom I’ve never actually been allowed to feel like. Life is too short to keep running from yourself.

Each of us has a story. Actually, most of us have many stories – some of them true and some of them just that, stories. Owning those stories can be really painful for ourselves and those around us, but it’s the honest thing to do.

So, for those of you who don’t know:

I’m a lesbian.
A married lesbian.
A happily-married-to-a-straight-male-lesbian.
We have-an-awesome-son-and-hopefully-equally-awesome-future-children-together lesbian.
My family-doesn’t-know-unless-they’re-reading-this-blog-post-now-(hi there!) lesbian.

That’s one of my stories. What’s one of yours?

Dido – Honestly OK

Side Note: Yes, I do realize that this makes two posts in one day! That’s fucking amazing! I was going to cheat and not publish this one until tomorrow, but that wouldn’t be very fun.

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September 12, 2010

NEUC, CSA Apology and Stuff

…though, not in that order.

I’ve been hanging out at the Lawrenceville Little Flea on Saturdays; selling my handmade wares. It’s a really neat community of interesting people and there are always cool finds and friends to make. Things get started a 9am and end at 4pm. Yinz should think about stopping by, digging through old books, buying handmade clothing, sampling tasty food, hearing live music and maybe learning the secret handshake for some homemade sangria (shhh…).

I have many deep and real apologies for NOT sticking to the promise to do better this year over last year in posting about our CSA share each week. The middle of August happened and nothing has helped me get back on track. I skipped taking pictures a few weeks, missed a pick-up and was out of town a week…so, I’m REALLY behind. I make no promises as to when or if I will get back on track (though I really hope I do).

At the end of August we were away in Wakefield/Boston, MA for the Northeast Unschooling Conference. It rocked. I got to meet Jeff Sabo and Ren Allen in the flesh, which was awesome. William and I spent a few really late nights with Ren and Erika Davis-Pitre laughing so much that we were in pain. I got to spend some time talking with Jon Kream (and STILL need to send him information about how to make a forge out of a double stainless steel sink — he’s going to make a sword with Rowan!). I have pictures to upload from three different cameras…I’ll get there people.

Besides Elijah losing yet another tooth (this makes eight) and the fact that he’ll be 7 years old on the 18th, I think that’s about all for now, n’at.

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January 24, 2010

Ebb & Flow

Lately, there has been quite a bit of chaos (extra chaos) in our home. It’s the kind of chaos that I welcome. There have been people. A steady stream of people in & out of our home. I’ve mentioned several times in past posts that I am NOT a people person. While I might be generous with my things, food & love, I’d rather just spend my energy on my family most days. I have friends that I love & love them dearly I do, but my tolerance for being around other people is small and often forced past my comfort level — fake it til you make it, right?

This past Fall, I decided that I was going to make huge strides in being a more social being. I started off slow, but come Winter Solstice, I had a house full of people, children being loud & dirty dishes being found four days later in the oddest places. I want the house full, crazy & never clean, because there’s always people living here, not because I’m just a lazy ass who never cleans!

I figured if I could rediscover that flexibility that I used to have before I became a parent, I might learn something, find something, over come something & get myself back on the path I had fallen off of. Since the beginning of the year, I don’t think we’ve gone more than three days without there being someone at our house & often unexpected (the BEST kind of visitors). I’ve enjoyed this immensely. The more days we have with people in our house, the more I crave for people to show up & eat. AND eat they all do…man, I miss feeding hoards of people — I love it, I crave it.

This constant flow of  people in our home has caused me to relax more, get over or confront some of my most insane OCDs. Yeah, I’ll admit, in large, it’s been about me…it’s been therapy for me. I’m eternally grateful for the awesome people who are in my life & who have been making all this possible. I’m also forever indebted to my Dear Other Half, who thankfully is the patient, tolerant, flexible person who loves me, inspires me, puts up with me, goes to work for me, makes every day magic real for me & most importantly (as far as this post is concerned) encourages the chaos from the constant flow of people coming in & out of our home — he’s the best.

This year just seems like it’s going to be busy: awesome new neighbors (hi there Gyres), births to attend, gardens to tend to, meals to be cooked, mouths to feed, parties to play at & more chaos to be created. This year is going to be magical (in every sense) and for once, I’m NOT dreading it. I’m not being pulled along kicking & screaming.

Strangely, I am welcoming it all with my arms flung wide open like a little kid about to run in for the hug.

Peace & Love
Michele

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September 24, 2009

Catching Up: Elijah’s Birthday Week

Elijah turned 6 years old on September 18th. Yeah, 6…it’s craaaaazzzy. His “birthday week” stretched from Sunday, September 6th until Sunday, September 13th. Here are some highlights…

Mr. Freaky Pants the 1st

Mr. Freaky Pants the 1st

stained glass

stained glass

homemade Lego kits

homemade Lego kits

Es first set of wheels (not counting my old trike); courtesy of my parents.

E's first set of wheels (not counting my old trike); courtesy of my parents.

pirates! (dead ones at that)

pirates! (dead ones at that)

extra snuggles with his favorite person

extra snuggles with his favorite person

wine cork blow dart guns

wine cork blow dart guns

people & somewhere theres pet rocks

people & somewhere there's pet rocks

new Legos

new Legos

musical entertainment

musical entertainment

cake, candles & wishes...there might have been some ice cream too!

cake, candles & wishes...there might have been some ice cream too!

I mentioned cake, right?

I mentioned cake, right?

The following picture pretty much summed up the entire experience for Elijah.

WTF guys?

WTF guys?

It was a LONG week. We cleaned. We ate. We shopped. We made stuff. We cried. We screamed. We made new friends. We learned a lot. We saw people. We broke things. We fought over toys. We bitched about random occurrences. We loved. We laughed. We got tons of phone calls. We opened gifts from many miles away. We sang (but not “Happy Birthday”). We will do it all over again next year…all while simultaneously hating & loving it!

Many “happy” returns, Elijah.

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September 5, 2009

2009 Northeast Unschooling Conference Picnic in Pictures

:: Babies & Blankets ::

:: Babies & Blankets ::

:: People ::

:: People ::

:: Snuggles ::

:: Snuggles ::

:: Conversations ::

:: Conversations ::

:: Caped Crusaders ::

:: Caped Crusaders ::

:: Hanging Around ::

:: Hanging Around ::

:: Family ::

:: Family ::

:: Rowan Whittles ::

:: Rowan Whittles ::

:: Frisbee ::

:: Frisbee ::

:: Dads ::

:: Dads ::

Part 1 of the conference can be found here and part 2 can be found here.

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2009 Northeast Unschooling Conference in Pictures pt. 2

:: Lego Funshop ::

:: Lego Funshop ::

:: New Friends ::

:: New Friends ::

:: Noodle Battle ::

:: Noodle Battle ::

:: Battleship ::

:: Battleship ::

:: Music & Singing ::

:: Music & Singing ::

:: Presentations & Discussions ::

:: Presentations & Discussions ::

:: The Internet ::

:: The Internet ::

Part 1 can be found here and the farewell picnic pictures can be found here.

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"Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it." ~ Brene Brown