Today I have begun to understand the idea of redefining success. That it’s not perfection we should strive for, but progress.
I mean fair enough right? But do you know how difficult this is in actual practice?
To sit and understand that the small victories, the ones that don’t seem to warrant any fanfare, matter just as much, if not sometimes more, than the big, flashy ones?
To know that the steps = progress even if it feels painfully slow.
It’s not easy.
I’ve been handling this crazy drama recently, it involves a rapper, h*m*phobic and transph*bic comments, a venue, a promoter, the military, and one really messed up situation. I’ve been heading this charge, this not in my city, change the world in one go and honestly, it’s been hard.
Good things have happened of course, bad things have happened, even more of course, of course right? But I had this idea that the only victory would be absolutly no. No show, no support, no sound, heck, no beer.
Some of these things may come true, the sound might get pulled, the venue might get canceled, (you can’t pretend to be an ally and then do sh*t things), the arrtist might “apologize” but even if these “big” things don’t happen, there are still victories.
We caused them discomfort, we created small waves, we opened up the conversation, we let people know that we won;t let these things happen without a fight, and most importantly? Queer kids know their voice matters. That someone will fight for them.
So what. It isn’t perfect. It’s not the Hollywood ending we all want, the show isn’t shut down, there’s no huge change of heart, but what those movies never show you, is how much work it takes to get there. So maybe this time it won’t be that Hollywood ending, but maybe next time it will, and if not that time?
Then soon.