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Hi everyone!! Welcome to weekly wellbeing!!
My name is Kai, I’m an ambassador here at Reach Out and I'll be joining in with this week’s Weekly Wellbeing session!
For this amazing session of Weekly Wellbeing, I’m going to share a bit on celebrating yourself and your own identity, in particular celebrating your queer identity.
Some background info on me so ya’ll know I’m actually legit to talk about this. I identify as a queer, non-binary person, I came out publicly as queer in 2017 and as trans non-binary back in 2019! I'm also an avid photographer, artist, hair dye enthusiast and tarot reader. I have three cats, Kali, Candy and Luci and I have a day job as a disability support worker. It's super important especially in these absolutely tough times to take some time to practise self-care and focus in on our well being. A major part of our wellbeing is our identity and if we can feel that we can be celebrated for who we are.
As a queer person, I know it can be challenging sometimes to feel as though we are valid and can be celebrated, but it is absolutely vital that we take the time to love and celebrate ourselves. Here are my top three tips for celebrating your identity!
1. Practice radical self-acceptance. This was something that took a long time for me to get behind, but it was key in accepting myself in all my queerness. It means to love or at least accept yourself, every single part of yourself. Meditation was something that really helped me to begin to practise radical self-acceptance, I meditate every single night and it is something that allows me to have that quiet time, that time to focus on my body and let thoughts come and go as they please.
2. Get involved in your community! This is yet another thing that helped me in the very beginning of my gender and sexuality journey of self-discovery. I searched for community organisations where I could meet other queer youth, I sought out online communities including these forums to talk to other people and now as an adult, I attend Mardi gras and rallies and all sorts of events targeted at queer acceptance and liberation.
3. Surround yourself with supportive people! I found it way easier to celebrate myself and my identity when I was surrounded by people who took me seriously, who accepted my sexuality and of course who used my name and pronouns correctly! It can be hard to feel valid and worthy of celebration when the people around us are unsupportive, which is why I feel that it is so, so, so important to surround yourself with the right people. People who make you feel loved and cared for and ultimately people who are going to celebrate us for who we are!
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It's always amazing to get your take on things @KaiRoe
I'm so happy that you mentioned radical self-acceptance. It was and still is a tricky thing for me to practice all the time, but working towards it is healing in itself. It sounds like meditation has been a big part of your life. It would be awesome to hear more about that part of your journey one day 🧘♀️
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Thanks for joining in everyone! I'm logging off now but the chat wll still be here and you can catch up any time!
I hope everyone ha a great night!
Stay Safe!
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Hi nice to hear from you Kai 🙂 That's so beautiful to hear about how you're so involved in your communities. Since I started working in a primary school I feel more like I'm a part of my local area and it's so nice! it gives a sense of belonging. But, I have been really missing the queer community ever since 1) the pandemic and 2) graduating uni. It still doesn't feel quite safe to go out and mingle with the wider community at the yearly pride events (plus, those events seem way too tiring now that I have to work every day) and that's usually the only time I feel really close to my queer identity 😞
It's also really awesome that you meditate! gosh so far I've never managed to get into it! I feel uncomfortable when I have to be aware of my body.. it sounds funny but I always spend the whole time noticing little itches, annoying tickles and pains in my body. what kind of meditation do you like to do?
Also, I love how you have so many hobbies. Do you have any suggestions on how to find what your passions and interests are, like how did you decide to pursue art or tarot cards? did you try lots of things before you found what you loved the most? A lot of people I know seem to have spent their whole lives knowing, "I'm an artist" or "I'm a dancer," -- but I also know some people who didn't discover their biggest passions til they were adults. What's your take?
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Hi! Lovley to hear from you! I get how the who pandemic has made it feel much harder to get to queer events, I can reccommend turning to dome online commnunities, including those here on the forums if you want to still feel connected!
I ususally use guided meditations that can be founfd on youtube, it really helps to allow me to focus if someome is guiding me.
On finding my hobbies, I found I was interested in photography in my year 10 photography class and this has stuck with me since, The current degree im studying is photography! i really chose to pursue it through trial and error, I've changed uni coure three times because the first two got super boring after semester one but my photgraphy and film coures have remained super interested. I took up tarot cards when I was about 16 because i saw a shiny deck in a shop and had to buy it! Passions can take a while to develop and I find it helps to try a bunch of things until you find something which makes time feel like it fying when you're doing it!
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Thanks so much for sharing Kai! Those are some great self-care tips - I identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community as well, and I know that connecting with other queer people always makes me feel empowered and in tune with my own identity.
I love that you meditate every night, that sounds like such a good habit to have in your life. Any advice for people who want to start meditating, but don't know if it's for them or how to do it?
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Yeah! I started by using 5 minute guided meditations on youtube, it took a couple of weeks to fully get into but the way I thought of it in the beginning was "Its only 5 minutes, why not?"
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How do we get to attend? 😊
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Hi @Mareea1998 ! You can RSVP to this chat by choosing 'attending' button above here (that means you'll get a reminder sent to your email too!) , and then join in here tonight! We'll be chatting here on this thread. If you can't make it, you can catch up on the chat here later too 🙂
