While everyone is focused on how bad 2016 has been (and to be fair a lot of terrible things did go down), I wanted to make a post about some of the positive things that have occurred. If you know of some more, please let me know in the comments, or via twitter/facebook/email.
Okay so it's been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog, but I want to say, I've been so busy living my life since my pain was reduced that I've been running out of time! I've been studying my Masters, working, we adopted a third cat, one cat needs surgery, I need surgery, and I'm trying to find out about my Aboriginal heritage. Needless to say, busy busy. On to the reason I'm writing tonight though: On Tuesday night I had the privilege of seeing this documentary and panel that Oxfam hosted. My partner had the privilege of being dragged along with me.
It's been about two and a half months since my specialist suggested that I get the Mirena pulled out. I'd been living with pain in such intensity and so often that I don't even really remember the last year and a half. But since having the Mirena out, I've been in less pain. I've been able to think, to do chores, to live off more than just junk food.
Of course, it's not fixed everything. My anxiety and depression still haunt my steps. And I still have pain on my right hand side sometimes, as well as pain when going to the bathroom and pain during my period, pain during sex, etc but it's not as intense. And that has made a huge difference. I've started drawing, I've started going to zine fairs, I'm working on the third installment of the Bi Focus zine, I'm doing my Masters and I'm having fun. I do worry that I might be taking on too much too fast though. I will be going for a second round of surgery, probably around October/November and I'll probably write the second part of "The Monster Inside Me" after that. I don't have high hopes but I'm seeing a specialist now who listens so I think that will make a difference. If you want to check out or support my creative endeavors, please head to Junky Comics or my etsy store. Yesterday I started drawing some cat pictures because it had been a little while since I'd drawn and I was feeling a bit blocked. I'd been thinking about the things I'm not supposed to think about. We're not supposed to admit that we feel or think these things, at leas that's the impression I get. So I thought I'd do a series of "Forbidden Thoughts" or "Thoughts I'm Not Allowed to Think". I'm thinking of making some stickers, prints and maybe a full colour square shaped zine. Let me know what you think :).
I've been drawing a lot more lately. These are two pictures that I drew yesterday that I'm pretty happy with. I was drawing rather sporadically before now, and these are some of the oldest pictures that I have, to show changes. The below ones are from January this year. I don't expect to get super good super fast, but I like to think that I'm getting better. I'm going to try to draw more often, not just for zines but also fan pics of, for example, Tiny Tina from Borderlands. I'll also try to do some original character drawings and drawings of my partner and cats. This has been pretty fun.
I'm super proud of this teensy zine. I don't normally draw, no more than the average person (so, maybe once per year). I knocked this out in a few days as I was needing to do something creative.
I am actually impressed with my mad drawing skillz (haha) and I think I'll try to keep drawing. I'm still working on my zine about having endometriosis, but in the meantime I think I'll do a few other fast little zines (e.g. advice for my younger self) and maybe try to contribute to some collab ones that have call outs. If you'd like to buy a copy of my mini zine, it's only $2 inc. postage, just contact me and we can sort it out, or you can get one in person from Junky Comics in Brisbane. If you grab one and colour it in, show me the finished product, I'd love to see it!
Safe Schools is Important and Necessary Safe Schools Coalition Australia is a network of schools and organisations working together to create a safer environment for children and teens at school. It has been in QLD since semester 2 2015, so nearly a full year. It is based on a Victorian program that dates back to 2010. It is not compulsory for schools to use these resources, it is up to the principal (and I imagine that's influenced by other teachers and their school environment). These resources encourage such 'radical' things as: *accepting that there are more than two genders *accepting that there are many different forms of gender expression *discouraging bullying people for their sexuality or gender This sounds amazing, right? As a bisexual genderqueer adult, I can only imagine the effect that this would have had on me when I was younger and now. Maybe I wouldn't have dealt with so much internalised biphobia. Maybe those around me wouldn't be as biphobic. Maybe it wouldn't be so scary for me to tell people that my pronouns are they/them, due to fundamental misunderstandings about gender and sex that people hold. I really hope that all schools use these resources to not only create a better school environment for children, but also to create a better society as those children become adults. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly) the Australian Christian Lobby has taken one look at this amazing anti-bullying campaign and hated it instantly, seemingly thinking that it was going to 'make' people change their gender or sexuality. You cannot make people change their sexuality or their gender, you can only make it a safe environment for them to feel happy being who they are. I really do not see how encouraging a safe environment, reducing bullying, depression and suicide is a bad thing. However, they have been so moved in the QLD arena that they have started a petition to block it. However, there is also a petition in support of Safe Schools. If you live in QLD, I encourage you to sign here in support of this amazing program. I've already signed it and I'll be writing to my local member of parliament, Jane Prentice (although she's voted against marriage equality, so I don't see her supporting LGBTIQAP+ youth). I'll also be writing letters to my primary school and highschool to say that I support their use of Safe Schools. I encourage you to talk to people about this program, as people are literally dying due to hatred in Australia. Some statistics [cw: suicide, depression, abuse, sexual abuse, self harm] These statistics have all been taken from a report by Beyond Blue: Mental Health:
Suicide and Self-Harm:
Would Safe Schools have helped you, or someone you know?
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Keira's Blog
This blog contains posts about my personal life, as well as feminism, gender, comics, eco-friendly products and other things I find interesting. My fiction/poetry works can be found here. All posts are written by Keira Edwards-Huolohan and belong to me. Please credit me if you share them. My pronouns are they/them. Archives
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© Keira Edwards-Huolohan 2013 - 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Keira Edwards-Huolohan with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. |