LGBTQ Literature is a Readers and Book Lovers series dedicated to discussing literature that has made an impact on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. From fiction to contemporary nonfiction to history and everything in between, any literature that touches on LGBTQ themes is welcome in this series. LGBTQ Literature posts on the last Sunday of every month at 7:30 PM EST. If you are interested in writing for the series, please send a message to Chrislove.
Good evening, faithful LGBTQ Literature readers.
Some of you have likely been wondering what has been going on with this series. You have probably noticed that we—and by we, I mean I—have missed the past two months. I know that I don’t really need to “apologize” for this, but I would still like to apologize. Beyond that, without getting into details that are too graphic, I would like to explain what has been happening behind the scenes.
I have shared, both in this series and elsewhere on Daily Kos, what I have been dealing with these past several months. Well, I shared some of it. You know about my health issues and our cat Autumn’s health issues. Fortunately, my physical health has drastically improved. But sadly, we had to make the difficult decision to put Autumn to sleep in September. I have grieved over Autumn’s death more than I’ve grieved for most humans—we both have. While we were certainly relieved that she was no longer suffering, we entered into an extended period of depression over her passing. She brought so much joy to us that, for a while, it felt as though the color was sucked out of our lives.
I haven’t shared everything, and probably won’t. But suffice it to say that Autumn’s death only accounted for part of our stress. There has been quite a bit of tumult over the past few months, and it felt a little like our lives were falling apart (we’re fine now, don’t worry).
During this period, I became almost unrecognizable to myself. I lost interest in most of the things that used to bring me happiness. The only thing I really looked forward to each day was plopping onto the couch and watching YouTube until I fell asleep. I basically existed on autopilot. If anybody else had come to me and described these symptoms, I would have easily concluded, “Oh, you’re depressed.” But for some reason, I didn’t recognize it as depression when I was the one experiencing it. And it didn’t help that, for weeks, I was stuck indoors because of an unprecedented heat wave, which only made my mental state worse.
For the past several weeks, I have been slowly climbing out of the hole. The turning point seemed to be the change in weather, which allowed me to regularly get outside. Fresh air really is my best medicine. I’m rediscovering my interests, and I’m finding joy in life again. Now that I can look back and see the abyss from which I’ve emerged, I can recognize that I was badly depressed. LGBTQ Literature wasn’t the only thing in my life to suffer because of my depression, but it suffered nevertheless. I just wasn’t equipped to handle my responsibilities here, and the series floundered as a result.
With all of that being said, I am committed to getting LGBTQ Literature back on track. I am in the process of reading a book that I think will make for an interesting diary, and rather than skip next month (which I’d planned to, because of the holidays), I am planning to post on December 31. I will do my best to make sure we don’t have another slump like we had for the past couple of months. I am optimistic about what 2024 will hold for this series.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and I’ll see you next month.
READERS & BOOK LOVERS SERIES SCHEDULE
If you’re not already following Readers and Book Lovers, please go to our homepage (link), find the top button in the left margin, and click it to FOLLOW GROUP. Thank You and Welcome, to the most followed group on Daily Kos. Now you’ll get all our R&BLers diaries in your stream.