I moved to London just over 2 years ago. With many dreams, some of which have been lived out, while some are stuck sturdily in their place on the bucket list. I know many people relate to thinking, if I just do this one thing, or these few things, then I will be able to write. That will be that, I will finally find the words for the many things I have been wanting to say. The amount of blog posts drafts I have made over the years... and I still am yet to post any of them. Because these topics are important to me, they are sensitive, and to do them to justice, I have to get it right. It's a struggle. I am not the writer I thought I would be by now, but I am trying! And I am always going to keep on trying, and failing, and progressing in ways I usually will not notice, and I am sure, as they say, break through will come when I least expect it. Or if I fail enough times, it will happen for me. I will be that writer. The one I so badly want to be. However it may come about, I know that I just need to get started really and go from there.
I will start with my introduction...
Hi. My name is Gigi Goodwin. I am 20 years old. I have never felt like I was the strongest verbal communicator and writing has always served me as an outlet to express my feelings and get the words I need to get out onto a page, which is very validating to see and have acknowledged, especially where they wouldn't have been when I was younger. I didn't feel like my voice was ever heard other than by my peers, until I reach the official age of 18 where I got to be finally granted with respect. I believe in the essentiality of young voices for this reason.
Let's get to who am I without stating the on-paper facts, like my university and education, my career aspirations vs current situation, where I live, my life story...
I am someone who deeply believes in justice, and to my core it is the root of all my beliefs of this world and perspectives on the day to day. My passions drive my writing, and besides justice and humanity, there is the the love of creativity, anything derived from the imagination, colour, art, beauty, nature, inspecting complex issues in a digestible manner, regulating my energy and emotions and sustaining myself because life is a series of adversities amongst all the brilliance that makes them worth it. I live for music, and film, and the arts and theatre, and these things make me love people and the cultures we all share and the differences and vulnerabilities we choose to share. Why wouldn't we want to share them rather than harbouring parts of ourselves silently, leaving a growing space and cold disconnection between us unnecessarily. When I need to feel alive, and in touch, I just step outside and I walk around and I try to absorb it all and see things differently, because there's a lot more than the first glance to anything (and everything). And then there are the feelings we cannot put labels on. We can address them and that's how we figure it out as we go along. And know we are all in this earthly experience together, no matter where we are from or where we are. Every experience is valid, and we figure out the ones worth sharing as we go.
For some odd on-paper facts...
I am from a town called Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire, bordering on Essex county. Safe to say, that place wasn't for me. I am a young woman, outspoken, vegan, bisexual, wannabe activist, and promotor of the things that rub capitalism (and all atrocities under it) the wrong way. I know just how lucky I am to experience a time and a place where saying the word queer out loud can be met with a positive response in plenty of instances, rather than mere tolerance. To be a woman independently without interference, I know just how fortunate I am. My openness does little to jeopardise my safety and I know I have a responsibility to hold that door open to others, and to hand them a speakerphone as they take the space they hold for themselves. Moreover, I am a vegan because all animals, like us, are sentient beings who deserve to live here as much as us, safely, in peace, and I can at least speak for the UK when I say society only exploits them for profits, taste pleasure and aesthetic reasons. (That's right, it's never necessity! In fact, the existence of exploitation begins from greed and the absence of necessity).
Lastly, I consider myself a DA/DV and Gender-Based Violence Awareness Advocate.
DA = Domestic Abuse, DV= Domestic Violence. The difference is just in the phrasing, but the term DA has adapted to include DV, as coercive control and emotional and psychological abuse have been accepted as forms of violence in their own right.
Gender-Based Violence = the systematic genocide and socialised tolerance of abuse of women and girls in near enough every society on the planet. More on these topics later.
Stick around if you want to discuss with me writing, literature and the arts and the vast horizons of the present elements and how they have come about, covering all of these issues I mentioned too and more. I might go down the route of interviewing people on their different perspectives. People have a lot to say and I would like to be a platform for all considerate voices. I think I will try a few new things as I go along. If you would like to stay posted, then get subscribed! And your suggestions are always welcome, so if you have the urge to add to the discussion then send me a message on here. Welcome to my blog!
Comments