Rainbows in a Winter Wonderland

Well, over here on the Creative Antics front, I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with Andi Lea and her kids. Her home is always a pleasant retreat for me, a loving place where everyone is accepted unconditionally, where I know I am loved just the way I am.  I wish for all of you this holiday season someplace like this of your very own. At the risk of repeating myself, I am beyond thankful for my BFF and her family. Being around them, seeing them together, renews my own devotion to fighting for equality for everyone. Because, we need to keep working together to create more places of acceptance for more people around the world. 

I'm talking rainbows for all our winter wonderlands here, people. I envision a perfect world might look something like this lovely Rick Chris painting entitled Winter Evening.

So, today I've been contemplating what I can do. Here are a few things I came up with - I can continue to write my stories about characters who struggle to accept themselves and each other. I can continue to blog about LGBTQ issues and our community. But, I know this isn't nearly enough. So, I must continue to stay informed and get involved in other ways, giving my time, money, and, most importantly, my voice. Not simply online. I must continue writing letters and petitioning publicly and politically for change. Perhaps most important of all, I must continue to openly discuss the issues with my friends and family whenever the opportunity arises.

Some of the organizations I will continue to support in the coming year are The Trevor Project, Freedom to Marry, and The NOH8 Campaign. Miss Andi also just suggested another fantastic organization that I'm very excited about called, The Make it Safe Project. It was started by an amazing young girl named Amelia.  I plan on giving to this projects in lieu of Christmas gifts this year.

Yes, there are a lot of people out there like the BFF and Amelia, who remind me daily of how great it is to be human, to have community, to be living in a free country in this time of change. This holiday season, I find myself stepping into a winter wonderland of my own making, waving my rainbow flag, feeling hopeful and inspired.

I Had My Cake and I Ate it, too!

Well, the big day is over, and all the cake has been eaten. Yes, indeed. I said ALL the cake!

Still, The Month of Me marches on. I have another geek girl party to attend over at Andi Lea's place tomorrow night, because she is the rocking bestest friend around. I also have several other notable plans coming up to keep me happy. I'm telling you, once you hit 40, you need to do it up right!

Again, so you don't feel left out of the fun, here are a few little places to go today. There is a small call for writers over at From the Write Angle. I agree, we do need a good luck phrase of our very own. You know, like the theater performer's "Break a leg!" "Break a binding" just doesn't have the same punch. So head on over and help come up with something clever, please.

The Silver authors have started another Flash Wednesday free read. It just started last week. You can head on over to West Thornhill's place for her Spectral Surprise story, and at the bottom there are links to all the other free reads. Enjoy!

If you like the mysterious, there is an intriguing blog going up in front of our very eyes called Tattered Wings. I don't know much about it other than they contacted me and reeled me in with mysterious emails and pretty pictures. It should be fun to find out what it's all about.

And, in more important and serious news, please remember to wear purple tomorrow for Spirit Day, in support of our LGBTQ youth. And, over at Freedom to Marry, there's trouble brewing in Minnesota. If you support the cause, you should check this out!