“We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.” — Elliot Page
Love is one of the most fundamental human experiences, yet for too long, LGBTQ+ individuals have been told that their love is something to be hidden, altered, or diminished. Elliot Page’s words remind us that love should be free from fear and compromise. No one should have to justify their identity or fight for the right to love openly and authentically.
This quote speaks to the importance of equality—not just in legal rights, but in the way love is valued and respected in society. It’s a call to reject shame and embrace pride, to push back against narratives that suggest LGBTQ+ love is anything less than beautiful and valid. Whether in relationships, friendships, or self-love, everyone deserves to experience love without barriers. Today, let this quote serve as a reminder to support, uplift, and celebrate each other in our journeys toward full acceptance and joy.
Since it’s Thursday, here’s your Isabella Pic of the Week:
This is about as close as I get to her cuddling. She’s not a cuddly cat, and she also seems to not like her picture being taken.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
—Mark Twain
The above quote by Mark Twain emphasizes the transformative power of travel in broadening one’s perspective and combating ignorance, prejudice, and narrow-mindedness. Travel exposes people to different cultures, customs, and ways of thinking, which challenges preconceived notions, stereotypes, and biases. It fosters empathy and understanding by showing the diversity and complexity of human experiences.
Twain acknowledges that many individuals remain confined to their limited worldviews because they have not had the opportunity—or the inclination—to step outside their familiar surroundings. He suggests that travel could help these individuals overcome their prejudices. By encountering different perspectives and lifestyles, travelers develop a more inclusive, kind, and generous attitude toward others. This openness leads to a deeper appreciation of humanity’s shared values and differences.
Remaining in a single place or within a single worldview limits personal growth and understanding. Twain suggests that staying in a “bubble” leads to stagnation, whereas exploration brings enlightenment and growth. In essence, Twain is advocating for travel as a means to expand one’s mind, challenge ignorance, and promote a more compassionate and inclusive outlook on life.
I have not had much of a chance to travel recently because I am not counting going back to Alabama for the holidays or traveling to conferences for work. I would love to get away and spend a few days in Montreal or go on another gay retreat like the one I went to a few years ago at Easton Mountain. When the weather gets warmer, I would love to visit Ogunquit, Maine, or Provincetown, Massachusetts, both towns known for LGBTQ+ tourists, with numerous LGBTQ+-owned and -operated hotels, restaurants, and bars. I haven’t taken a gay themed vacation in a while and would love for the chance to do so. Of course, I wish I could take a trip to Europe, but I definitely can’t afford to cross the Atlantic, but a boy can dream.
I have not posted an Isabella picture of the week in a couple of weeks, so here you go:
George Eliot is quoted as saying, “It is never too late to be what you might have been,” and I feel like that describes my life in a way. All through high school and most of college, I aspired to be a lawyer; however, after working for a lawyer for a couple of years, I realized that I did not really want to go into law. I eventually decided that I’d rather be a teacher. I had always thought that maybe I could teach adjunct or teach in some way if I became a lawyer, but I finally came to the decision that I’d be happier as a teacher. That decision led me to go to graduate school because I wanted to teach history in college, and while I did teach college classes, that never became a full-time reality. I ended up teaching high school for five years, five stressful and painful years. When I left my job as a teacher, I realized that I wanted to work in museums. I was in my late thirties and decided to make another career change. My job search led me to finding a job in Vermont, somewhere I had never considered living. However, I have found that I love my job, and I love Vermont. I not only get to teach and work in a museum, but I also became a professor, which I never thought would be possible when I abandoned my PhD. I especially never thought I would ever get the chance to teach about my research, but I will be doing just that next semester.
We have the possibility of personal growth and transformation at any stage on our life. We just have to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. The sentiment encourages people to recognize that their past choices or circumstances do not have to define their future. It conveys a message of hope and empowerment, suggesting that individuals always have the opportunity to change, pursue their passions, or fulfill untapped potential. The above quote form George Eliot challenges the idea that there’s a fixed timeline for achieving one’s goals or becoming the person one aspires to be. They imply that the capacity for reinvention and progress is boundless, provided one has the will and determination to take action. This perspective aligns with her broader literary themes of human resilience, moral growth, and the importance of striving for a meaningful life despite difficulties or setbacks.
Alexander Graham Bell is often given credit for the quote, “When one door closes, fortune will usually open another.” The quote actually comes from Fernando de Rojas (c. 1465–1541), a Spanish author best known for writing La Celestina, one of the most significant works of Spanish literature and a precursor to the Spanish Golden Age. It doesn’t really matter who said it first, since it has been said many times, but it’s true. When I had to leave my PhD program because I could not longer afford to continue, I was devastated and thought I’d never be the professor I had aspired to be. When I lost my job teaching high school (I was replaced by a coach), I was devastated and thought my teaching career was over. When I found out my original position at my museum was ending, I didn’t know what I was going to do. However, it eventually led to my current position and my appointment as a professor at my university.
We never know where our lives will lead us or what path our lives will take. Sometimes, it is a bumpy, uneven path, sometimes we may veer off the path and get lost in the woods, but if we allow ourselves to get back on the path, we will eventually reach our destination. When you are feeling lost, know that the path is still there, you just have to find it again.
Since it is Thursday, here is your Isabella pic of the week:
I have always been fascinated by the 19th century transcendentalists. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s (1803 – 1882) philosophy often aligns with my own. He was seen as a champion of individualism and critical thinking, as well as a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society and conformity. My favorite piece of his writing is his 1841 essay “Self-Reliance.” It contains the most thorough statement of one of his recurrent themes: the need for each person to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of his most famous quotations:
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
However, this is not the quote that inspired me to write this post. This one was written in his journal on November 8, 1838:
“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”
Emerson’s words retain relevance today, particularly in the age of the 24-hour news cycle when outrageous sound bites that command the most attention and elicit the highest amount of clicks is heard over and over. It is especially relevant when we have a presidential candidate who loves to portray himself as a persecuted (and prosecuted) martyr.
In the quote, Emerson condemns those who are so ridiculously devoted to the righteousness of their own ideas that anything which poses a contrary opinion must inherently be dangerous. Republicans, especially Trump, consistently complain that they are being persecuted when anyone disagrees with them, and they have several 24-hour news stations that back these false claims of persecution often with misleading or inaccurate information. They use these tactics because, like the Republicans they prostrate themselves to, want everyone to conform to their way of thinking. They claim they want people to be self-reliant, but they demand everyone conform to their small minded ideas.
Over many years, I have learned that my happiness doesn’t come from conformity but depends on embracing who I am. The world would be a boring place if we all acted and thought the same way. It would be nothing more than mindless drones. I tend to believe that those people who conform to what others think they should are often the most unhappy and often angry. Our country was founded on the ideals communicated in the Declaration of Independence and the belief that all are created equal and are able to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
So those are my thoughts of the day. Now, here is your picture of Isabella for the week:
People often have different definitions of what wasting time means. I know of a lot of people who were told when they were younger that they were wasting time because they were doing something they enjoyed. Maybe they were day dreaming, doodling, or even reading a book, but if you think about it, the imagination of poets and writers comes from their day dreams, great artists began as doodlers, and reading is how we learn. We agree with Bertrand Russell that if you enjoyed what you are doing, then you’re not wasting your time.
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, and public intellectual.
Today’s goals: Coffee and kindness. Maybe two coffees, and then kindness.”
– Nanea Hoffman
Nanea Hoffman (@NaneaHoffman) describes herself as the Founder/Principle of Sweatpants & Coffee and creator of the mental health mascot, the Anxiety Blob. Writer, dreamer, coffee lover, blanket fort dweller.
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
— Booker T. Washington
I wish more people would remember this. Too many people only want to tear people down to make themselves feel better. They know that if they can keep people they deem unworthy down, they can stay in power. Republicans are currently doing everything they can to discredit people who cherish equality. They use their political positions to take away the rights of others, especially the right to vote and representation in the government.
Alabama has been gerrymandering the districts of the legislature and Congress to make sure they remain in power. Thankfully, the federal courts, backed by the Supreme Court, has ordered Alabama to create a second minority majority district. Growing up in Alabama, I lived in the 2nd Congressional district and have also lived in the 7th Congressional district, which has traditionally been the only minority majority district in the state. I am very happy that the courts seem to be ordering that the 2nd Congressional district be redrawn to also be a minority majority district. While I hope to never live in Alabama again, especially in either the 2nd or 7th Congressional districts, I am glad that they are very likely to both be represented by Democrats.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou said, “I’ve had so many rainbows in my clouds. I had a lot of clouds, but I had so many rainbows.” Within every cloud, there is a silver lining. From every patch of rain, somewhere there is a rainbow to be found. Have you ever had days, weeks, or months in your life when it seems as though the clouds won’t pass and the rain just won’t stop falling? It’s safe to say that at one point or another most of us have experienced this kind of difficult season. Perhaps you lost a lover or friend, or you experienced the pain of death, or maybe life just threw one too many curveballs at once, and you just felt sad for a while. Sometimes that sadness can be overwhelming and take over for long periods of time or may never go away. No matter how it happens, we can all appreciate that life’s moments are not always filled with sunshine.
With this knowledge in mind, there is a simple and powerful perspective that we can all choose to embrace; that each person you come across is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Whether it’s internally or externally, every person you meet is dealing with something that is challenging for them. Angelou wrote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
While we certainly can’t save people from their pain, we all have the power to influence one another in positive ways. We each have the power to give to one another in a way that is meaningful and impactful. To be the rainbow in someone’s cloud means to cultivate loving kindness as a daily practice in your life. It means looking into your heart, practicing empathy, and using that empathy to connect to the people around you. We all have the opportunity to be someone’s rainbow. Probably the greatest part of adopting this practice is that our efforts don’t need to be overwhelming. Something as simple as a smile can greatly help someone who is going through a difficult time.
Maya Angelou said she always carried these “rainbows” with her to her speaking and teaching engagements, whether in a large venue or an intimate classroom. “I bring everyone who has ever been kind to me with me,” she said. “Black, white, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American, gay, straight, everybody. I said, ‘Come on with me. I’m going on the stage. Come with me. I need you now.'” Whether her “rainbows” were living or had long since passed, Dr. Angelou said she always felt and drew strength from their support. “I don’t ever feel I have no help,” she said. “I had rainbows in my clouds.”
She also encouraged people to apply the “rainbow in the clouds” philosophy to their own lives. “The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God — if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think.”
To choose to live from a place of loving-kindness is one of the greatest gifts you can give to the world and to yourself. Not only will you impact others in a positive way but you also give yourself a purpose outside of your own needs, which brings fulfillment and ultimately happiness for you too. When we are kind to others, we learn that we matter, that we are powerful, and that what we do on a daily basis really does have an impact on the world around us.
Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud today and practice more kindness in your life.
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
—William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt (10 April 1778 – 18 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. In the above quote, Hazlitt makes a point that is relevant today as it was over 200 years ago when he was alive. As we see more and more right wing politicians striving for greater power by taking away the liberty of those they deem unworthy or a threat to their power. They attack those who are most vulnerable: transgender youth (and all other LGBTQ+ people), immigrants, minorities, and the list grows on and on. It’s not just Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and their followers, but this trend towards a 21st century fascism is on the rise around the world.
Thomas Paine began his pamphlet The Crisis with these famous words, “These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
The right wing politicians are definitely “summer soldier and the sunshine patriot.” They wrap their undemocratic laws and policies in the name of protecting democracy, yet they are really trying to destroy democracy. The greatest threat is that if they come to power, their tyranny will “not easily conquered.” The more laws they pass and the more the courts side with these policies, the harder it will be to undo the damage.
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…
The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1997)
In his 1997 book The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan warned us about the “dumbing down” of America. He warned of a time when our “critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…” Sadly, Sagan’s prediction is coming true, and that time is upon us. We must do all we can to prevent that darkness from taking hold. In his book Cosmos, Sagan wrote, “Our passion for learning … is our tool for survival.” We will perish as a nation and lose any freedom we have if we allow this “dumbing down” of America to persist.
Last month, Montana withdrew from the American Library Association (ALA). A few days ago, a Texas state commission will disassociate with the progressive American Library Association following accusations that it pushes Marxism and gender ideology through children’s literature. A right-wing group of women in Alabama calling themselves “Clean Up Alabama” are advocating that the Alabama Republican party push to disassociate with the ALA. Republican officials in at least seven other states (Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Wyoming) are also pushing to completely withdraw from ALA.
The ALA provides member libraries with resources and benefits like discounts on professional development, insurance and employment aid, continuing education, and other programs. They also provide a code of ethics for librarians, and we all know that many Republicans, especially those loyal to Donald Trump, do not believe in codes of ethics. They are no longer satisfied with banning books and classes that teach about LGBTQ+ and other minority histories. They want to get rid of the libraries that keep and lend them, too. Right-wing extremists are on the march to destroy the intellect of America.
In the 1930s, the German Student Union began a campaign to ceremonially burn books in Nazi Germany and Austria. The books targeted for burning were those viewed as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. These included books written by Jewish, half-Jewish, communist, socialist, anarchist, liberal, pacifist, and sexologist authors among others. The initial books burned were those of Karl Marx and Karl Kautsky, but came to include very many authors, including Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, writers in French and English, and effectively any book incompatible with Nazi ideology. In a campaign of cultural genocide, books were also burned en masse by the Nazis in occupied territories, such as in Poland. Today, the Far Right and Christian Conservatives are wanting to ban books that were written by African Americans, LGBTQ+ authors, communist, socialist, anarchist, and liberal, authors among others. They may not be burning books (although some actually are), but they are taking them out of circulation in libraries and schools.
Sinclair Lewis First published It Can’t Happen Here, in 1935, when Americans were still largely oblivious to the rise of Hitler in Europe. The prophetic novel tells a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and offers an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. In the book, Doremus Jessup, a Vermont newspaper editor, is dismayed to find that many of the people he knows support presidential candidate Berzelius Windrip. The suspiciously fascist Windrip is offering to save the nation from sex, crime, welfare cheats, and a liberal press. But after Windrip wins the election, dissent soon becomes dangerous for Jessup. Windrip forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court and, with the aid of his personal paramilitary storm troopers, turns the United States into a totalitarian state. While today, Democrats hold the White House and the Senate, Republicans control the House of Representatives, though with a slim majority, and are firmly in control of the Supreme Court. The rhetoric of right-wing politicians, not only in the United States but across the world, are claiming that when in power they can save the nation from sex, crime, welfare cheats, and a liberal press. They will also suppress the ability to think as they are taking away the tools to learn to think.
Sagan was quoted in Lily Splane’s Quantum Consciousness as saying, “It is the responsibility of scientists never to suppress knowledge, no matter how awkward that knowledge is, no matter how it may bother those in power; we are not smart enough to decide which pieces of knowledge are permissible and which are not.” I will take that one step further, it is not just the responsibility of scientists but all educators, librarians, and museum professionals to never suppress knowledge. The far right has always vilified college professors and intellectuals because they fear the truth. They are so afraid of someone thinking freely, that they brainwash people with 24-hour news channels like Fox News and Newsmax. They even seem to be gaining ground with CNN, though MSNBC holds steadfastly to presenting opposing viewpoints.
Sagan also said in The Demon-Haunted World, “The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.” However, in the current state of America and many other countries with far-right parties gaining ground, fascist conservatives (though not all conservatives are fascist), are fighting to make sure people are not able to hear a better argument. Susan recently sent me a joke that went like this, “How many Trump supporters does it take to change a lightbulb? None. Trump says it’s done and they all cheer in the dark.” It would be funnier if it weren’t so true. For the first 234 years of the nation’s history, no American president or former president had ever been indicted. That has changed this year. Donald Trump has been charged in four criminal cases which include 91 criminal charges over a four-and-a-half-month span, and yet, he is still the frontrunner, and by a considerable margin, for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Joe
The Closet Professor 