Georgia Voice 01/12/24, Vol. 14 Issue 20

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VOLUME 14• ISSUE 20 About the cover: Photo by Nirvana Pereira

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IN: 2024, OUT: 2023

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4 EDITORIAL JANUARY 12, 2024

When it comes to the new year, I’m not one for resolutions. Last year, I made the resolution to save a certain amount of money, but life’s unexpected expenses intervened; as the old Yiddish proverb goes, “We plan, God laughs.”

I’ve never found any solace in giving myself strict, quantifiable goals for the new year, but neither am I one of those people who sees January 1st as just another day. Whether it makes logical sense or not, our construction of time prevents me from seeing January 1st as anything other than a new beginning. While I won’t be giving myself goals to achieve by December 31st of this year, I am still interested in using 2024 as a launch pad toward growth, maturity, and change. And because I am nothing if not a trend follower, I opted out of resolutions and made an “ins” and “outs” list for the year instead. I understand that life will have its way with me regardless of my intentions, but as I enter my 27th calendar year, here are some things I will be personally embracing and leaving behind in 2024.

In: Mocktails At the time of writing, I am about three months sober with the intention of maintaining sobriety throughout the year.

While I do not miss the vicious hangovers I would get regardless of how much I drank, I do often miss the glamour of sipping cocktails with friends. For me, drinking was more about the shared ritual than it was about feeling tipsy or drunk, so making or buying a mocktail is worth the extra effort or money.

2024 is the year of making healthy habits enjoyable and fun.

Out: FOMO Fuck FOMO! I am so over letting social media dictate how I spend my time. I am embracing my own internal motivators — the parts of my body that tell me I need to rest or socialize, that I need to read alone or go out

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/FIT ZTUDIO

dancing — instead of listening to the voice in my head that tells me anyone having fun in a different way from me, without me, is a cataclysmic emergency. The year 2024 is the year of letting comparison go.

In: Book clubs and dinner parties I love going out to clubs and parties as much as the next gal, but this year I am reclaiming activities often associated with older age for young people. Dinner parties are not just for the thirtysomethings who don’t have the energy to go out anymore; they’re for the twentysomethings who want to commune over food! Meeting for a book club is not just for your grandma: hot girls read too!

This year is the year of creating community over shared pleasure.

Out: Ignoring the dentist I have not been to the dentist in about six years. I am terrified of teeth, especially my own, being prodded and scraped (a fear my best friend recently pointed out makes me ironically more likely to have my teeth fall out), so 2024 is the year of facing my fears.

In: Glamour I will be overdressed, always. I will drink out of beautiful glassware. I will have flowers in

my home, just because. This year is the year of intentionally making life over-the-top and beautiful.

Out: Extensive skin care routines I am over drowning my face in 20 different serums that each promise to protect from the horrors of ... *gulp* aging. Any practice that requires me to stand in front of a mirror for 20 minutes, spend hundreds of dollars, and throw away heaps of plastic is no longer for me. I am washing my face, putting on sunscreen, and loving the skin I’m in. This year is the year of treating aging as a gift, not a fear.

In: Earnestness We’re tearing down our walls, we’re saying what we mean, we’re choosing seriousness over sarcasm, we’re kicking cynicism to the curb.

This year is the year of killing the part of you that cringes.

Out: Apathy As I am recently 25 and the proud owner of a Fully Developed Brain, I have come to realize how desperate I have become to let go of the apathy of my adolescence and early adulthood. Sensitivity is in, callousness is out.

This year is the year of feeding the part of you that cares.

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2024 Editorial

Calendar January

26: LGBTQ Black History Month

February

09: Valentine’s, Sex, and Love 23: Family & Parenting

March

08: Spring Arts Preview 22: Spirituality

April

05: Home & Real Estate 19: Sports & Hobbies

May

03: Mental Health: Living Your Best Life 24: Summer Travel & Events

June

07: National Pride Month 21: Seniors & Aging

July

05: Dragalicious Extravaganza 26: Pets on Parade

August

09: Fall Arts 23: Fall Travel & Black Gay Pride

September

06: Bisexuality 20: Out On Film Preview

October

11: Atlanta Pride & LGBTQ History Month 25: Elections

November

08: Science, Tech, & Social Media 22: Holiday Gift Guide

December

06: Eat, Drink, & Be Merry 20: Year in Review * Camera Ready ads due one week prior to publication dates Contact: sales@thegavoice.com

NEWS BRIEFS Staff reports Read these stories and more online at thegavoice.com

Out On Film Submissions Are Now Open Submissions are now open for the 37th annual Out On Film, Atlanta’s Oscar® qualifying LGBTQIA+ film festival. The event will take place from September 26 to October 6 at locations to be determined and online.

New this season is a Filmmaker Fund that will allow filmmakers money to complete their projects. Out On Film is one of only a few U.S.-based LGBTQ film festivals that offer this kind of fund. This fund provides financial assistance to queer artists who often struggle to secure funding to finish their projects. Grants up to $2,500 are available for the completion of films that tell the stories of LGBTQ life in all its humanity and complexity.

More information on the Filmmaker Fund can be found at outonfilm.org/filmmaker-fund.

For the third consecutive year, Out On Film will also offer a screenplay competition. Winners for both short film and feature film screenplays will receive a cash prize and a reading at the 2024 festival. New this season is a Best Music Video competition.

As an Oscar® qualifying film festival, Out On Film’s winner for the Jury Award for Best Drama Short is eligible for consideration at the following year’s Academy Awards® in the category of Best Live Action Short.

Out On Film also offers Jury Awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best International Film, Best Performance, Best Director, Best First Film, and Best Ensemble. Audience Awards are given for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary, Best Drama Short and International Film.

More information can be found at filmfreeway.com/OutOnFilm. The regular deadline for submissions is June 4 and the late deadline is June 26.

Early Polls Show Biden, Democrats Face Uphill Fight With the holidays behind us and the Iowa

6 NEWS JANUARY 12, 2024

New polls suggest President Biden and Democrats face uphill battles to victory.

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ PAUL FROGGATT

caucuses approaching, the nation’s attention is turning toward this year’s presidential election as new polls suggest President Biden and the Democrats face uphill battles to victory.

On the heels of the new numbers, top Biden-Harris reelection campaign officials hosted a press call to preview some steps they will take as part of what Campaign Manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez called an “aggressive push in early 2024 to mobilize the winning coalition that will reelect” the president and vice president.

According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll, the president is, as Fox News wrote, “hemorrhaging support from Black, Hispanic, and young voters.” Among those first two groups, compared with data from 2020 captured by Pew Research, the poll showed Biden’s support down a respective 29 and 25 percentage points.

Among voters younger than 35, meanwhile, the data showed him trailing former President Donald Trump by four points. The younger demographic was instrumental in delivering him the White House in 2020.

The findings come with important caveats. For example, to the extent that support for Biden has eroded, the numbers suggest a greater embrace of third-party candidates rather than movement in the direction of Trump.

However, 44 percent of Trump voters ranked their enthusiasm for his candidacy

at a 10 out of 10, versus just 18 percent of Biden supporters.

A survey released by Gallup at the end of December found Biden’s approval rating hovering around 39 percent.

Gallup notes that former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump had slightly higher ratings heading into the year they sought reelection, 43 and 45 percent, respectively, while all of the other past seven presidents were above 50 percent at this point in their tenures.

Another survey, which was released on Monday by The Washington Post/University of Maryland, found that one-third of U.S. adults believe that Biden was not legitimately elected president of the United States in 2020.

The survey was meant to explore evolving views about the deadly ransacking of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. On that topic, opinion is moving “in a more sympathetic direction to Trump and those who stormed the Capitol” according to the Post.

At the same time, the paper wrote, “most Americans have not bought into that revised version of events” and Jan. 6 remains a political liability for the former president heading into 2024. For example, most Republicans said they believe punishments for those who breached the Capitol were either “fair” (37 percent) or “not harsh enough” (17 percent).

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NEWS

New Report Outlines Problems Faced

by LGBTQ Nursing Home Residents Lou Chibbaro, Jr., Washington Blade courtesy of the National LGBTQ Media Association This article was originally published as part of AARP’s Out and Aging series on News Is Out. Read the full article online at newsisout.com or thegavoice.com.

A recently published academic journal article by two University of Indiana researchers reports on problems faced by LGBTQ older adults living in the nation’s nursing homes and recommends actions nursing homes should take to ensure LGBTQ residents are treated equitably and without bias.

The article, entitled “Postacute Care and Long-Term Care for LGBTQ+ Older Adults,” was published November 9 in the peer-reviewed journal Clinics In Geriatric Medicine. It is co-authored by geriatric physician Jennifer L. Carnahan, a research scientist with the Regenstrief Institute, which is affiliated with Indiana University’s Center for Aging Research andAndrew C. Picket, an elder care researcher and assistant professor at Indiana University’s School of Public Health in Bloomington. Carnahan also serves as an assistant professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

“Cultivating an inclusive and LGBTQ culturally competent nursing home culture means that all staff and clinicians should receive training specific to working with this group and time should be allocated for this to reduce staff burden,” the article states.

It points out that while some older LGBTQ adults fear being forced into the closet while in a nursing home, “they also simultaneously fear unwanted disclosure of their sexual orientation or gender identity status, and their autonomy should be respected either way.”

The article says there are more than 15,000 nursing homes in the U.S. that provide rehabilitative and skilled nursing care to mostly

8 NEWS JANUARY 12, 2024

older adults. It notes that nursing home residents fall into two distinct groups – post-acute care residents who often can return to their own home after recovering from an illness or injury; and long-term care residents who are no longer able to care for themselves. It says that among the long-term care residents in nursing homes, about 50 percent are living with dementia or another type of cognitive impairment.

According to the article, LGBTQ older adults “at a minimum have the same risk of dementia as the general U.S. population, and dementia increases the risk of nursing home admission.”

Among the article’s recommendations is that when new residents are being admitted to a nursing home, whether for short term or long term, “standard practice should be to ask sexual orientation and gender identity questions of every new resident along with other demographic identifiers.” Doing this “normalizes sexual and gender minority status” and can also “help to reduce the invisibility and health disparities” that LGBTQ nursing home residents experience.

“For transgender individuals, the personal care received in nursing homes can be supportive, as intended, or traumatic,” the article states. When nursing home staff provide assistance to transgender persons unable to care for themselves, “such as toileting or bathing, they may become newly aware of a resident’s transgender status,” the article says, adding, “If staff are not prepared for such an unintentional outing and how to react in a supportive manner, they may demonstrate microaggressions.” That type of biased reaction can be psychologically harmful for a transgender resident, the report states.

“We think about younger LGBTQ individuals and the challenges and risks of their lifestyles, but older adults in this population are often forgotten,” co-author Carnahan said in a statement. “They’ve experienced many health disparities. As these accumulate over

a lifetime, we see the potential long-term ill effects of being from a marginalized population,” she says in the statement.

“More and more LGBTQ+ older adults are comfortable being out with their providers, while many living in nursing homes fear unwanted disclosure of their sexual orientation or gender identity status,” Carnahan says.

“Their autonomy should be respected either way so they can age in an environment where they feel safe, where they feel comfortable and where they are able to live with dignity.”

The article points to a 2018 survey conducted

by AARP, which advocates for people over the age of 50, that found most LGBTQ older adults, when considering entering a nursing home, “anticipate neglect, abuse, refusal of services, harassment, and being forced back into the closet.”

The article says this fear of abuse and stigmatization may be related to older LGBTQ adults’ experiencing anti-LGBTQ bias in their younger years.

“Health care workers across disciplines are not well trained in care for LGBTQ+ older adults,” the article says. “Stereotypes and inadequate knowledge of the LGBTQ+ population are not uncommon among those who care for older adults,” it says. And it says LGBTQ+ residents in nursing homes may also face stigmatization from other residents.

“Training programs that engage nursing home staff in LGBTQ+ cultural competency can remediate staff knowledge and ensure more equitable care,” the article stresses.

In addition to calling for better training, the article includes several other recommendations, including providing legal advice to LGBTQ nursing home residents on how best to assign the legal authority to make decisions about their care if they become incapacitated and unable to make those decisions for themselves.

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COMMUNITY

AIDS Activist Dr. Jesse Peel COURTESY PHOTO

AIDS Activist Dr. Jesse Peel Dies at 83 Katie Burkholder Atlanta’s queer community has been left reeling at the news of Dr. Jesse Peel’s passing on December 28, 2023, at the age of 83.

The North Carolina native lived a life of activism, advocacy, and compassion, dedicating his life to helping people living with HIV/AIDS and the entire LGBTQ community. Dr. Peel attended University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he received his medical degree, then completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He spent two years in the Navy, with tours in Vietnam and Okinawa.

In Atlanta, his psychiatric practice served gay men, and when many of his clients began dying during the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Peel was at the forefront of advocacy efforts as a founding member of several activist groups.

Among those groups were AID Atlanta and Positive Impact, two organizations still

10 COMMUNITY JANUARY 12, 2024

working in Atlanta to address and eradicate HIV/AIDS. He was also active on many boards in Atlanta, including the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus, Lost-N-Found Youth, and Actor’s Express. In 2012, Dr. Peel donated his work to Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library when they began to build an LGBTQ collection. His collection consisted of journals, appointment books and subject files from his psychiatric practice, correspondence, photographs, and more than 80 reel-to-reel audio tapes he sent to his mother while he served in Vietnam.

“The collection is remarkable,” Randy Gue, MARBL's curator of Modern Political and Historical Collections, said of Dr. Peel’s material. “It provides great insight into Atlanta's response to the AIDS crisis.”

He also helped establish the Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center at East Carolina University in 2014, which provides support and community to queer students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

“I would’ve never imagined something like this when I was growing up. I was such a backwoods kid,” Dr. Peel told Georgia Voice in 2019. “I didn’t come out until my 30s. I might’ve been too afraid to go to it if there were a place like this in Chapel Hill.”

“It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of Dr. Jesse Peel alongside our entire community,” Out Front Theatre Company wrote on Facebook. “Jesse was a part of Out Front’s family since day one. After seeing our inaugural production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical in 2016, he sent an email to Paul Conroy that simply said, ‘Perhaps I can be of some help.’ That small show of desire to support LGBTQIA+ theatre was emblematic of who Jesse was; a giving human who felt that he could always do more. We were honored to have Jesse in our audience more times than we can count and to also have him serve on our Board of Directors. He always entered the theater with a smile and left telling the staff that he would see us again soon ... The world is a

better place because Jesse was a part of it, and we are a better company because he was kind enough to share his gifts with us. He will be missed but he will not be forgotten.”

“The Atlanta Sisters had one of their first supporters in the city in Jesse,” the Atlanta Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence posted to Facebook. “He opened up his home and heart to us. Later joining the board of a project under the wing of the sisters nonprofit before it became Lost-N-Found Youth. Thank you for all of your service to community and welcoming everyone to Camp Merton.”

“Jesse Peel became my friend, confidant, and co-conspirator exactly 30 years ago when I moved to Atlanta,” Mark King wrote on Facebook. “He founded every major HIV/ AIDS group in town, mentored countless young activists, and was once my ‘one phone call’ from jail. His loss cannot be measured.

The lives he nurtured — and those he saved outright — are his legacy. I love you, Jesse.

But you knew that. Rest in heavenly peace.”

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COMMUNITY

Galano Creates Space for LGBTQ People to Pursue Sobriety Katie Burkholder Editor’s note: A tenet of AA is for members to remain anonymous in the press. It is for this reason that Jason’s last name is not used in this article.

Whether limited to Dry January or as a yearlong resolution, many folks consider sobriety in the new year. For LGBTQ people, however, fear of discrimination and religious trauma may prevent them from attending a 12-step program for their addiction. That’s what Galano works to avoid. Galano is a nonprofit whose mission is to provide spaces for 12-step programs that are welcoming to the LGBTQ community. Galano acts as the landlord for the slew of 12-step groups that meet in its building: groups including, but not limited to, Alcoholics Anonymous, Crystal Meth Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Sexual Compulsives Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous. Basically, any 12-step group that wants to meet in Galano’s building is welcome, on the condition that they explicitly accept the LGBTQ community.

“Because we are so out front about being a welcoming, safe space, it lets our community know you can come here and be yourself and you're going to be accepted,” Galano president Jason C. told Georgia Voice. “You don't have to worry about coming out.

You don't have to worry if you're gender nonconforming, you're not going to have to worry about being shoved out the door because you’re different … If somebody does come in and makes it feel unsafe, they will be banned from the building.”

Jason, who has been sober from alcohol for more than a decade, learned about Galano from his partner at the time and was looking for a space where he knew he wouldn’t have to be worried about disclosing his identity.

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Galano is a nonprofit whose mission is to provide spaces for 12-step programs that are welcoming to the LGBTQ community. IMAGES VIA FACEBOOK “I did want to be in a gay clubhouse if I could, or at least go to a gay meeting,” he told Georgia Voice. “And part of that was just because I didn't want to have to worry about coming out.”

In many 12-step programs, God is framed as a central motivator to sobriety: some of the 12 steps outlined in the AA Big Book include believing in a Power greater than ourselves, turning our will and lives over to God, admitting to God the nature of our wrongs, asking God to remove shortcomings, and praying. For LGBTQ people, religious trauma stemming from connections between religion and homophobia or transphobia may discourage them from trying the 12 steps altogether.

“Twelve-step programs do have references to God and/or a higher power, and that's a tricky subject for [the LGBTQ community],” Jason said. “The kids in their early 20s that may come into the rooms nowadays may not be as traumatized as, say, a Gen Xer like me and certainly everybody older where religion was a source of abuse, pain, and suffering

for us growing up, especially here in the South. Some other clubhouses and meetings across Atlanta will lean heavier into the Christianity aspect. Because of who we are and the community members that tend to make up the majority of our meetings, we're a little more sensitive to the whole higher power God question because that does scare some people away for quite a while.”

According to data from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, LGB adults experienced higher rates of opioid and alcohol abuse than the overall population: 6.7 percent vs. 3.6 percent for opioids and 21.8 percent vs. 11 percent for alcohol. These higher rates may be explained by Minority Stress Theory.

Research suggests that minority stressors like discrimination, identity concealment, and internalized homophobia are positively associated with substance abuse.

This means that access to 12-step programs and the community they provide is even more crucial for LGBTQ people struggling with addiction.

“Because we are so out front about being a welcoming, safe space, it lets our community know you can come here and be yourself and you're going to be accepted.”

—Galano president Jason C. “I refer to my sober friends as kind of my sober family,” Jason said. “There was a group of us that came in around the same time, and for those of us who have stuck around, we knew we were going to be lifelong friends. And it is self-reinforcing, especially early in sobriety.

You’ve got people who are willing to hang out and mentor you. Your brain’s trying to dry out from the booze or the drugs, and that can be a messy process. It's messy emotionally.

Having people that understand that and are supportive of you is very important.”

If you’re considering sobriety or even just drinking or using less, Jason suggests attending a meeting, even if you wouldn’t call yourself an alcoholic or addict. Most, if not all, of Galano’s programs are open discussions where you can sit, listen, and talk without strictly identifying as an addict.

“Come with an open mind and listen and see if anything resonates with you,” Jason said.

To find Galano’s schedule of meetings, visit galano.org/meetings/in-person.

JANUARY 12, 2024 COMMUNITY 11

COMMUNITY

Connecting Fitness and Activism with Dean ‘the Trainer’ Steed Adalei Stevens Fitness usually tops New Year’s resolutions, and this year is no exception. Entering a gym for the first time can be completely intimidating, regardless of gender identity.

However, gyms can exacerbate feelings of dysphoria or generally feel unsafe for gendernonconforming individuals.

Atlanta-based personal trainer, Dean Steed, believes fitness should be inclusive, accessible, and “soft.” Coming from a background in community organizing and activism, Steed understands how heavy life can be without the added pressure to look a certain way or dedicate your life to the gym.

In 2018, Steed was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called multiple sclerosis that affects the brain and spinal cord. He spent a lot of that year in the emergency room with chronic illness and pain. The experience, he says, made him more empathetic to what others are feeling.

“I’m about going soft, because life is very hard on us already, especially if you’re disabled, especially if you have mental health issues, or if you’re queer or trans or person of color,” Steed told Georgia Voice.

Before he joined the fitness industry, Steed worked as a community organizer and activist following the 2015 murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. His passion for community assistance led him to Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, a Black trans and queer-led organization in metro-Atlanta, where he continues his work as the Director of Communications.

Steed said the work became exhausting by 2018, and he took a break to recover from the intense loss, grief, and pain he witnessed.

During a brief period of unemployment, and

12 COMMUNITY JANUARY 12, 2024

Steed hopes 2024 allows him to grow in his training and activism.

Trans Atlanta-based personal trainer Dean Steed COURTESY PHOTOS without insurance to cover gender-affirming care, Steed turned to strength training.

“I became very curious about bodybuilders and the way that bodybuilders use strength training to literally create the very aesthetic that they want for themselves. And I thought, ‘Hey, I could do this to,’” he said. “Through training, even learning more about foods, we could have a lot more control, as trans and non-binary people, [over] what our bodies look and feel like.”

Steed trained hundreds of people from different backgrounds, ages, genders, and abilities during his time as a head trainer at Planet Fitness in 2019. By the summer of 2020, Steed turned his focus to his personal training business, Fit Gang, where he offers his foundational strength training and

boxing classes. Steed also customizes body masculinization and feminization workouts to be safe and gender-affirming.

“Maybe a trans-masculine person who comes in the gym is working out with a chest binder, and now their breathing is restricted. It's important to understand [safety] for trans people, but a lot of trainers don't,” he said. “You might be working with someone who's trans-femme who’s tucking. That can be uncomfortable during her workout, but maybe she doesn't want to share that with a trainer who she just met that day.”

After finding a safe space to feel confident, the hardest part about improving one’s fitness in the name of the new year is doing it and sticking to it. Burnout, chronic pain, and lack of time can disrupt even the best-laid plans, but Steed says we must go with the flow.

Community is essential to any movement, including fitness. Steed recommends an accountability partner to work out or meal prep with, and he says you should do what feels right for your body instead of following fitness trends that are popular on social media.

“Because of capitalism, we always feel driven to be productive, be active just to feel valuable and just feel enough. We’re not really encouraged to slow down. We're not really encouraged to listen to our bodies,” he said. “Progress is not linear, and we have to move with the ebbs and flows of life.”

Steed hopes 2024 allows him to grow in his training and activism. Last year, Steed launched a GoFundMe to fund personalized strength training and self-defense for 10 trans and non-binary people of color. You can donate to “Help Trans People of Color Access Gender Euphoria” at gofundme. com. Learn more about Dean Steed at deanthetrainer.com or follow him on Instagram @deanthetrainer.

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JANUARY 12, 2024 ADS 13

COMMUNITY

The Healing Power of

Coven Chiropractic Katie Burkholder When Coco Rowlette was in school in Michigan, studying gender studies and poetry, she came down with a terrible sickness that traditional Western medicine wasn’t healing. Coughing, sleepless nights, and dried-out lungs resulted in her ribs popping out of place. After several months of illness, she was at the end of her rope and finally visited a chiropractor. In this visit, she found more than relief from her pain: she found her future calling. What she calls “poetry of the body,” chiropractic is a practice of giving a patient their power back — a practice Rowlette loves deeply.

Her love for chiropractic moved her to open Coven Chiropractic, her own practice at the Liminal Space Collective in Little Five Points. Rowlette spoke to Georgia Voice about Coven, the art of chiropractic, and its all-encompassing impact.

Quotes have been edited for clarity. Read the full interview online at thegavoice.com.

What exactly is chiropractic?

We’re seeking to align the spinal column and the extremities so that the nerves that come out of those locations can communicate properly throughout the body. The nervous system is in charge of every physical process in the entire body, so we want to make sure that’s working uninhibited.

We’re looking for a subluxation, something that’s moved slightly out of place in the

14 COMMUNITY JANUARY 12, 2024

body. So, we’re using the bones as levers to relieve the joints that are surrounding that region to reduce pain and increase function.

The chiropractic philosophy is that each of our own bodies is healing itself and that the chiropractor is just aiming to remove the interferences of the nervous system so that the body can do what it wants to naturally.

Coco Rowlette owns her own practice at Coven Chiropractic. PHOTO BY NIRVANA PEREIRA What services do you offer at Coven — or, alternatively, what does the process of working with a client look like?

The first visit is an hour and a half long.

We take a half hour to go through a health history discussion. This is the time to tell me if you think there’s an energetic reason, a spiritual reason, or an astrological reason why you’re in pain — this is a safe place to tell me that. Then we’re going to do neurological and orthopedic exams to make sure that chiropractic is safe for you at the time to do and get a better idea of what your official diagnosis would be. As long as I do find it safe, I include treatment in that first appointment. My patients tend to be hardworking individuals who perhaps don’t have all the time and money in the world to keep coming back to me three times a week, so I want to provide as much treatment as I can immediately.

I do cupping as well. I love cupping because I feel it helps hold your adjustment longer. So it’s still about the chiropractic adjustment, but we’re adjusting all that soft tissue attached to the joints and encouraging the body to allow change to occur.

Beyond the relief of not being in physical pain anymore, do you see emotional release from patients who may have been holding emotional trauma and pain in their bodies?

Oh, absolutely. I take a lot of time when I first start to just sort of move the body around. So many of us are literally holding the world together with our clenched jaws or shoulders up, and I can just feel there’s like no segmental motion throughout the body.

It’s like almost working in one iron unit. You feel that body turn into mush by the end of it, feel them or hear them take that deep breath, deep sighs of relief, the [emotional] weight come out of their eyes. There are definitely deep emotional releases. I’ve had patients jump off the table immediately to write things down because they’ll have a burst of inspiration.

Chiropractic also is important in addressing posture and the way we hold ourselves in space. Your posture reflects how you feel in your mind, how you feel in your emotions that day, and vice versa. I love giving people extra confidence in that way. Especially when it comes to marginalized communities — coming back to that pride in your chest after

a top surgery, for instance, when all your body wants to do is be in the fetal position.

What can chiropractic offer somebody in the new year who wants to embrace a healthier lifestyle?

I think it’s really important self-care to say, “I deserve not to live in this chronic state that I’m in,” or, “I deserve to do more than just survive; I want to thrive in my body and feel good and happy and grow constantly.”

There’s this thought about chiropractic that what you go once you’re going to have to go the rest of your life. And in a way, that's true.

It's like first going to a dentist after living with cavities for years and you’re like, yeah, now that I know what not having rotting teeth feels like, I will have to go to the dentist for the rest of my life. You know how it feels to have enough space in your body and length and confidence and strength and alignment.

It just reflects in every part of your life.

Coven Chiropractic is located at 483 Moreland Ave NE. To learn more and book a session, visit liminalspaceatl.com/covenchiropractic-scheduling.

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YOUR VOICE

Nine Tips to Make It Through the New Year Luke Gardner As we head into 2024, we must set ourselves up for success. Here are a few tips on how to do exactly that.

1. Declutter The bigger the mess, the bigger the stress.

Shove all your things under the bed, pick up those dirty panties that have been on the floor since October — you’re a pig, no big deal — and get rid of those crop tops you haven’t been able to fit into since high school. You can also declutter your phone by deleting unused apps. Candy Crush, the calculator app, and Tumblr have no place in 2024.

2. Create a schedule To achieve your desired work-life balance, you must create a schedule and stick to it!

For most of us, the ideal balance would include no work and complete freedom of time and movement, but striving for a 50/50 balance might be a bit more realistic.

However, it is possible to relish that perfect place of no work or responsibilities and the trick is simple: generational wealth!

3. Challenge the evolving hellscape of right-wing lunacy

Progress comes in waves, and those waves always come with pushback. It’s easy to look around at all the conservative pushback and hang your head in disbelief, but really — things aren’t that bad! It’s not like we’re forced to choose between a president with historically low approval ratings and a racist election-denying authoritarian as climate change, crony capitalism, and genocide go unchecked. That, my friends, would be a pure sci-fi dystopia.

4. Have a spa day Pull out your favorite skin care products and apply them liberally. Enjoy a massage,

16 YOUR VOICE JANUARY 12, 2024

or maybe run a warm bath. Try placing your head underwater to drown out the constant screaming inside your mind. Add bubbles!

5. Avoid becoming consumed by an allencompassing void of darkness and fear Close your eyes and try to forget that everything is horrible. Is it working? If not, try adding alcohol and chocolate.

6. Get outdoors Sunshine is good for you, and so is fresh air. Take a deep breath and try not to think about the pollutants filling your lungs or the microplastics already cozily nested in there.

Take in those gorgeous golden sunrays and high temperatures while sunbathing! You might as well get used to them; unlike the ice caps, they are here to stay.

7. Find common ground While it’s true that our country is more divided than ever before, it is important to come together. Even the most divided among us — the Republicans and Democrats in Congress — do sometimes come together by embracing shared values, like a complete aversion to the phrases “universal health care” and “socialism.”

8. Try not to slip into an apathetic state of dissociation

Counteract the bad headlines with something positive. Tell yourself that everything bad eventually passes as you dive into a 50-gallon pool of ice cream.

9. Fall in love with yourself RuPaul always rhetorically asks, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else?” We must learn to love ourselves, flaws and all.

Embrace your flaws! Sleep in, miss the bus, embarrass yourself in a bar, and spend your rent money on shoes and drinks, because you deserve it, queen!

THEGEORGIAVOICE.COM

OLD GAY MAN CLIFF BOSTOCK

Bring Back

Poor Taste “One of the great Since you’re old, I’m sure you remember reading, amid the tales of hometown heroes things about camp and gynecology, the monthly essay in Reader’s Digest magazine entitled “Laughter is the (and irony and Best Medicine.” By the time I could read, I understood that humor provided relief sarcasm) is that from the insanity and cruelty of the world.

This was mainly due to my mother, easily the funniest person alive. Unfortunately, its tastelessness though, her humor was mainly sarcasm that could also hurt like hell whether intended or does not tolerate not. Imagine that – a mother who at once terrifies her son and teaches him to laugh. historical manners Most people knew that although I was and conventions.” a skinny bookworm with no eye-hand Cliff Bostock

coordination, I had a tongue sharp enough to draw blood. Few openly acknowledged it, although my favorite high school teacher did tell me that the faculty voted me the “wittiest” member of my senior class even when my classmates picked someone else.

When I found out who my classmates selected, I said, “That’s sad. He’s too nice to be really funny.”

So, you can probably understand that, despite years of self-loathing due to my appetite for male flesh, actually coming out was a huge victory for me. Before Pride became something heartfelt, we had camp.

I fear that most post-Millennials have no understanding of camp, which basically celebrates the awful by glamorizing it.

Drag queens are the longtime priests of camp. There is much to say about camp, but one thing is definitely true: it employs irony, which is related to (but not equal to) sarcasm. I realized when I began my exploration of gay culture that I had been born with a second language. (For the definitive essay on the topic, read Susan

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Sontag’s 1964 rant, “Notes on Camp.”)

One of the great things about camp (and irony and sarcasm) is that its tastelessness does not tolerate historical manners and conventions. My question is how we preserve gay slang – camp – while ugly cancel culture flourishes. I mean, I can feel what I’m writing here being thrown against the wall because such a question deprecates the norms of socalled political correctness. American culture is so polarized now that you can’t question anything without automatically taking a side.

I found the brouhaha over former Harvard president Claudine Gay’s stammering about antisemitism ridiculous, just as I did the national vapors over comedian Matt Rife’s misogynistic hiccups. That doesn’t mean I’m an antisemitic women-hater. It means that, like most Americans, my brain is a shit storm of competing beliefs with familial and broad cultural sources. Laughter forms a bridge – a frequently temporary one until we can build something woo-woo like consensus or tolerance without shaming.

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ CREATISTA

It is through humor, especially of the camp variety, that gay people made their lives tolerable when the culture simply wasn’t going to share the goods with us. Although I’ve heard many gay people argue otherwise, the appropriation of iconic masculine imagery by gay men in the ’70s (and beyond) was as campy as the high Hollywood fashion of drag queens. One of my favorite local memories is of a man who frequently visited the Eagle dressed in the tight 501 Levi’s and T-shirt of the so-called Castro Clone. He was fuckin’ hot, but he was also wrapped in hilarity because he always carried a tambourine which he pounded when he stepped onto the dance floor. I once saw him in a spontaneous showdown with Baton Bob.

wasn’t part of their own twisted normality.

Even the Human Rights Campaign long supported a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that excluded trans people. Just a few days ago I found myself in an argument about whether risqué behavior should be allowed during Pride celebrations because, you know, thousands of heterosexuals glide Midtown sidewalks with their children in strollers. The innocent, vulnerable children!

It is telling that many gay people didn’t embrace the far reaches of camp sensibility.

They didn’t want drag queens and leather boys to participate in Pride parades. They didn’t want anyone representing them who

Cliff Bostock, PhD, is a former psychotherapist who now practices life coaching with clients who need to learn to become more vulgar versions of themselves.

Cliffbostock.com, 404-518-4415.

So, Happy New Year, y’all. Please join me in helping to bring back humor that celebrates the tasteless and thereby demands progress.

There is utterly no progress when language is seriously censored.

JANUARY 12, 2024 COLUMNIST 17

ACTING OUT JIM FARMER

New Take on ‘The Color Purple’ Works Overall; Zachary Quinto and Jacob Elordi Headline Inert ‘He Went That Way’ Jim Farmer Director Steven Spielberg’s 1985 version of Alice Walker’s classic, “The Color Purple,” has always been heavily debated. Many knock it for being too tidy and toning down the lesbian love story at its heart. Others, though, consider it a classic and a film that has withstood the test of time a lot better than the movie it lost the Best Picture Oscar to, “Out of Africa.”

A new version of Walker’s work is out now, directed by Blitz Bazawule and based on the musical version that premiered at Alanta’s Alliance Theatre in 2004 and made it to Broadway. With Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey (who starred in the original), and Quincy Jones among its producers, this take on “The Color Purple” doesn’t have as much power as its predecessor, but does have many stellar moments.

Marcus Gardley’s screenplay follows Celie (played by Phylicia Pearl Mpasi as a child and Fantasia Barrino as an adult) who progresses from a young woman living in Georgia facing abuse, an unhappy marriage to Mister (Colman Domingo), and separation from her sister, to an independent force. Two women forever change her life — Sofia (Danielle Brooks), the wife of her son Harpo, and Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), a jazz singer who used to be Mister’s lover, that Celie falls for.

The musical, with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, doesn’t differ dramatically from the original film, but Bazawule’s musical numbers are a little erratic. Some feel organic, while others are clumsy. “What About Love?” a joyous

18 COLUMNIST JANUARY 12, 2024

duet between Celie and Shug, is staged here as a fantasy sequence while the two women watch a movie, and it feels watered down, losing its emotion.

But for the most part, the passion between Celie and Shug here is a bit more pronounced than in Spielberg’s version.

One huge problem, however, especially for older audience members, is the legacy of that original film. Whatever your opinion of it, there’s no denying the beauty of the performances of Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Winfrey as Sophia, and Margaret Avery as Shug Avery. Some performances for Bazawule here work better than others.

The film really gets going only when Brooks and Henson make their appearances. Brooks makes a delightful Sofia and brings sass and charm to the role. Henson, too, makes a terrific Shug, and her numbers are rowdy and enjoyable — especially “Push Da Button.”

Out actor Colman Domingo also brings a lot to the role of Mister, even if on paper the character can be one-dimensional.

Yet in this new version, Barrino is almost passive to a fault. While it’s true the character grows into herself over time and begins to assert herself late in life, Barrino’s Celie doesn’t do with the role as much as she could, especially next to Brooks and Henson.

It’s really only in Celie’s late number, “I’m Here” that the character starts to register.

“The Color Purple” was filmed in various locations in Georgia. Many Atlanta area performers are in the film and it’s fun to spot them. It’s a film well worth seeing, even if it makes less of an impression than it wants to.

Speaking of impressions, Jacob Elordi has

“The Color Purple” PUBLICITY PHOTO certainly made one, film-wise, in the last few months. Known primarily for his work in “Euphoria,” he’s been seen of late in “Priscilla” and in the current “Saltburn” as the object of Barry Keoghan’s desire. He and out actor Zachary Quinto star in the new drama, “He Went That Way,” but even their presence can’t save it.

Quinto plays Jim Goodwin, an animal trainer traveling with his chimpanzee Spanky in the back of his vehicle in the summer of 1964 in Death Valley, California. One day he eyeballs handsome drifter, Bobby Falls (Elordi), and offers him a ride.

Falls is based on the real-life serial killer, Larry Lee Ranes, who’d meet men and shoot them in the head, and the film is adapted from Conrad Hilberry's book, “Luke Karamazov.”

“He Went That Way” is directed by Jeffrey Darling, who sadly died in a surfing accident after the film was made. Darling was a veteran in the industry, making his directorial debut here, but Evan M. Wiener’s weak script defeats everyone’s work.

A Tribeca Film Festival premiere from last year, it's never really clear if “He Went That Way” is a dark comedy, a road movie, or a thriller. There is something between the two men, maybe a little homoeroticism, but it’s never really acted on or explored.

Neither of the talented actors are able to layer their characters. The buttoned-up Jim and his actions make little sense, and Bobby comes across as a cut-rate James Dean, cigarette perched in his mouth nonstop. One moment the character is having a quiet conversation with Jim in a diner and seconds later he is stabbing an employee. Maybe it’s supposed to be edgy, but it’s mostly meandering and devoid of personality. Skip this one.

MORE INFO “The Color Purple” is now in area theaters “He Went That Way” is now in theaters and on VOD THEGEORGIAVOICE.COM

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JANUARY 12, 2024 ADS 19

BEST BETS THE BEST LGBTQ EVENTS HAPPENING IN JANUARY Jim Farmer

Garden Lights, Holiday Nights January 12, through January 14 Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Back for its 13th year, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights features familiar favorites and new installations, including Skyline Frost, a new skynet

by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics; illuminated metal birds and deer by Cédric Le Borgne; and the return of White Rabbit to the Skyline Garden Pond.

XXX Rated Cougars January 13, 9pm Atlanta Eagle

The Eagle Cabaret presents XXX Rated Cougars with your host, the legendary Mr. Charlie Brown.

SFQP Organizing Meeting January 14, 2pm Create ATL

Join Southern Fried Queer Pride at their organizing meeting at Create ATL and also on Zoom at https://sfqp.info/sfqpotalink114.

Rustin/Lorde Breakfast January 15, 10am Loudermilk Conference Center

The Southern Unity Movement, an Atlanta-based social justice organization committed to building a more unified Black LGBTQ community through advocacy, education, and recreation, presents the annual Rustin/ Lorde Breakfast. Now in its 22nd year, the Black LGBTQ signature event honors the legacies of civil rights pioneers and change agents Bayard Rustin and Audre Lorde through a culturally inclusive program that embodies Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of a beloved community. Tori Cooper, Director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative and the first Black trans woman to serve on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, will be the Mistress of Ceremony for the 2024 Breakfast. Tim’m West, poet, professor, and Executive Director of The LGBTO Institute at The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, will also be featured.

Cirque du Soleil ECHO

January 16, 7:30pm, through January 21 Big Top at Atlantic Station Fueled by the power of invention, the hope of the youth, and the importance of empathy, Cirque du Soleil ECHO invites the audience to participate in a universe of color, wonder, and infinite possibilities.

Karaoke Night January 17 My Sister’s Room

Get your karaoke on tonight at My Sister’s Room.

“The Whale”

January 18, 8pm, through January 21 7 Stages Set on the outskirts of Mormon country in rural Idaho, “The Whale” is the story of Charlie, a 600-pound recluse who hides away in his apartment while slowly eating himself to death.

Desperate to reconnect with his long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her, only to find a viciously sharp-tongued and wildly unhappy teen.

At the same time, Charlie encounters a young man on his mission whose own story is not all that it seems. Presented by Authenticity Theater.

“La bohème”

January 20, 8pm, through January 28 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

EVENT SPOTLIGHT Cirque du Soleil ECHO

January 16, 7:30pm, through January 21 Big Top at Atlantic Station Fueled by the power of invention, the hope of the youth, and the importance of empathy, Cirque du Soleil ECHO invites the audience to participate in a universe of color, wonder, and infinite possibilities.

Courtesy photo by Cirque du Soleil/Jean-François Savaria

Fox Theatre

January 21, 2:30pm Spiritual Living Center

Celebrating its 65th Anniversary Season, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater features four unforgettable performances, including the world premieres “Century” by Amy Hall Garner and “Me, Myself and You” by Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, plus the return of the audience favorite “Are You in Your Feelings?” by Kyle Abraham.

The PFLAG support group for parents and families of LGBTQ children meets in person today.

LGBTQ Book Club

The Atlanta Opera opens its 2024 with one of the greatest operas ever written, Giacomo Puccini’s masterwork “La bohème.”

PFLAG Support Group

“Housekeeping for Beginners” January 23, 7pm Atlantic Station

Out On Film presents a special screening of the new LGBTQIA-themed “Housekeeping for Beginners,” from the director of “Of An Age.” RSVP at outonfilm.org.

January 27, 10am Virtual

The LGBTQ Book Club is a group for LGBTQ folks and allies to read queer-themed books and books by queer authors. The aim is to have diverse, thought-provoking discussions about queer identity, history, and topical issues. All are welcome to join. This month's book is “Quietly Hostile” by Samantha Irby. Join at https:// us02web.zoom.us/j/85007056372.

Trans and Friends

Bitchy Bingo

Trans and Friends is a youth-focused group for trans people, people questioning their own gender, and aspiring allies, providing a facilitated space to discuss gender, relevant resources, and activism around social issues.

Brigitte Bidet and Taejah Thomas host Bitchy Bingo.

Come play the game and enjoy a drag show.

January 30, 7:30pm, through February 25 Fox Theatre

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

A revolutionary story of passion, unstoppable ambition, and the dawn of a new nation, “Hamilton” is the epic saga that follows the

January 15, 7pm for youth, 8pm for adults Charis Books and More

20 BEST BETS CALENDAR JANUARY 12, 2024

January 24 Lips Atlanta

January 25, 7:30pm, through January 27

“Hamilton”

rise of founding father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love, and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation. Based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography and set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway, the Tony Award-winning musical has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education.

“Furlough’s Paradise”

January 31, 7:30pm, through March 3 Alliance Theatre Hertz Stage Winner of the 20th annual Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, A.K, Payne’s “Furlough’s Paradise” is a poignant new play examining the dynamics that shape our lives and lead us to where we make our homes.

Cousins Sade and Mina, raised like sisters but now leading very different lives, return to their childhood town for the funeral of their mother and aunt. While Sade is on a three-day furlough from prison and Mina experiences a brief reprieve from her career and life on the West Coast, the two try to make sense of grief, home, love, and kinship. But traumas and resentments from the past, both real and surreal, threaten to pull them apart, all as time ticks towards the correctional officer's arrival.

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LGBTQ NIGHTLIFE FORECAST JANUARY 12-26 Katie Burkholder

Disco Dollz

January 12, 8:30pm Future Atlanta Starring Phoenix, Cici Nicole, Raquel Rae Heart, and Coco Iman Starr, hosted by Destiny Brooks! No cover.

Nostalgix Star City Tour January 12, 10pm District Atlanta

Tickets at nostalgixmusic.ca.

XION

January 13, 3am Future Atlanta

Future Atlanta With DJ Karlitos. $5 cover.

Rock Haus Karaoke January 17, 9pm Atlanta Eagle

Hosted by Raqi.

Alt3r

January 17, 10pm Star Bar Join Hera Kane, Katrina Prowess, and their lineup of incredible drag performers for Little Five Points’ favorite drag show! $5 cover.

Karaoke Night

With DJ Karlitos. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

January 18, 9pm The T

Candela

RuPaul’s Drag Race Viewing Party

Atlanta’s hottest Latin Fusion party!

Featuring DJ EU and DJ Eduardo Franco.

Tickets via Eventbrite.

Come watch season 16 on the big screen with host Phoenix! No cover.

XION

January 19, 8:30pm Future Atlanta

January 13, 10pm District Atlanta

January 14, 3am Believe Music Hall With Danny Verde. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

Karaoke Night

January 14, 7:30pm The T

Shameless Sundays January 14, 11:55pm Future Atlanta

Hosted by Kyra More and Tristan Panucci with DJ Justin Facee. Tickets at futureatlanta.com.

Atlanta All Stars Week 2 January 16, 8:30pm Future Atlanta

Some of Atlanta’s greatest upcoming drag talent compete for the $10,000 prize and the title of Atlanta’s Top Allstar. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

Trivia Night

January 16, 8:30pm Atlanta Eagle Hosted by DJ DeWayne.

Late Nite Latin Tuesdays January 17, 3am

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January 19, 7:30pm Future Atlanta

Disco Dollz

Starring Phoenix, Cici Nicole, Raquel Rae Heart, and Coco Iman Starr, hosted by Destiny Brooks! No cover.

San Pacho

January 19, 10pm District Atlanta Tickets at sanpanchoATL.eventbrite.com.

XION

January 20, 3am Future Atlanta With Tracy Levine (HouseCat). Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

XION

January 21, 3am Believe Music Hall With House of Labs. Tickets at futureatlanta.com.

Karaoke Night

January 21, 7:30pm The T

Shameless Sundays January 21, 11:55pm Future Atlanta

Hosted by Kyra Mora and Tristan Panucci

EVENT SPOTLIGHT RuPaul’s Drag Race Viewing Party January 19 & 26, 7:30pm Future Atlanta Come watch season 16 on the big screen with host Phoenix! No cover. Publicity photo with DJ Justin Facee.

Country Night January 23, 8pm Atlanta Eagle

Show up at 8pm for the dance lesson before line dancing the night away with DJ Dice.

Atlanta All Stars Week 3 January 23, 8:30pm Future Atlanta

Some of Atlanta’s greatest upcoming drag talent compete for the $10,000 prize and the title of Atlanta’s Top Allstar. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

Trivia Night

January 23, 8:30pm Atlanta Eagle Hosted by DJ DeWayne.

Late Nite Latin Tuesdays January 24, 3am

Future Atlanta With DJ Karlitos. $5 cover.

Rock Haus Karaoke January 24, 9pm Atlanta Eagle

Hosted by Raqi.

Karaoke Night January 25, 9pm The T

RuPaul’s Drag Race Viewing Party January 26, 7:30pm Future Atlanta

Come watch season 16 on the big screen with host Phoenix! No cover.

VAVO

January 26, 10pm District Atlanta Party with VAVO and DJ Babey Drew!

Tickets at collectivpresents.com.

JANUARY 12, 2024 LGBTQ NIGHTLIFE FORECAST 21

THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID MELISSA CARTER

A Healthy

Resolution Melissa Carter With a New Year usually comes the resolution to get in better shape. I have a friend who said he was going to open a gym called Resolutions just for this purpose, knowing his facility would only be open in January.

By the end of the month, most people will have given up on their enthusiasm for a renewed body.

I notice it’s not only gyms that capitalize on this popular intention. Ads on television and online promise if you take this pill, do this exercise, buy this equipment, or drink this liquid, you will see dramatic changes in your body in a short amount of time. If you don’t know your body well, however, these spontaneous actions could do you more harm than good.

For instance, I have IBS. For those unfamiliar with the chronic condition, it causes your

22 COLUMNIST JANUARY 12, 2024

gut to respond negatively to certain foods, resulting in gas, diarrhea, and constipation.

In other words: not fun and something that kept me from many activities while growing up. Knowing my limitations, I don’t try these herbal TikTok and Instagram remedies for belly fat and certainly don’t ingest some industry-manufactured elixir that promises unlimited energy.

Believe it or not, there are natural ingredients that I can’t consume, so when these advertisers suggest being all natural will make their product harmless, I know better. But for many, the magic words “all natural” are enough to satisfy their concerns for product consumption, when in reality, to truly have something all natural means you grew and harvested it in your own backyard.

Even then, I couldn’t eat all that garden.

When it comes to exercise, I usually walk in a park. What I wear depends mainly on what’s clean(ish) and comfortable for my session. When I see others during my exercise, their clothes are much different

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / VADVENN

from mine. From color-coordinated tops and leggings to branded sets of apparel and shoes, I often assume there was more thought put into how they will look while they’re sweating than the actual training itself. Advertising again at its best.

So, what is health and how do you achieve it? At this point in life, I’m discovering that it’s an emotion and not the perfect selfie. I watch my son play with his friends and often wonder when was the last time I behaved the same way. When have I run at full speed to hug a friend, just because I was excited to

see them? When was the last time I laughed so hard I fell to the ground in tears? I can’t remember the last time I was in spontaneous play with a group, without anyone having to be concerned about a deadline or schedule.

Joy. Laughter. Excitement. Bursts of screaming laughter. These are the things that create health and happiness, not constantly checking your step count or kettlebell reps.

Yes, physical movement and eating healthy are essential to a healthy life, but I argue that how you feel about these things is what makes them truly successful.

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