I Belong and I don’t Belong shows up is in community. The opportunity to become more whole and even get a feel for the “queer gift of who you are” is accelerated in community...
I starting using the phrase “queer/gay wound” and “queer/gay gift” when I wrote my book years ago, Erotic Body Prayer. The most significant wound is obvious when conscious but most often this wound is buried deep in our bodies….I Don’t Belong.
The obvious is this wound is mirrored to us constantly by people in our world who fear us,hate us,want to ignore us and in some places even want to kill us for being queer.
Living in San Francisco is often like a insulated bubble for such outer rejection of "you don’t belong". Yet even in environment that are predominantly safe to be who we are there are ways this old internalized story of “I don’t belong” shows up.
One place this theme of both, I Belong and I don’t Belong shows up is in community. The opportunity to become more whole and even get a feel for the “queer gift of who you are” is accelerated in community. In safer conditions we get the opportunity to see, witness, support each other to come out at a NEW LEVEL. A level that knows as a queer person you have a unique contribution, gift and service to for the world.
Having set those notions as a backdrop for the conversation of how do you choose a queer men’s community that is for you.
When I was coming out tin the MidWest the only gathering places were gay bars and cruising areas like parks to find each other. Today in San Francisco there is a group/community that may speak to your: values, spirituality or non-spirituality, your body, type, desire/attraction, your service/volunteerism, your kind of entertainment in arts, sports, erotic expression, your sense of politic and desire to change the world, your health status, your love of nature/environment/pets, your relationship status, your interest in personal growth ETC.
So the real question is What do you want in a queer men's community (that allows you to take your place to give and receive what you desire?)
If you are in the Bay Area join us for our potluck March 17th http://www.fleshandspirit.org/potluck.html There we will explore these themes with brothers representing a few communities in San Francisco. Those of you from around the world we would love to hear from you too! Whether you are physically with us we want to affirm, You do belong!” We are grateful for you.
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