"My body is a tomb, yet it is full of flowers."
It's so weird to me how most of this week was full of fear and anxiety. Wondering if I should hide who I really am or live loud and proud in defiance.
All it took was a single art exhibit to somehow change my entire mindset.
The Portland Art Museum currently has a 60's Psychedelic Art Exhibit, consisting of posters and clothing from that era. Since it was the 1st Thursday of the month, I got to go see it for free.
I expected a simple "walk in, admire the art, and leave" experience like I did with the Sneakers and French Art exhibits earlier this year. I didn't expect what I saw to reach so far deep into me and pull out a side of me I thought had been beaten down into nothingness long ago.
I felt high without any use of drugs. I felt disconnected and yet more firmly grounded than ever. I felt...free.
It led me to spending the rest of my night listening to 60's psychedelic rock, researching Hippies/60's counterculture and reading up on Woodstock, thinking of scenarios where in response to the future we're heading towards, that very same counterculture/hippie movement had a major resurgence. Imagining what a "Woodstock in 2025" would look like. Wishing I personally had lived during that time of history yet knowing I can only partially experience it all in the articles and documentaries and music that we have access to.
It reminded me though of something.
Now, more than ever, we need love. To love and be loved.
I can never be a proper Hippie Girl, but that won't stop me from appreciating those who were, at one point in time, walking this very Earth, loving and being loved, with none truly knowing the full extent of how historical it would all be. With not a single soul knowing that way off in the future of 2024, the message would reach some random 28 year old trans girl living in Portland, Oregon. Nobody knowing how it would resonate with someone they'd never meet.
So to everyone reading this, please, I implore you to find your "Summer Of Love". No matter how big or small.
And be sure to wear some flowers in your hair~
