After my mother first read Peter Pan to me, our entire house became Never-Never Land, in my mind’s eye; transformed in an instant from a two-story townhouse to a place full of sunshine and shadows, rock cliffs and treehouses, and dirt paths leading to secret hideaways among the roots of trees. The doctors called it neurodivergence, but I called it magic! There is a fine line between the world of imagination and the world of reality; however, neurotypical adults rarely like to admit such things. (What is reality anyway...but a set of stories we humans anchor ourselves to?!) Those days growing up in the settlement, time seemed to stand still. Everyone had at least three or four siblings, and about a hundred cousins; we all knew each other for generations, working together, studying together, and marrying into each other’s families for hundreds of years since colonization began...and perhaps even for millennia before that, when the ancients still walked these lands. I was taught young, by the expectations of the community who raised me, that they did not support being different and standing out is poorly tolerated. I was often told how “strange” I was and that I needed to get my head out of the clouds. Personally, I preferred to stand in the fields and feel my body sway with the wind and wildflowers.
So many years later, standing in a room full of such diversity at the podcast convention, now a grown human; these early memories cross my mind. Within the pride and excitement of the present moment, there is a tinge of sadness for the reality that I had to leave my own homelands to be accepted among strangers. Before walking up to the podium, I close my eyes tightly, and take some deep breaths; feeling the air flow into my nostrils and brushing the inside walls of my nasal cavity. I focus my attention on following my breath down into my lungs, as they expand until it hurts. Slowly releasing this warm air back to the space from whence it came; I allow the pains from the past to leave me. Outside the skies are blue and the sun is shining brightly, as I perform my smudging ceremony. I speak aloud to the universe and all of my ancestors; “this is what I came here for”. Walking back into the convention space, I feel my being instantly transform into the public speaker that I have trained to be.
“Hello, fellow podcasters! Ramona Jett here; I will be hosting the presentations throughout this weekend, and I look forward to us all getting to know each other a bit better by the end of this adventure into Podcast Wonderland.” As I notice familiar faces in the crowd and the quick silent side-waves continue to pass around the space, it begins to feel more like home, “I gotta say, it sure is great to see y’all out there today; old friends, and some new faces. With that being said, I am sure we are all eager to get started,so without further ado...let’s get this show on the road”. The energy in the room soars as the cacophony of applause and chatter becomes the loudest sound; individual hosts broadcasting live in order to share the full experience with their followers who could not attend in person. Gazing out over the crowd, it becomes clear that there has been a revolutionary emphasis on accessibility with alternative ways of storytelling at the forefront of our practice and I feel my face smile as my heart swells, and I wrap my arm around my daughter; “this is why...this is what I am doing it for”. I feel her squeeze me tight and reply, “Let’s get started then.”
Written by Sunshine