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Carol Lynn Pearson
News & Views
March, 2007
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Welcome to: Carol Lynn
Pearson's "News and Views," March, 2007
A Newsletter
devoted to spirituality, sexuality and healing
Carol Lynn is
the author of:
-No More
Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons around Our Gay Loved Ones
-Goodbye, I
Love You
IN THIS ISSUE:
1--Story: "Us" and
"Them" No More
2--Need a Speaker?
3--More Great
Responses to No More Goodbyes
4--Upcoming
Performances of Facing East
1--STORY: "US" AND "THEM" NO MORE.
Among the stories I told recently when I spoke at an event of the
Gay and Lesbian Center in
Salt Lake City , is one that still makes me smile. The
theme I chose was "'Us' and 'Them' No More."
Last November I was in Utah for
performances of my play, "Facing East," (Mormon family deals with
suicide of gay son). Early Thanksgiving morning I left my hotel to
walk to TRAX to take the local train to Sandy
to meet my brother and daughter to travel to a family celebration.
The streets of Salt Lake City were cold and
totally deserted except for an occasional street person. As I
hurried along, suddenly a young man approached me. "I'm so sorry to
bother you, but I'm trying to raise enough money to get a bus ticket
so I can make it home for Thanksgiving. The bus leaves at one, and
my parents said they wouldn't give me any more money. I'm trying to
raise it one or two dollars at a time..."
He
didn't look scary or unkept, just a teenage boy.
"Do you do this every day?" I asked.
"No, no," he said. "Honest, I just want to get a bus ticket home."
Remembering how I would feel if this were
my child, remembering a certain King Benjamin about our all being
beggars, remembering that it was Thanksgiving, after all–I opened my
backpack and got out the sum he needed for his bus fare from the
little blue plastic box filled with cash from book sales from the
theatre and handed it to him.
"Oh, thanks!" he said in surprise. "Wow. Where are you from? What
do you do?"
"I
live in California . I'm a writer."
"You are? I love poems!"
"I
write poems."
"You do?" His eyes widened in amazement. Then–"Would you
tell me one?"
Would I tell him a poem? Here on the cold streets of
Salt Lake City in the early morning of Thanksgiving–would I
tell this boy a poem? Suddenly my reality shifted. A moment ago we
had been "us" and "them"–me a privileged woman who had never
accosted someone on the street to ask for money, and him a boy
who–for whatever reason–had at the moment no resources. And then,
in the time it took for him to say five words, all that had
shifted. We were two people who loved poems.
"Sure," I
said. It would have to be a short poem, as I had to catch the
train. "Here's one that I have to tell myself every now and then.
I wrote the two parts of this tiny poem two years apart–the first
section in the darkest time of my life, the second when things
looked brighter. 'Drama in Two Acts.'
"I
dim
I
dim
I
have no doubt
If
someone blew–
I
would go out.
I
did not.
I
must be brighter
Than I thought."
"Ohhh. Will you say it again?"
I
did. Then I gave the boy a hug and made him promise that he will do
whatever it takes to get into a position where he can take good care
of himself and make a contribution to the world.
I hurried down the street to catch the
train–only to discover that, unlike BART in the Bay Area where I
live, Salt Lake Sandy and asked him to come and get me. It seems we all need
help getting home for Thanksgiving. As King Benjamin said, we are
all beggars. Finally there is no "us" and "them."
2–NEED A SPEAKER? Is
your business ready to address issues of "us" and "them" regarding
employees and clients who are gay? Does your organization, college,
conference, retreat, need a keynote speaker or workshop leader
addressing "No More 'Us' and 'Them'" or other subjects in which I
specialize? Email me at clp@nomoregoodbyes.com.
(Complimentary CD available of talk mentioned above.)
3–MORE GREAT
RESPONSES TO NO MORE GOOBYES: CIRCLING THE WAGONS AROUND OUR GAY
LOVED ONES.
Here is a taste of the gratifying responses that I
continue to receive from readers of the new book:
I owe you so much! I shed
many tears when I read your two books this past January, but when I
opened your February News & Views I was caught totally off guard,
and the tears flowed again. The two brothers you quoted are my two
sons. You have touched our family in so many ways I don't know how I
can ever repay you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
–L.
Your new book was so
powerful for my parents, as was your play, "Facing East." They
gave me my own autographed copies. Now that I've finally
finished, I am filled with such gratitude. For three years we
barely spoke to one another. But my parents have now redrawn the
family circle, and my partner and I are firmly in the middle,
unconditionally loved, and fiercely defended.
…Now, after finishing your wonderful, beautiful,
hopeful book, I [know that] my partner and I will not die of
suicide, we will not die of AIDS, we will not die alone. We will die
at the end of long lives full of love and holiness and service, long
lives of helping to gather in all the lost ones. –J.
Read more comments, two free
chapters or purchase No More Goodbyes, Goodbye, I Love
You, or Facing East at
www.nomoregoodbyes.com.
4–UPCOMING
PERFORMANCES OF FACING EAST.
Lots of excitement around the Utah
run (April-May)
prior to the New York run.
1.
Studio Theatre at Rose Wagner Hall, 3 Weeks, April 19-May 6
2. Tickets
are available at 801-355-ARTS, on sale now, $20
3.
Thursday-Saturday at 8; Sunday at 2 & 5:30
4.
Go to
www.planbtheatrecompany.org for more information.
New York City
off-Broadway dates
are May 25-June 29, Atlantic Theatre, 330 W. 16th
St.
San Francisco run is
August 10-26, Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th
St. Information on tickets in future newsletter or at www.planbtheatrecompany.org.
"Being listened to is so
close to being loved
that most people cannot tell the difference."
--David Oxberg
that most people cannot tell the difference."
--David Oxberg
Happy Springtime and Love to All,
Carol Lynn
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