Unapologetic, Loud, and True

A few nights ago, I was walking through Bourbon Street with my partner. We were visiting New Orleans for a few hot summer days of vacation and childfree adventuring, immersed in a cacophony of sights, sounds, smells, and feels of all kinds: people handling giant snakes, a group of evangelicals shouting about the end-times, and a drum line conducted by a tiny drum major of no more than five years who was collecting her tips in a Minnie Mouse basket. This was all in one block.

New Orleanians know how to take up space and make it their own.

When we watch the street performers in the French Quarter, they have a purpose for being there, and they make it known. They don't make excuses for the space they occupy, but they don’t take more space than they need to do what they came to do. Everyone’s singing, dancing, praying, shouting, talking, and moving so big and so bold. So loud. So true. So unapologetic. People don't care about what other people think of them because there is an understanding that everyone has their own story to tell.

Caption: Unapologetic anti-racism in the bathroom at Mosquito Supper Club, where we had a beautiful dinner on our last night in New Orleans.

This is significant to me because I have been on a journey in recent years to find my voice. To speak my truth. To know what I want to say, and to say it the way I want to say it. Too often I feel like my truth gets trapped in my throat. I can almost feel it stuck there, and I’m tempted to swallow it. But lately, I want to open my mouth and roar.

On our first night in the city, I wandered into a gallery around 11:30pm. The gallery was filled with painting, sculpture, woodwork and jewelry from local artists. There was a mannequin sitting in the corner that I thought was the shopkeeper, and a shopkeeper sitting behind the desk that I thought was a mannequin because she was sleeping. She woke up as I entered the gallery. I bought a pair of earrings that she had made, and as she handled the transaction, I picked up a book of spells sitting on the counter. I opened it and landed on a page that said Speak your Truth.

Caption: Wisdom found at Great Artists’ Collective on Royal Street

Bless New Orleans for being a place that reminds me to speak my truth.

Bless New Orleans for helping me practice being loud, expressive, and unapologetic about who I am.