Wishing you Creature Comfort this New Year

A few years back, I heard Tarana Burke speak at a Blue Bench event in Denver. In fielding questions about how she has navigated a high profile career addressing sexual assault and trauma, she spoke of curating joy in her life.

I think of her phrase – curating joy – often. Growing up professionally in the trauma world, I’ve had no shortage of self-care conversations. But curating joy resonated in a new way — a way that was proactive and recognized that seeing the world in all of its realities is a process. Just as we need people to really recognize the impacts of trauma, we also need a world in which each of us can discover and curate joy.

One of my paths to curating joy is through my camera. I love the discovery of something awe-inspiring, unexpected, even magical in the world around me. This past year, I found that magic in gardens and open spaces. It became a sort of creature comfort, you could say.

Which brings me to my new year’s wish for you: I hope you find openings this holiday season to curate joy, to discover something magical in the world around you — some creature comfort. After all, we’ll need that joy in the year ahead as we begin our work anew to end intimate violence together.

See you in 2022. With joy.