here we are, darlings, at the end of pride month. i have been thinking a lot about community this time around, because this pride more than any other i have been surrounded by my queer community.
i’ve had, over the years, several different kinds of prides: that time i was a baby queer, maybe fourteen or so, on vacation with my family in key west, heartened by seeing rainbow flags peeking out everywhere; then in DC, where the parade usually aligned with josh’s birthday and we sat in the grass, watching and drinking; and my first pride here in portland i went on a date with a girl and was honestly a little shocked that the parade was in the morning. mostly, ever since, i’ve just watched the parade stream past my apartment. this year, though, i went out! to the festival! with friends!
in the year or so since my last romantic relationship ended, i’ve been focusing on friendships instead. this is partially because i hate The Apps (this may come as a surprise but i, uh, don’t like strangers) but it is also because one of the things i learned from my experience with non-monogamy is to deprioritize romantic relationships. this may sound counter-intuitive, but it actually goes hand-in-hand with one of the other lessons i learned from it, which is to let relationships rise or fall to the level they want to be at.
this is all to say, friendships are just as important as romances (to say nothing of romantic friendships) and prioritizing them has been wonderful. it’s the energy of the three of cups, a card which asks us to join with our friends, particularly those who understand us well. it’s a card of eating, drinking, and being merry - knowing that tomorrow we could die and saying, fuck it. let’s love each other now.
this week, darlings, let’s consider the ways we can love radically. let’s stand in solidarity with each other.
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this week’s deck: the wooden tarot
this week’s crystals: rose quartz, garnet