American Life Today

In light of the Human Soul Project being on hiatus for a while, we've decided to direct our spotlight to other blogs that uplift the spirit and bring out the good in us all. 

This month's spotlight is on American Life Today. This blog is spotlighting 365 Americans, one per day, every day of 2009. The blog is run by AlisonTravels, who last year embarked on a trip in her tear-drop trailer across the United States. You can also read about her journeys here. Her goal with American Life Today is to introduce to us Americans as they are. She believes that we all learn from each other and our experiences. That we learn to challenge ourselves through those experiences. And that sharing the experiences of the amazing people she's met along her journeys and friends of those people, we can all grow just a little bit more. 

I hope you take the time to read some of these stories, and maybe be inspired to share a story of your own. Want to know how easy it is? Answer a few questions (see the right side of American Life Today for details), find a photo of yourself or two, and email them to AmericanLifeToday@gmail.com. It's that simple. 

I hope to read about you soon!

Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that it looks like we're going to have to push back the project, as we have not received enough story submissions to go to print. Please continue to submit your stories to humansoulproject@gmail.com.

Much gratitude and love,

Jenifer and Dian

HSP: Coming Out

I've been doing some research on other projects that might be similar to the Human Soul Project, and I've found surprisingly little. One of the projects I found is Yes, I Am: Stories by Young Queer People, which is a small collection of stories, poems, and pictures. The downloadable book (PDF format) is short (43 pages) and I'm sure there must be more comprehensive content out there; I believe there is more content, it just hasn't been tapped into yet. It's not about being better, but about offering more of who we are. HSP's desire is to reach out to, include, and honor more people than has previously been achieved. 

It's easy to forget that coming out is a process. An often traumatic process. No, not everyone has a story of being outed or abused or shunned, but we all have stories of a process. Trauma isn't just in the first time you come out to someone, but in the process of deciding whom you will come out to first. Deciding when you will come out. The fact that there's even a decision to be made. And then finally speaking the words. Over and over and over again.

We don't just come out once. We come out to friends. To family. To coworkers. To strangers. We agonize over what we want to say and how we want to say it. We agonize over expected reactions. We have conversations in our heads that make our hearts race with all the possible scenarios we play out. We get worked up and talk ourselves into and out of coming out to this person and that person over and over again. We struggle with who we are and wonder what people think about us, even as we attempt to appear as if we don't care at all. 

And then once we have the conversation, we play it over and over and over again in our heads. We wonder if we said it right. We wonder if they interpreted us right. We wonder if they meant what they said. We wonder if they will really accept us. Or really deny us. What are they telling other people? What are they telling themselves? Will the next conversation be this good? This bad? 

While it's true that no one has the same story, it's also true that someone out there shares parts of my story. Parts of your story. Parts of our stories. There are thoughts and feelings and fears that run amuck in our overactive minds that can leave us paralyzed or empower us to press on and speak out and live our lives. At some point in our realization of the mere fact that we are gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender, we all go through these steps.

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. We are grieving the loss of our former self. The self that struggled with who he or she was, with who we thought we had to be. We all grow up wanting to live up to a potential that was created for us by someone else. And when we realize this is not what we want at all, not who we are at all, it's devastating. Some experience the devastation for moments; some for years. Some, still, never recover and end up living their lives to please others because they fear the repercussions of being who they are. 

HSP wants to help you share your process, your story. Sharing your stories--our stories--with the people that relate to us best eases some of the anxiety, lessens some of the confusion. HSP wants to be the conduit that brings our stories together.

It’s in this less traumatic, more positive process of sharing the conversations, the wonder, the anxiety and hopefully the shared relief that gets us through it and empowers us, fists clenched (for now) to just do it and one day wake up without trepidation. Whatever your story, we’re looking forward to being a part of it.

To share your story, please review the HSP Submission Guidelines and submit to humansoulproject@gmail.com.

Day Without A Gay

A nationwide boycott, Day Without A Gay, is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10, 2008. According to the article in Curve Magazine, organizers Sean Hetherington and Aaron Hartzler were "inspired to launch their website after attending another frustrating post-passage Proposition 8 protest." 

Their goal is to redirect the anger they felt in the passage of Prop 8 and focus on something positive, like "the good feelings of giving services." On December 10th they are encouraging you to call in "gay" rather than sick, and instead of sitting at home on the couch, to donate your time to service. For more information, simply go to the site, daywithoutagay.org, or go here for their FAQ page. 

You can also join them on Facebook and Twitter. 

Spread the love, not the H8. The point here seems not to be to put employers out of hard working people for a day, but to call attention to the fact that there are gay people everywhere. And they're good people. Hard working people. It's possible that when someone knows that someone they actually know is gay and they like that gay person, they look at their views on gay people a little bit differently. It's the fear of the unknown, hard at work. And what better way to silence the fear than to call awareness to it? I think none. 

The Human Soul Project supports you in your act of service in good will. We all make our own choices in life. Make yours to have an open mind and an open heart; support our community in this great act of love and awareness.

Let's Say Thanks

Xerox is doing something fantastic.

Go to LetsSayThanks.com and pick out a Thank You card. Xerox will print it and send it to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You won't be able to choose which soldier or which branch gets it, but rest assured that it will go to a member of the armed forces.

How AMAZING it would be if everyone sent just one card? According to various sources, there are anywhere between 130,000-190,000 American troops in Iraq right now. With over 3 million people residing in California alone, if everyone in California took a few seconds to send just one card, just think of the support those troops might feel.

It's FREE. And it takes about 15 seconds. Heck, it's so easy, you could send three in less than a minute.

Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them. Please help us in a humanitarian effort to support those troops. 

LetsSayThanks.com

And thank you. 

Welcome to The Human Soul Project: [Update 12/9/08]

The Human Soul Project is looking for contributions of stories for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and/or Transgender Soul about coming out.

We want to read your own original stories of either your experience or an experience that inspired you. The goal of this project is to uplift and inspire. We want men and women of all ages to know that at some point we've experienced many of the same feelings, fears, and triumphs in coming out. Sharing your stories will accomplish that goal. Your story may detail your thoughts and actions in coming out, or a triumph you experienced years after coming out, or a simple quotation you read that changed your view on coming out. Your story may be your own or that of your friend, a co-worker, your sibling, or your child. It's not just the men and women who are lesbian, gay and transgendered that make up our community, but the friends and family who support us. We are all human. And we all have a soul that needs inspiration. This is why we've created the Human Soul Project.

Stories may be submitted with your name or anonymously, it's up to you---all requests for privacy will be respectfully granted, no questions asked. Our goal is not to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but to uplift and inspire the likes of many. It's your story, not your name that will make a difference.

Guidelines:

• Each submission should be between 300-1200 words; multiple submissions welcome.
• All submissions must be sent in a text or word document (acceptable formats are: .txt, .doc, .rtf)
• Email all submissions to: humansoulproject@gmail.com. Multiple submissions may be sent in a single email, however, each submission must be sent as a separate attachment.
• Profanity is not prohibited, but is discouraged unless tastefully included. No profanity just for profanity's sake, but by all means: express yourself!
• No previously published work will be accepted.
• DEADLINE is FEBRUARY 28, 2009 12:00PM PST
  

If you're not comfortable with writing, we're available to meet with you and guide you in your story-telling process. 
There is no payment for stories, as we will be editing and publishing the stories on our own. All published stories will be credited with the author's name or "Anonymous" as requested. We will contact you via the email you sent your submission with if your story is selected for publication and verify your approval for publication. We will not publish anything without the permission of the author. 

Over the next few weeks we will review early submissions and post snip-its of inspiration. Keep checking, maybe yours will show up!

Please contact us with any questions. Happy writing!!


Gratefully,

Dian Reid and Jenifer Maxwel
Co-founders of The Human Soul Project

[Update: email address change to humansoulproject@gmail.com]