funds flowing through
the art of "giving"
Each week, I swim in the San Francisco Bay. I wear a wetsuit in the winter, but it is still a powerful experience that intertwines with expressive arts and healing on multiple levels. Swimming, particularly in open water like the bay, can metaphorize life's journey. Just as the currents of the bay ebb and flow, so do our emotions and experiences. Today I am using some of the money in my bank account, unearned weath (more on that soon) to buy a tattoo. This means I won’t be swimming for two weeks. Getting tattooed is a transformative experience, and I can’t wait to show you what happens today art wise, I am not positive what it will look like at all. This is one of many of the images that are inspiring the next set of tattoos. Here are many more images (click the link).
The physical sensation of being enveloped by the water, supported yet challenged by its movement, can symbolize the ups and downs of life's challenges and the resilience required to navigate them. I will be running the two weeks I am out of the water (due to the tattoo healing), so share today two ways to support efforts that are near and dear to my heart.
We all know some kind of practice, like swimming, art, and/or any movement, is necessary for ALL people. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the privilege I have been born into because the self-care talk can get pretty vapid quickly. I hope we are moving toward sharing the ability to do these things in the community. I speak about it more in-depth here:
Why might you ask if I am coming to you to tell you about swimming, tattoos, and now antiracism and mutual aid? Well, they are four of my passions and commitments. When I came out six years ago (on April 12th, to be exact), I got my first tattoo the following week. Being queer and being tattooed is pretty synonymous. No, not all gay folks have tattoos, obviously, but a lot of us do. For me, it is an embrace of our marginalization. It shows me how I unknowingly hid my queerness and now how I never ever will again. There is a pain in being closeted and the celebration of being out; the tattoos do this for me. Each of my tattoos thus far has had something to do with this process and journey and the grief held in not being my whole self until I was 42.
I will always have white body privilege. I will always have unearned weath and so today I ask you can you allow $5 to each fundraiser to flow through. I hope you see in my antiracism statement above that I have tried to fulfill these commitments. This work is never done so I am happy to be in relationship around you, how does this information land on your body?
Do not “give” if you are white because, in my humble learning, it’s not yours to give. The funds flow through, as Sonya Renee Taylor (https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com/) has said, paraphrasing, you are white; you have a white debit card. Yes we all have varying degrees of economic struggle, we have many different choices around money and I know this idea that all white wealth is stolen wealth can be a bit of a cold fish slap of reality. Or maybe you flat-out disagree. That is ok, and you can still open the links and check out what is going on in my volunteering life.
So, without further adieu here are the two amazing efforts I am working toward funding along with many other amazing folks. Please share them far and wide.
https://gofund.me/a141e53f
https://givebutter.com/RainbowRun2024/dashing-queens/bridgetbertrand1
Stay tuned in May for an update on our run. I will be doing some of that weekly while my tattoo heals. How are you managing? Stay in touch.
With love,
Bridget
all the links are also here:
https://linktr.ee/bhopeb