Launching a Blog and a Forum.
This is another tale of birthing. Tougher this time as it's twins!
Harvey Meets Jack - The Blog and The Forum have come out together.
It makes sense to start this tale at the beginning.
Back in 2006 March I was a staunch supporter of human rights (oh yes I still am). That included LGBT rights. I didn't know anyone who was gay (maybe I just hadn't identified them as such) but in principle I was positive about the idea of same sex relationships. All I had to go by, was an intuitive sense of what homosexuality was about, gleaned third hand, and nothing more. The little I knew told me without a doubt that it was neither disease nor perversion nor "lifestyle choice" as some believe it to be. I felt anger and disapproval about denial of rights to people whose sexual identity or orientation was "different." But it was all very academic. I supported gay rights with my intellect (not particularly fine-tuned to the issue at that time), and I'm not sure I'd have done anything much about them beyond that.
Then one day came the pain. I had found my way to Brokeback Mountain through happenstance - the stuff of another story that will be told here another time - and was surfing the net for information. I found myself watching a youtube video. A video that left me sprawled and sobbing my heart out. An experience that turned my life upside down and me inside out.
Do watch this video if you haven't already. The version I then saw was condensed; its power over me the same, regardless. It's a video that will tell you even a movie about a movie can alter a person's life. Happily I was to discover there were actually thousands like me, profoundly affected by Brokeback Mountain, which I got to see only some months later. And I still return to the "Making Of" video with a sense of wonder and new discovery, despite having seen the film itself countless times and written so much about it.
Straight after the video grabbed me, I found myself jolted into an unexpected place of understanding, empathy, identification. There was no going back from that point. The experience changed my present irreversibly, created my future as it has turned out now.
Pain: Jack Twist's pain spoke to me directly. I wept with Ennis Del Mar in his trailer holding the shirts. And it set me on a journey of working through my own pain and unlocking my own closets. For the first time I stood on the shoulders of my past and reached out for my future.
Passion: Fast forward to 2009 - Harvey Milk took my life by storm. First on DVD and then unbelievably, larger than life on big screen. Harvey ignited the embers of my passion with his own.
And the twain met: Emotions that reached me through legend, events that touched me from history, united to spur this wave of targeted activism.
Epiphany Moment: There's a space between this meeting process and the initiatives that grew out of it. A space filled with restless vibes seeking an outlet. So often a process is dormant awaiting a catalyst. My epiphany moment arrived sooner than I anticipated and gave a new direction to my energy. A present arrived for me in my email one fine morning from the Pater Familias of Strike~Me~Gyllen, iwishiknew. You can see that present proudly hoisted up as you enter this blog - the picture of Sean Penn and Jake Gyllenhaal together at a 2009 Oscar after-party (Sean won an Oscar for his portrayal of Harvey Milk while 3 years earlier Jake had been Oscar-nominated for his role as Jack Twist in BBM). iwishiknew captioned (he's a master captioner) it "Jack Meets Harvey." Somewhere, sometime, I have no idea when, my subconscious switched the order. Thinking back on it, I suppose that in 2009 the name "Harvey" will ring a bell sooner in people's mind.
A name was born, an idea grew around it. And now a blog and forum have opened.
Spaces in time: 2006-09: Having read about a space between the conception of an idea and its expression, you would naturally ask about that other space - what happened during the three years? I believe the past is there for us to learn from. Each moment is a dynamic point of reference as it passes into eternity. In more down to earth terms, we stand on the shoulders of the past and stretch into the future. Not that part of the past that's crumbling and cannot hold us up - we would only sink down with it then - but the part that is enduring and supportive to our upward growth. Through my posts here, I hope to bring alive those parts of my past experience that enriched my life most, while I continue to surge ahead with here and now. We live each moment as a meeting point of past and future, moving with it.
This Blog: is both an individual and shared journey. It's personal, being a record of one person's (you'll notice "I" instead of "we," much of the time) experience - mine - and I do hope I can be brave enough to share the parts that matter most. It's also for sharing both heart and mind with readers and hoping they'll speak up in response.
The heart shows the way: I would still be one of those content to remain in a cocoon of emotional isolation, if two beautiful boys in love had not grabbed my heart first. So I say "grab the heart." For most of us it directs and guides the mind. The way to opening people’s minds and leading them to a place of understanding is really through their hearts. And Harvey Meets Jack is about reaching that understanding in ways that heated public debates on constitutional or legal points often don't end up doing. We look forward to participation on this blog and even more on the forum, from those who are familiar with us already as well as new visitors.
Why a blog and a forum?
Read about the related and complementary purposes of the two on our post The Twins.
To our readers:
Have you had a similar epiphany moment? Has an experience ever grabbed at your heart in this way? Have you stood on the shoulders of the past and seen into the future? Do you struggle with the issues of loving differently? Are you working with others for personal rights? We are eager to have your response which will appear as a comment below this.
Love
Incognita
This is another tale of birthing. Tougher this time as it's twins!
Harvey Meets Jack - The Blog and The Forum have come out together.
It makes sense to start this tale at the beginning.
Back in 2006 March I was a staunch supporter of human rights (oh yes I still am). That included LGBT rights. I didn't know anyone who was gay (maybe I just hadn't identified them as such) but in principle I was positive about the idea of same sex relationships. All I had to go by, was an intuitive sense of what homosexuality was about, gleaned third hand, and nothing more. The little I knew told me without a doubt that it was neither disease nor perversion nor "lifestyle choice" as some believe it to be. I felt anger and disapproval about denial of rights to people whose sexual identity or orientation was "different." But it was all very academic. I supported gay rights with my intellect (not particularly fine-tuned to the issue at that time), and I'm not sure I'd have done anything much about them beyond that.
Then one day came the pain. I had found my way to Brokeback Mountain through happenstance - the stuff of another story that will be told here another time - and was surfing the net for information. I found myself watching a youtube video. A video that left me sprawled and sobbing my heart out. An experience that turned my life upside down and me inside out.
Do watch this video if you haven't already. The version I then saw was condensed; its power over me the same, regardless. It's a video that will tell you even a movie about a movie can alter a person's life. Happily I was to discover there were actually thousands like me, profoundly affected by Brokeback Mountain, which I got to see only some months later. And I still return to the "Making Of" video with a sense of wonder and new discovery, despite having seen the film itself countless times and written so much about it.
Straight after the video grabbed me, I found myself jolted into an unexpected place of understanding, empathy, identification. There was no going back from that point. The experience changed my present irreversibly, created my future as it has turned out now.
Pain: Jack Twist's pain spoke to me directly. I wept with Ennis Del Mar in his trailer holding the shirts. And it set me on a journey of working through my own pain and unlocking my own closets. For the first time I stood on the shoulders of my past and reached out for my future.
Passion: Fast forward to 2009 - Harvey Milk took my life by storm. First on DVD and then unbelievably, larger than life on big screen. Harvey ignited the embers of my passion with his own.
And the twain met: Emotions that reached me through legend, events that touched me from history, united to spur this wave of targeted activism.
Epiphany Moment: There's a space between this meeting process and the initiatives that grew out of it. A space filled with restless vibes seeking an outlet. So often a process is dormant awaiting a catalyst. My epiphany moment arrived sooner than I anticipated and gave a new direction to my energy. A present arrived for me in my email one fine morning from the Pater Familias of Strike~Me~Gyllen, iwishiknew. You can see that present proudly hoisted up as you enter this blog - the picture of Sean Penn and Jake Gyllenhaal together at a 2009 Oscar after-party (Sean won an Oscar for his portrayal of Harvey Milk while 3 years earlier Jake had been Oscar-nominated for his role as Jack Twist in BBM). iwishiknew captioned (he's a master captioner) it "Jack Meets Harvey." Somewhere, sometime, I have no idea when, my subconscious switched the order. Thinking back on it, I suppose that in 2009 the name "Harvey" will ring a bell sooner in people's mind.
A name was born, an idea grew around it. And now a blog and forum have opened.
Spaces in time: 2006-09: Having read about a space between the conception of an idea and its expression, you would naturally ask about that other space - what happened during the three years? I believe the past is there for us to learn from. Each moment is a dynamic point of reference as it passes into eternity. In more down to earth terms, we stand on the shoulders of the past and stretch into the future. Not that part of the past that's crumbling and cannot hold us up - we would only sink down with it then - but the part that is enduring and supportive to our upward growth. Through my posts here, I hope to bring alive those parts of my past experience that enriched my life most, while I continue to surge ahead with here and now. We live each moment as a meeting point of past and future, moving with it.
This Blog: is both an individual and shared journey. It's personal, being a record of one person's (you'll notice "I" instead of "we," much of the time) experience - mine - and I do hope I can be brave enough to share the parts that matter most. It's also for sharing both heart and mind with readers and hoping they'll speak up in response.
The heart shows the way: I would still be one of those content to remain in a cocoon of emotional isolation, if two beautiful boys in love had not grabbed my heart first. So I say "grab the heart." For most of us it directs and guides the mind. The way to opening people’s minds and leading them to a place of understanding is really through their hearts. And Harvey Meets Jack is about reaching that understanding in ways that heated public debates on constitutional or legal points often don't end up doing. We look forward to participation on this blog and even more on the forum, from those who are familiar with us already as well as new visitors.
Why a blog and a forum?
Read about the related and complementary purposes of the two on our post The Twins.
To our readers:
Have you had a similar epiphany moment? Has an experience ever grabbed at your heart in this way? Have you stood on the shoulders of the past and seen into the future? Do you struggle with the issues of loving differently? Are you working with others for personal rights? We are eager to have your response which will appear as a comment below this.
Love
Incognita
Maya,
ReplyDeleteFacebook brought me here...and I feel blessed to know you...this is a beautiful blog. I knew all about Harvey and his work even as I was advocating my causes... probably because I lived in LA when he was living in San Francisco...and a becoming real activist. I cried my eyes out when he and Mayor Moscone were killed. I'll never forget it...it's never left me
I love you for this blog. Harvey Milk: how Sean Penn captured him is beyond me, but he is a genius actor. Excuse my typos...I'm on Google Chrome:)
love you always,
Mina
Mina believe it or not, I found this comment just now awaiting moderation. I don't know where these things sometimes hide. Thank goodness I found it. I need you right now to share your experiences with us. It's news to me that you were in LA during the period of Harvey's activism and his assassination. I just reopened the forum and I hope to be posting more on this blog. Thank you for everything. I'm grateful to know you :)
ReplyDeleteI can't ever forget the movie and it's heart-wrenching sequences where Jack tell Ennis, "You know, we could be like this, just like this. Always," or another sequence where the historic words, "I wish I knew how to quit you" were said. I remember having crying helplessly like a child under my sheets when I woke to the news of Heath Ledger's tragic death. I felt as if I lost a part of me, and I couldn't help feeling sad for Jake, a co-actor who must've shared a deep professional relationship with Heath to be able to create a true work of art.
ReplyDelete