Even in The Unknown & Chaos, We Have Each Other
Even in The Unknown & Chaos, We Have Each Other
We know that dreaming helps us be present. And when we dream with others, we amplify that space & time, allowing our being to be witnessed & our dreams to become more possible.
Dear Family, Comrades, and Neighbors:
We founded Queering Dreams in September 2021 because we had to. Crystal had recently moved back to Richmond, Virginia, to see if it was “home,” in its myriad and multiple meanings. Jason had recently officiated their father’s Celebration of Life and was the one to lay their father’s ashes into the ground. And on September 4, 2021, we both lost our unemployment insurance while still being unemployed. We were swimming in a big ole pool of The Unknown; we were amidst Chaos.
So we did what we know how to do, what we both have been practicing alone and together since the election of the Orange One:
We gathered & dreamt.
Queering Dreams was right there waiting for us. Within a few virtual sessions, we had a name, a methodology, loads of content, and a burgeoning network of neighbors, comrades, and co-creators who wanted / needed / desired space and time outside the confines of oppressive systems. By November 2021, we had a whole calendar of events co-created with 12 different Co-Creators that brought together Black, queer, disabled, Indigenous, poor, rural, immigrant, trans, neurodivergent, youth, elder, and POC neighbors to dream, create, advocate, and divine. It was a spectacle of smallness, intimacy, intentionality, and vulnerability. It was being made present, here & now. It was liberatory.
As we enter 2022 on the Gregorian Calendar, we see that we are swimming even deeper in the pool of The Unknown, and that Chaos is growing and spreading. And we know that we are not alone in what we are seeing and experiencing because it greets us every time we open social media, turn on the news, talk to neighbors, check-in with friends and family. It seems we all are lost, hurt, fearful, anxious, overwhelmed, and overstimulated. And a lot of us are also getting sick.
We know that dreaming helps us be present. Dreaming does not solve or fix The Unknown / Chaos. And it will not cure or heal our bodies either. It does create more time and space around us to be present with our selves, our being. When we dream with others, we amplify that space and time allowing our being to be witnessed and our dreams to become more possible. And it is our collective dreams that make liberation present because they become the seeds of co-creation. (Just take a look at our November 2021 Calendar.)
Over 2022, we will be offering more space & time to liberate ourselves through dreaming and co-creating. We will do this through:
Monthly Space for Applied Dreaming Sessions starting on Friday, February 11, 2022, at 5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET.
An international Immigrant Artist Network with Rupy C. Tut, Han Qin, Kiana Honarmond, Tanika Williams, and Momos Cheeskos, launching in February,
An intergenerational Queer Arts School with Juan Carlos Escobedo that will provide structured support & opportunities for queer, trans, and non-binary artists to connect across territories & generations to share art, skills, resources, and opportunities,
Launching digital Toolkits on topics like Dreaming Abolition, Inquiry Circles, Applied Dreaming Praxis, Values Discernment, and more,
Producing a monthly (maybe more!) Live-streaming show featuring our Co-Creators sharing Reviews of Tools & Resources, insights on Hot Topics, and upcoming art projects,
Publishing more regularly on www.queeringdreams.com.
We also want to be responsive to our community of communities, and provide emergent space and time for us to come together amidst The Unknown and Chaos. With this in mind, we will be holding:
A Drop-In Space for Gathering & Dreaming & Being TOMORROW (Friday, January 7, 2022) from 1:30pm PT to 3:30pm PT / 5:30pm ET to 7:30pm ET.
It is open for anyone who just wants to show up and share space. It will be a space to simply be (and not to strive). If you would like to attend, simply respond to this email and we will share the Zoom Link (or email queeringdreams@gmail.com).
There is so much more coming too, including client services like coaching, program / project development, and workshop., AND…coming this summer will be a Queering Dreams Co-Creator Incubator Camp. Plus all of the fabulous things our Co-Creators are making too like large-scale art installations, arts administration training, virtual performances, and more!
We thank you for taking the time and space to read this post. And we are honored to have you as part of the Queering Dreams’ Community of comrades, neighbors, and Co-Creators.
We know we must do and be better. We must prioritize care over crisis. And we deeply believe that dreaming & sharing those dreams in community with our comrades is how we take, make, and demand our liberation in this here and now.
In camaraderie & solidarity & dreaming & love,
Crystal Mason & Jason Wyman