Hi,

here is something we (the call out facebook group) was working on:

 

A two words story:
We are (Julia) all here (David) together in (Holly) this world (Julia) so full (Garrett) of brilliance. (Kelly)Together we (Garrett) can conquer (Kelly) absolutely anything. (Meghan) Life is (Mark) a circle, (Anna Soole) always connected (Julia) by the (David) connections we (Kelly) have made (Patricia) with each other. (Garrett) Each and every (Shahin) sweet memory (Gen) lingers silently (Kelly) in our (Mark)individual thoughts. (gee) Even when (Eli) it seems (gee) lonely and (Julia) hopeless to (Eli) keep going(mark) , there will (Julia) Always be (David) our friends.

Sakura (Cherry Blossom) by Gee Bossin

On my 19th, which was just on friday, I went down to victoria. This time of year, the cherry blossoms are all in bloom. I just got my hands on a fast 50 lens (a very fast lens that takes in a lot of light, enabling me to take pictures at night, or other very low-light situations) and I was giving it a whirl. I went for a walk around dusk, and this was the result. I'm very happy with these shots.

(A favourite of blog author's)

  Teenage Trangst Poem by Dallas Bennett

The girl who never was and the boy who cannot be.

             A face unknown.

             Hollow, Lacking, Vacant.

             It stares.

                     Bones grow out of place,

                     Bulging, twisting, breaking up straight lines.

                            Blood follows,

                            a screaming pain that cannot be subdued.

                            It drips, smears, stains.

                                     Tainted.

                                          Confusion sets in.

                                                 Mass hysteria?

                                                         Cells divide and concur,

                                                         an uncontrollable growth.

                                                         The heart longs to love,

                                                          but is trapped within a cage of bones

                                                          and mounds of flesh.

                                                                        An unfamiliar home.

                                                                                 The mirror reflects lies,

                                                                                 which cannot be proven incorrect.

                                                                                 Untrained eyes,

                                                                                 cannot view the falsehood,

                                                                                 of this perceived womanhood.

                                                                                              I’ve grown tired of lying.

                                                                           And I’ve grown sick of telling the truth,

                                                                                                 only to be told it’s a lie.

Ze.

A True Inner Struggle That I Love

By: Eli Linsenmeier

They said you were too much, they said you were bad and that you pushed them to do what they did. It was always your fault, you never did anything right.

Words swirled in your head, and soon that made you start to believe they were true. Stupid. Mean. Liar. Ugly. Thief. Rude. Annoying. A pain. Unlovable. It was a never ending list.

You tried so hard to prove them wrong, and got so tired at times. They didn’t see your efforts, you felt unappreciated. They each kept their grudge. They just wouldn’t budge.

Nightmares would seize your imagination and defile it with negative beliefs and views. It began to get easier. You stopped trying to resist and gave in to what they expected of you. You became ruthless.

Rejection, that became your lifestyle. You would hand the people who said they loved you a key. A key to your love, trust, and devotion. Then one by one, they would throw it back to you. They didn’t even need to say anything; it was an ‘invitation’ enough to leave their lives and homes.

It became a habit. Soon enough you were expecting everyone to give your key back. You distanced yourself from those who you felt a fondness to. you would hurt others, to protect yourself.

Better for me to hurt them before the hurt me.

Years went by, you were living in this world. You thought that it was like this for everyone, and your life was just as normal and hellish as everyone else's.

Now this is me. Here I am and I'm great. You still scream inside of me, confused, angry, hurt and alone. Sometimes that shows in me and you get the best of me. But we're working on that, now aren't we? Truth is... You're amazing, funny, kind, smart, creative, beautiful, athletic, gentle, strong, and loveable. And so am I. Beth, you were great... Never forget that. You shaped who Eli is today, and Eli is pretty great. Let's be honest, he's all the same things you were back then: Amazing, gentle, funny, athletic, smart, eccentric, beautiful, loving, helpful, strong, creative, handsome, a gentleman, loveable...

• 
  
  ... This list goes on and on. Obviously though, this is a much better list.

{Rules & Roles, by Alyssa}

%^£&@#  these Gender Roles.

Narrowing our views

stereotypical muse

with these black and white rules

me and she,

play Ken and Barbie

why? We're stuck in the ruts of our own community.

We can't help it, we've been dealt it, a set of cards as a template

to abide by, stand beside why? It's simply how the show's to be.

alone in a crowd

we stand out, we stand proud

but who's wearing the pants

not long haired girl, no, she can't

she's a she with a her

and to the roles they refer when they're scouting out lovers-to be.

Look at US, look at Me  show me what I think you see

when you see that she's not a he

and just dressed up a little mannishly

and guffaw, you're in awe

that buzzcut is decieving

still you're stuck with believeing

that she and she are copycatting

she and he.

acceptance is a hot commodity;

Do with it what you will, but let it not serve as a means for you to perpetuate these bloody Rules&Roles!

blend the binary, saturate the Roles&Rules with the blood, sweat and tears of your new and bigger ideas.

Too good to be hood,

too ghetto to be girly

ladies, do it like you do

{I just wanted to feel Human, by Alyssa}

I never wanted to be an Astronaut.

I never wanted to be a doctor, either.

I think I used to tell people I wanted to be a singer.

Even though I used to listen to Britney Spears and cringe at the thought of having to dress that way.

Money wasn't a part of things at that point. Back then I assumed that people did things because they wanted to. I thought that working at macdonalds meant that you really liked hamburgers and being a doctor meant that you really liked white coats. I never wanted to be an astronaut. I was a child inside of her own mind. Much as I am today.

You see, back then, I had learned to contemplate my existence. At ten years old, I'd sit in the car and zoom out slowly. I'd force myself to see things in perspective, until the sheer magnitute of outer space frightened me back into my own reality. I was still me, yet I could feel my palms start to warm and heart start to thump. As scary as it was, I never told anyone because even then I knew it would appear strange to ask such a profound question. "Why are we here? What is the point of Life." I didn't know what scared me more, the possibility of an answer or the possibility of there being none. Imagining space made my brain hurt in a way I couldn't explain.

I never wanted to be an astronaut, because even when you're up there with people you're terribly alone. You're alone in your own head, with your own thoughts. You are on your own journey and no one can ever understand what that would feel like. No picture could accurately describe what I knew would felt like a stifling inner silence.

I never wanted to be an astronaut. I never wanted a job that would make me confront what I was timidly questioning then. "What is the point of Life?" That was the day I stopped seeing my parents as parents, but rather as people. I have always been able to see right through people. I realized then that parents do not know everything and neither do people, for answers to profound questions asked by profound children are profoundly difficult to answer.

And now, nine years later, I'm still sitting in the backseat, asking myself questions I don't want the answers for. 

I've been in my head keeping my mouth shut for all these years and I'm just starting to unravel it all.

{Self Love Letter, by Julien}

Dear Julien,

            I have struggled very hard in the last few years to accept you the way you are. I never understood your sensitivity, or the way you felt things you shouldn’t. I thought you were weak. I didn’t like the way you looked. I’ve always known that you had a pretty face, that’s what everyone says, but you never looked the way I wanted. No matter how little you ate or how much makeup you wore. You always had a lot of potential, but never the drive to realize it. I was disappointed in you for a long time.

            As years went by I spent a lot of time thinking about you. I realize now that I spent too much time trying to change you, but as weak as I thought you were you wouldn’t let me get in. I would try to hurt you and you would push forward anyway. And then there were these flashes of your light. The times when you were just so funny in conversations with your brother, or the way you would care for your sick mother on her bad days. You were beautiful then, in a way that I wanted to trap in a bottle and keep for your bad days, because you had a lot of those then.

            In the last two years I’ve seen you grow in ways I didn’t know you could. Maybe I was trying to stop you. I don’t know. But you’ve become a beautiful young woman. The vulnerability that I have been so afraid of has become one of your greatest strengths. The way you balance your timetable is quite impressive, and I know you’re shooting for the stars. Somebody once told me that if your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough, and your dreams scare the crap out of me. But I’m proud of you.

            I am so sorry for the way I’ve mistreated you. The thing is, like the rest of the world, I didn’t understand you when you were younger. Now I know why you were so quiet. Now I can respect that you are more than good enough the way you already are. Because lets be honest here, you’re a pretty excellent person.
            And I love you.

{This is How You Feel}

You feel like nothing, nobody, like you don't exist.
Perhaps you feel nothing at all.
Maybe you feel sad, upset, disappointed, and down.
Pure silence surrounds you while your thoughts are deep and full of sorrow,
Or simply empty.
Every once in a while a quiet, sad song will interrupt
And fill your head with new thoughts.
There's a slight hint of anger hidden deep within yourself,
But it won't come out.
Tears want to trickle out of your eyes and down your cheeks,
But they can't seem to come out.

Written by Kelly Whiteside

{A Thought, by Jo}


Im going to revert back to our amazing time over and over. Im gonna write down the things i saw and the things that touched me with love.

Being there and coming home, made me feel alil out of wack but i know that with my new found friends and knowledge I will make a difference with the community and also have all of your support.

It was a dream experience that i did or wasnt ready to wake up from buuuttt, we transition and we learn to part and start again and again, forever connecting and learning the ways of our wonderful lives.

Jo West

{Photography, by GEE}

{Author Profile: David}

My Age: Not Important >.>

My Pronoun: Any is fine, but prefers the term "Mishbukha (Family)"

My Story: I don't know what really to put here. I grew up in a seriously dysfunctional family, an addict of a sister. A rage-a-holic for a brother, and a divorce early on in my childhood. If you can even call it that. But I got through it all with the power. OF. ART. Sure that means I a form of something I no longer do. But it was still a way for me to express myself, and even though I don't do that specific form per say. I still can, and I still do it to survive another day. You can never keep me from singing. For it's a way that I can escape from the hate that reality puts upon me for being Gay. As well as being a person who's Gender encompasses all, yet Rejects it as frequently. So all I gotta say is, "No matter how bad society wants to cramp your style. Realize it's only worried because your cramping its own".

{SELF-LOVE LETTERS} Part 1


Self-Love by David
Dear me: 
I don't love you. There's nothing to love, I mean your imperfect. That's why I adore you. Imperfection is what makes you a human being. For being the person you are, and you will become. That's the only way for you to really say to the world, "I am alive".




Self-Love by Jayden
Dear Jayden.

I know you have had so many ups and downs, you dealt with a lot, but you always pull through. You always feel like you're alone, like you have to race to the finish. You always think ahead, and never enjoy the little things. You feel as if everyone's out therer to get you. I understand that now.

Being young, trying to figure out the worlds problems, that's not right for you to do. Sometimes, you need to step down, stop, take a breathe. You need not to just think, but know; You're beautiful, you're courageous, you can do anything you put your mind to. You don't have to worry if you look the best, if you act the best. Don't try and be perfect, everyone loves your flaws. I love your flaws.

You surround yourself with love, and in the end, that's what really matters, right?
Stay true to yourself, ignore the hate out in the world. You know what's best for you. Nobody can hurt you now, you're sky-rocketing to the top of the world.

I love you Jayden, stay strong, and never ever stop following your dreams.

{LIFE} 

Life, you weigh heavy with interpretations

I grapple to decipher them.

Straddling two different paths

Let me find the faith to discover,

Or at least feign,

Understanding of the purpose I have.

Life, you don’t always empathize

You impose elasticity when you find rigidity.

Like a sergeant spitting orders at my shoulder

The coal-train track-change is in my hands

And I’m meant to pull the trigger.

Life, I have sight beyond your soot-stacked stations,

Shout if you must, but one thing is true:

I will travel your rails in my own time.

Hunkered down and hid-away,

Sure, the tears will come,

But no pain will be felt from lack of living you.

By SARAH G.

"Painting Picture" by JULIA

{A Suicide Note of the Soul}

One wonders, if you look into yourself
Who do you find?
What do you find?
Maybe you're just too afraid
Afraid of what you might discover
uncover, or recover
From your past or
Future or even the present
No matter how stupid the present is

Will a person find that they are not, in fact a person
that they are a being instead
that the Gender that they were assigned is crap
or that the fact is, that person likes boys
when in fact, they are told to like girls?

Maybe they are more, and less
because Less is apparently more
or that is what we're told

or Maybe that person discovers
that they are indeed what they feared
that they are really
alive?
dead?
or whatever people call being in between consciousness

Nope
chances is they'll find almost nothing has changed
that fearing the fearable is useless and futile
just as loving the loveless can be
but no matter how badly they fear, or love
that person will find out
that they are who they want to be

Even if they love their life
or lives
they notice that they have gained something more
a chance at total freedom
but that comes at a price

the beauty of the world comes at a cost
one you cannot take if you are lost
a soul is required to pertain this reality
whether it's in the causality or not
is completely irrelevant

What really matters
is that
A Suicide of the Soul
always comes with a note...


BY DAVID

By JULIA and DAVID