La-Z-Boy 🏳️‍⚧️ A couple announcements: This is now a she/her, they/them body. Or u can call me la-z-boy 🥰 After many years and conversations, I am learning all the ways in which I am, and can be. Thank you to my chosen family who opened their hearts to me about gender identity, the greater queer community and our place in the world. In a time where fear of the unknown drives harmful legislation against our community, I am lifted by you — shoutout to friends @sarahlubyburke @mxalyzaenriquez @tonyandthecity who were just nominated for a Peabody (!!) for their groundbreaking work on Transnational. You inspire me to keep fighting, every day, for a better world for all of us. 🏳️‍⚧️ After a few setbacks — including total loss of reading/writing comprehension for over a month — I am back on the path to healing! I have my next surgery scheduled for May 2nd. At this point, we know the first two surgeries worked — the tumors found were removed. However, the battle is far from over. After experiencing a life-threatening response to a common form of treatment, I am now very aware of the truth many cancer survivors have shared with me — that cancer, especially breast cancer, cannot be spoken of as “cured.” Cancer isn’t an on-off switch. It’s more like a dance — a dance with your own mortality, where if you’re lucky, you go one way, and cancer goes the other. We’re entangled now, cancer and I. We’re dancing, and will be for the rest of my life. The doctors are working hard to figure out the long road ahead. I’m mega grateful for the vast, enduring support I’ve received from all of you. Thank you for your perfect love — it helps me, in the hardest times, to love myself. 🤍 I’ve read that illness can be a gift — that it can be a teacher, unlocking doors in your mind, allowing you to walk into a world you never knew existed. I am feeling that now, the expansion of my whole self. I am observing, writing, meditating, healing. I am giving myself space and time. To friends, I often explain I feel most like a chrysalis, resting in the womb of the mother. Dreaming of the day.... 🦋