Archive

They Still Love You

The miracle of close friendship lies in that rare gift of being fully known - our messy shadows alongside our brightest light - and still being loved without condition. When someone witnesses our fears, our scars, and our deepest truths and chooses to stay, they stitch a safety net of

You Can't Explain It

When Queer voices give form to feelings others can’t name, we spark collective joy. This alchemy transforms vulnerability into solidarity, lighting a beacon in hearts that felt unseen. Each poem recited, each line delivered with conviction, becomes a bridge from personal truth to communal celebration. In that space where

The Ultimate Measure

Resilience isn’t tested in comfort but in how we rise when the world pushes back. In Queer life, standing tall amid challenge and controversy - whether at a rally demanding rights or in everyday affirmations of our identities - becomes a source of profound joy. Each act of courage,

Embrace Doing

True joy isn’t a distant ideal - it lives in the act of doing. In Queer life, our spirits awaken when we dance our truths, speak our stories, and build community through every chosen action. From organizing a gathering that affirms all identities to lending a hand in protest

Friends

Friendship is the heartbeat of Queer joy - those chosen few who hold space for us fill our lives with laughter, support, and a reminder that we belong. In moments of doubt or darkness, it’s the warmth of a friend’s voice, the shared inside joke, or the knowing

Fly

Rising in our creativity can feel like leaving gravity behind - when we dare to soar with our boldest ideas, those grounded in fear may see us as strange or distant. But in Queer art and expression, those heights are where joy lives. Each time we push beyond what’s

Character

When the world offers ease, our resilience remains untested, but when we endure hardship - misunderstanding, exclusion, self-doubt - we build the strength to claim our place and the wisdom to celebrate every victory. That hard-won strength fuels the sweetest joy - the confidence to share our stories, the courage

Joy In Laughter

Every bloom reminds us that joy can unfold in countless colors and forms - much like our Queer community, where each person brings their own vibrant petals to the garden of belonging. Flowers laugh in bursts of fragrance and hue, unfurling without apology or comparison, and so too do we

Friendship

Connection blooms in the sweetness of friendship - when laughter rings out and pleasures are shared, every small moment becomes a morning for the heart. In Queer community, those dew-like delights - late-night giggles over takeout, shared playlists that spark impromptu dance parties, whispered secrets in sunlit corners - refresh

Begin

Every creative journey gains its own momentum the moment we take that first step - deciding to begin is already half the victory. Where the path can feel uncertain or unwelcome, a Joyful Queer can see embarking on that road as an act of joy and defiance. Once we commit

A New Life

Each new dawn brings a chance to reinvent ourselves - resilience means treating every day like a fresh beginning, a new life we get to shape. For Queer joy, that wisdom is our compass - when yesterday’s setbacks fade with the sunrise, we can meet today with renewed hope

The Real Thing

Joy is that exuberant heartbeat you feel right in the middle of living your truth - when every color in you hums in harmony with the moment. For Joyful Queers, that sweet rush happens in spontaneous dance circles, impromptu love letters between chosen family, or that electric instant of self-recognition

More Than Connecting

Connection in Queer joy goes beyond simple togetherness - it’s a living exchange of hearts and minds. Like writers who first inhabit their characters and then find themselves living inside each reader, our stories and experiences become shared spaces of empathy and belonging. When we open up about our

You Must Make Mistakes

Creativity thrives in the permission to err - when we stumble, we learn not just what we’re not but who we might become. In Queer life, every “mistake” is a beacon pointing toward authenticity, guiding us away from the scripts imposed on us. Those imperfect drafts, off-key songs, and

Chaos Can Lead To Wisdom

True resilience is about witnessing the world’s wounds while refusing to be consumed - like chaos and failure, pain carries lessons that can become beauty and wisdom. In the Queer community, we transform shattered pieces into acts of art - our protests, stories, and celebrations fed by insight drawn

Joy IS The Reward

Giving in Queer community is itself an act of celebration - when we offer our time, our stories, or a helping hand, the joy we feel isn’t an add-on, it’s the gift itself. Whether it’s mentoring a younger Queer person, sharing resources for chosen family, or simply

Important Issues

Connection in Queer joy often springs from engaging with the causes that shape our world - the big, important issues that demand our voices and our action. When we come together around advocacy, from fighting for trans healthcare to celebrating queer art in public spaces, our bonds deepen and our

You're An Original

Creativity is born in the bold celebration of our individual brilliance - the recognition that each Queer voice is an essential star in the sky. When we embrace our originality without shyness, we light up the universe of expression - our unique stories, styles, and visions become treasures to share.

Change Your Thinking

Resilience in Queer joy is as much a practice of the mind as it is of the heart - when the world won’t bend, we bend our perspective. Instead of ruminating on what we can’t change, we choose to see challenges as invitations to reimagine our power. In

You Must Embrace It

Joy in Queer life is a radical act of love - recognizing that joy’s rarity and beauty make it our moral compass in a world primed for sorrow. When we choose delight, we carry a promise to ourselves and each other - that our happiness matters, that our laughter

Loving The Unusual In People

Celebrating our differences is where queer connection finds its magic - when we honor each person’s unique quirks and stories, we create a circle of acceptance that feels like home. Recognizing our own unusualness gives us the courage to embrace others’ distinct colors and rhythms, weaving a vibrant tapestry

Make More Experiments

Queer creativity is the grandest laboratory of joy - every experiment we dare to try, from a new pronoun to an untested art form, is a celebration of possibility. Each “what if” becomes a playful step toward self-discovery and community connection, proving that there’s no single right way to

Where Strength Comes From

True resilience isn’t about how much we can lift but about the unbreakable spark that drives us forward. In Queer lives, where every step toward authenticity can feel like swimming upstream, our indomitable will becomes our fiercest joy. It’s the quiet refusal to let others define our limits,

In Joy, We Face The Storm

Queer joy is our defiance in the face of life’s storms — it refuses to be mastered by sorrow or circumstance. When we lean into joy, we grip the wheel of our own becoming, steering through bad weather with laughter, song, and solidarity. In those moments, we aren’t at

Communication Makes Community

Communication is the heartbeat of Queer joy - when we speak openly and listen deeply, we build understanding that blossoms into intimacy and mutual valuing. In our community, honest dialogue about desires, boundaries, and fears transforms strangers into chosen family and safe spaces into sanctuaries. Every story we share and

Art And Joy Go Together

Creativity and joy go hand in hand when we dare to create with bold openness - heads held high, ready hands embracing every chance to express ourselves without fear of judgment. In Queer art and life, stepping onto the page, the stage, or the screen with courage becomes an act

The True Balance

Resilience in Queer joy is a dance between bold agency and gentle surrender - knowing when to push for change and when to embrace the flow. Sometimes we rally, raising our voices in protest or carving out safe spaces; other times we rest, allowing our spirits to heal and hopes

The Good Fortune Of Others

Celebrating each other’s victories is a profound act of Queer joy - it reminds us that our community thrives when one of us shines, we all glow a little brighter. When we cheer on the milestones, big or small, we transmit hope and abundance, showing that success isn’t

Where To Find Happiness

Connection is where our joy finds its deepest roots - happiness often arises in the embrace of relationships that see and support us. In Queer community, bonds forged through shared experience and unconditional acceptance become lifelines, reminding us that our stories matter. Whether in whispered confidences over coffee, exuberant dance‐

It Can Be Quiet

Creativity whispers before it roars, yet even the softest spark can ignite a riot of joy - whether it’s a doodle hidden in a notebook margin or an offhand lyric sung under your breath. Those “quiet poetry” moments remind us that expression doesn’t need grand stages or spotlights

Do The Thing

Action is the spark that turns hesitation into celebration - when we move, even in small ways, we replace doubt with delight. In Queer life, taking action can look like speaking our truth, stepping into a room that scares us, or simply choosing to love ourselves today. Every brave step

Patience

Patience gives joy room to grow - it teaches us to sit with uncertainty, to honor every small step forward, and to trust the timing of our own becoming. When our community faces setbacks or slow progress, rushing only breeds frustration. Instead, leaning into patience lets us celebrate each moment

Bridge Of Laughter

Laughter doesn’t erase difference - it bridges it. In the Queer community, where connection can feel both urgent and fragile, laughter is sacred. It lowers defenses, invites breath, and reminds us we are more than what hurts. Sometimes a shared joke can soften hearts even in those who might

You Decide

The blank page, the empty stage, the untouched canvas - they all shift the moment we decide to engage. Beginning is an act of power. It says - I’m here, I have something to say, and I won’t be silent while I wait for some nebulous clue to

You Must Tell The World

Resilience isn’t just surviving what the world throws at us - it’s speaking back. Setting the terms. In Queer lives, where mislabeling and erasure often come first, claiming our own definition is an act of power. We decide what we’re called. We decide what we deserve. Boundaries

Make Way For Joy

Joy asks us to stay open. Sometimes that means loosening our grip on what once brought light. Not because it wasn’t real, but because something new is trying to reach us. In Queer life, we often carry past versions of ourselves like keepsakes - names we outgrew, roles we

Connect Via The Emotion

We don’t need matching stories to understand each other - just open hearts. Empathy asks us to show up, not to know exactly what it’s like for the other person. In the Queer community, our paths may differ - identities, bodies, histories, needs - but we share the

It Often Begins In Art

Creativity has always been a spark for resistance and change, especially through the art of words. Our stories, poems, songs, and declarations have carried truths that couldn’t be spoken anywhere else - and that’s where transformation begins. This quote reminds us that words aren’t just expression, they’

Invite One To Stay

Resilience often lives in that daily choice - to make space for hope, even when fear feels louder. This quote speaks to the power of that decision - not to deny fear, but to consciously invite hope to take up more room. For Queer people, hope has always been a

How To Increase Joy

Joy becomes even more powerful when we share it - when we let it ripple out through laughter, art, care, and community. Joy isn't diminished when given away - it's amplified. In Queer community, sharing joy says, there is enough for all of us, and you

Vulnerability Can Be A Tool

Connection is often born through vulnerability - the courage to show up as we are, with our truth in hand and our hearts uncovered. Real growth, deep learning, and authentic relationships don’t come from perfection, but from openness. In Queer community, vulnerability is a kind of strength - it’

Use The Talent You Possess

Creativity isn't about being the best - it's about being honest, being heard, and being here. This quote reminds us that every voice matters, not just the loudest or most polished. If we waited to be perfect, so many beautiful stories would never be told, so

The Silent Power

Resilience is often sustained by something unseen - a quiet, steady force that rises in us when we refuse to give up, even when the world tells us to. This quote captures that invisible strength, the one that shows up not with fanfare but with determination, love, and the will

Beware The Thief Of Joy!

Joy flourishes when we stop measuring ourselves against someone else’s path and start honoring our own. This quote cuts deep because comparison can sneak in quietly - making us question if we’re Queer enough, creative enough, successful enough. But joy doesn’t live in someone else’s timeline

Differences Vs. Similarities

Connection is often built on this quiet truth: beneath all the labels, roles, and identities, we share the same core need - to be seen, loved, and understood. This quote reminds us that it’s easy to define what separates us, but far more powerful to recognize what binds us.

Everybody Sees It Differently

Creativity thrives in the richness of perspective - every story we tell is a reflection of who we are, how we love, what we’ve survived, and what we dream. This quote reminds us that storytelling isn’t just about facts, it’s about vision. Each queer voice adds something

The Meaning Of Liberation

Queer resilience is rooted in the power of voice - the refusal to be silenced, erased, or diminished. This quote speaks directly to the heart of liberation - not just freedom from oppression, but the freedom to speak, to shout, to tell our stories out loud. For so long, queer

Behind The Shadow

Joy often lives just beyond the shadow - quiet, steady, waiting to be claimed. This quote reminds us that even in the face of darkness, joy is not gone - it’s simply hidden, still within reach. For queer people, joy is a lifeline we stretch toward through struggle, through

The Most Touching Thing

Connection is deeply rooted in care - the kind of care that uplifts, creates space, and leaves something better than it was before. This quote speaks to the heart of that: the most meaningful impact isn’t fame or recognition, it’s knowing we’ve done something beautiful for each

Another Form of Thinking

Creativity often begins where words fall short - where emotion, identity, and truth spill out in color, texture, sound, and form. This quote reminds us that art isn’t just decoration - it’s thought made visible. Painting, like so many creative expressions, becomes a way of processing the world,

Make This Decision

Resilience is the daily decision to be stronger than the conditions we are given - to rise above the limitations, prejudices, and pain the world might place on us. This quote speaks directly to that quiet, powerful strength - the choice to live fully, love boldly, and create joy, even

How To Increase Joy

Joy is not just a feeling - it’s a way of living with purpose, with presence, and with power. This quote reminds us that joy isn’t something we wait for - it’s something we cultivate through intention. When we choose good thoughts about ourselves, speak truth with

Focus

Connection often begins with shifting how we see - choosing to look for beauty, truth, and possibility in ourselves and each other. This quote reminds us that perception shapes connection. When we seek love, we’re more likely to find it - when we look for shared humanity, it reveals

What Good Art Is

Creativity is rooted in connection - in the powerful moment when what we express reaches someone else and says, you’re not alone. This quote captures that magic - good art isn’t just about talent or technique, it’s about making people feel seen. In queer art, that connection

The Great vs. The Mediocre

Resilience is often forged in the fire of opposition - not because we seek it, but because living fully and authentically can challenge the narrow expectations of others. This quote reminds us that resistance doesn’t mean we’re wrong; it often means we’re powerful. Great spirits - those

We Choose

Queer joy is often an act of intention - a choice we make even before we fully understand what it will look like. This quote speaks to the quiet, powerful truth that how we move through the world shapes what we find in it. When we choose to embrace our

We Are More Alike Than Unalike

Connection is built on honoring difference while recognizing the deep threads that bind us. This quote captures a truth we live every day - our identities are beautifully diverse - across gender, race, body, experience - but underneath, we share the same desires to be seen, to be loved, to

Art Takes Courage

Creativity is an act of courage because it so often begins with imagining a world that doesn’t yet exist - a world where we are free, visible, and whole. To create in any art form is to make space for that vision, to trust our voice enough to shape

A True Hero

Resilience is heroic - not because it’s flashy or loud, but because it shows up in everyday acts of courage. Living openly, loving fully, simply existing in a world that often resists us - these are not small things. This quote reminds us that heroes aren’t always larger-than-life

Inner Conditions

Joy often begins as an inside job - nurtured in quiet moments, before the world ever offers us space to feel safe or seen. This quote speaks to the power of claiming happiness not as something granted by others, but as something we cultivate within ourselves. For many queer people,

We Need Both

Queer connection lives in the balance between individuality and community - where personal truth fuels collective growth, and collective care sustains personal courage. This quote captures that delicate, vital exchange. Our boldest impulses - art, identity, resistance - need a community that sees and supports them. At the same time,

It's A Cha-Cha

Creativity is a dance - a bold, unpredictable rhythm of progress, pause, and discovery. This quote reminds us that not every setback is a failure - sometimes it’s just part of the movement. In queer life, we often take steps forward that feel revolutionary, only to stumble or retreat

How To Keep Track

Queer resilience means honoring our pain without letting it define us. “Write your sad times in sand - write your good times in stone” reminds us to let the hurt be temporary, to let it shift and soften with time, while carving our joy into something lasting. For so many

Live For Something

Queer joy is most powerful when it’s shared - when it becomes not just something we feel, but something we offer. It’s not enough just to exist in a world that has tried to erase us; we live fully by choosing to bring light where it’s needed

It's A Rare Gift

Creativity often comes from wandering - trying on versions of ourselves, exploring paths that don’t quite fit, and learning through the journey what does. It’s a rare and beautiful gift to reach a point where we know where we need to be, not in spite of the detours,

Make Your Contribution

Queer creativity is not just personal expression - it’s a gift to the community, a thread in the tapestry of who we are together. When we silence our original ideas or ignore the voice within, we don’t just lose part of ourselves - we deny others the light

Wear It Out!

Queer resilience is often about endurance - the steady, unshakable choice to keep showing up, to keep living truthfully, even when the world pushes back. “He who does not tire, tires adversity” reminds us that persistence is power. Every time we refuse to give in - whether to hate, to

Joy Burns Out Pain

Joy is not the absence of pain - it’s the light that refuses to be dimmed by it. To find a place inside where there’s joy, even when the world feels heavy, is an act of quiet defiance and deep healing. That joy might be small at first

Show The World

Queer connection begins with how we show up - for ourselves, for each other, for a world that doesn’t always show us love in return. To rise each morning with a smile and lead with love is not naïve, it’s radical. It’s choosing compassion over cynicism, hope

Keep Working At It

Creativity is often fueled by persistence - by the determination to keep creating, imagining, and building even when the world says no. We know what it means to carve out space, to start from scratch, to believe in something before anyone else can see it. A good attitude doesn’t

Rise Against The Wind

Queer resilience is often born from pushing back - against the wind, the pressure, the silence. Opposition isn’t just something we endure, it’s something that shapes us, lifts us, sharpens our purpose. Like kites rising not with, but against the wind, we find strength in resistance, clarity in

Joy Is The Sign

Joy often springs from that electric moment when creation and emotion meet - when what we feel inside finally finds its shape in the world. It’s not just happiness for its own sake; it’s a signal that something true has been expressed, that our inner world has landed,

Work On This Art

Queer life has always taught us that connection is not just meaningful - it’s transformative. When we make the effort to truly see and understand one another, we break down the walls that isolate, judge, and divide. Perfecting the art of connection means choosing empathy over ego, curiosity over

Say Yes and Say No

Queer creativity thrives on that fierce inner compass - the one that says yes to our vision even when the world says no, and no to conformity even when it’s offered with applause. To create something truly great, we have to trust ourselves more than we fear rejection or

The Time Is Now

Resilience lives in the present - in the choice to meet each moment as it comes, even when it’s hard. For queer folks, that challenge often means standing in our truth, claiming our space, and choosing joy in a world that doesn’t always make it easy. “The time

Share It To Have It

Queer joy isn’t something we keep to ourselves - it grows stronger, brighter, and more powerful when we share it. Whether it’s a moment of laughter, a look of recognition, or the warmth of simply being seen, joy multiplies in community. It’s in the chosen families we

There Is Always A Thread

Queer connection often defies distance, time, even explanation - it’s that invisible thread, that deep knowing, that says we’re still tied to each other. Whether it’s chosen family, a soulmate friend, or someone who saw us when we were still figuring it out, those bonds hold strong.

Talent

Queer creativity often begins with questioning the rules - including who gets to be called “talented.” This quote flips that gatekeeping on its head. For so many of us, creativity isn’t something we were handed - it’s something we claimed, something we crafted. We’ve had to carve

Artists Must Make Art

In times of dread, when the world feels heavy and uncertain, queer artists have always been among the first to speak - not because it’s easy, but because silence is not an option. Resilience in our community is deeply tied to expression, to the need to name what’s

Spread Light

Queer Joy is expansive - it grows, multiplies, and radiates the more we share it. Like a single flame lighting thousands of others, one person’s joy can ignite another’s sense of possibility, belonging, or self-love. In a world that often tries to dim us, sharing happiness becomes a

Link, Don't Rank

Queer connection thrives in the space beyond categories - where we see each other not as fixed definitions, but as full, fluid beings. Labels can be powerful tools, making the invisible visible and giving language to who we are. But when labels become boundaries instead of bridges, they start to

Getting Obsessed

Queer creativity often begins with obsession - the beautiful, unshakable pull to see more, feel more, be more. We’re drawn to details others might overlook - the curve of a gesture, the tension in silence, the joy in defiance. It’s not a curse - it’s a gift.

Seek The Triumph

Queer resilience is rooted in the ability to find light in even the darkest places - to seek out the seed of triumph in every moment of adversity. It’s not about denying pain or pretending everything’s okay; it’s about knowing that within every struggle lies the potential

Joy Is Gratitude

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude - and queer joy, in particular, is revolutionary. It’s a thank you offered not just for what we have, but for who we’ve become despite the odds. When we feel joy, we’re honoring every version of ourselves that hoped for

Where We Are Greatest

Queer Joy flourishes in connection - in those moments where we show up for each other with honesty, tenderness, and strength. Greatness isn’t measured by status or achievement, but by how deeply we can inspire, encourage, and hold space for one another. In a world that often tries to

There Are No Rules

Queer creativity thrives in freedom - because art, like identity, has no rules but the ones we choose. “There is no must in art” speaks directly to the queer spirit: the refusal to be boxed in, the joy of creating on our own terms. Art doesn’t ask for permission,

Courage

Resilience in queer life isn’t about being fearless - it’s about moving forward with fear in our pockets and pride in our hearts. Courage means showing up anyway: coming out, speaking truth, loving openly, creating joy in a world that hasn’t always welcomed us. Mastering fear doesn’

Take Flight

There’s a unique kind of joy in not knowing - and still leaping in anyway. For queer people, so much of our journey begins in that flight into the unknown: questioning, unlearning, exploring parts of ourselves the world never taught us how to name. That curiosity, that courage to

Art Links Great Minds

Art is universal - and for queer people, it’s a lifeline. When language fails us, when the world doesn’t reflect us back, art becomes the place we find each other. It’s the connecting link in a long chain of queer minds: those who created in secret, those

Hope

Art is where queer creativity becomes liberation - a space where we imagine beyond the limits imposed on us and shape beauty from truth. In every brushstroke, lyric, or movement, there is hope - not just for survival, but for a life that feels fully ours. When the world tries

There's A Clue

Resilience is forged on the rough paths - the ones with twists, with resistance, with moments that demand everything we’ve got just to keep going. For queer people, the journey is rarely smooth, but that doesn’t mean we’re lost. It means we’re on a path that

The Zest Is Here

There’s a special kind of joy that comes from doing, from making, from pouring ourselves into something that reflects who we are. For queer people, that joy is often hard-won. It's born from the act of reclaiming our stories, reshaping what the world told us was possible.

I Am Connected

Queer Joy is deeply rooted in connection - not just to community, but to the understanding that we are never only ourselves. The old idea of being self-contained, of existing in isolation, doesn’t hold up when your identity is shaped in dialogue with others, with culture, with resistance, and

The Openings

Creativity begins with the courage to crack open a door - to start, even if we don’t know what comes next. For queer creators, that first sentence can be revolutionary: a declaration, an invitation, a spark that says this story matters because I exist to tell it. Whether we’

The Contrasts Are Important

Resilience lives in the rhythm of seasons - queer lives are often shaped by winters of silence, struggle, or survival. Those winters make our springs matter. They sharpen our sense of joy, deepen our appreciation for every bloom, every moment of safety, every burst of laughter. We don’t romanticize

Joy - It's Right There

Joy doesn’t always arrive with fireworks - sometimes it’s a bird on the fire escape, the quiet rhythm of making coffee, the gentle presence that walks beside us without needing to announce itself. In queer life, joy often lives in these tender, ordinary moments, made extraordinary by how

It's All Attached

Connection is at the core of Queer Joy - this deep, often quiet truth that none of us exists in isolation. When we show up as our full selves, when we love out loud or support someone else’s becoming, we're tugging on a thread that ripples outward.

Flip The Script

Creativity lives in the taking apart - in the bold, curious act of unbuilding what was handed to us so we can make something that’s actually ours. For queer folks, this is the heart of our joy: not just telling our stories, but disassembling the versions that never fit

Don't Give Away Your Power

Queer Joy is an act of reclaiming power - not just from systems that try to suppress us, but from the bitterness that can take root when we’ve been hurt. Choosing joy doesn’t mean forgetting the harm or excusing it - it means refusing to let it live

Wag Your Tail!

There’s something beautifully honest in the idea of wanting a tail to wag - pure, uninhibited expression of joy. Queer Joy taps into that same place: the desire to be so free, so unburdened, that our happiness becomes physically undeniable. So much of queer life is spent learning to

The Candle & The Mirror

Queer Joy spreads like light - sometimes bold and blazing, sometimes soft and reflective, but always powerful. In our community, we are often both the candle and the mirror: the ones who dare to shine and the ones who lovingly reflect that light back to others who are still finding

You Can Shape It!

A big part of queer experience is the refusal to accept the world as fixed, rigid, or immovable. Queer Joy is an act of radical optimism: the belief that identity, love, community, and even the future itself can be shaped, molded, and transformed. Where others see limitation, we see potential.

It's About You

This quote pulses with the quiet power of resilience. It reminds us that true change begins in the fierce, unshakeable belief that we are worthy - of love, of joy, of space to exist as we are. Queer Joy isn’t passive; it’s something we choose, cultivate, and demand

Enjoy Both Sides

Queer people know what it means to weather storms: the messy, painful, sometimes isolating process of becoming and being seen. But joy doesn’t just come after the rain - it’s braided into the struggle, into the dance in the downpour, the choosing of love and self even when

Heart Over Head

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.”

We Invent

"It is just as likely that as I invent what I want to say, you will invent what you want to hear."

Retro-Futurist Artist Laurie Simmons: Still Waiting, Still Playing, and More Spectacular Than Ever!

Retro-Futurist Artist Laurie Simmons: Still Waiting, Still Playing, and More Spectacular Than Ever!

The Gem

“The gem cannot be polished without friction nor man without trials.”

A Force Of Nature

"This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature…”

Everything Connects

“Eventually everything connects – people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”

Unseen to Unstoppable

"Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric."

Bold and Open

"For art and joy go together, with bold openness, and high head, and ready hand - fearing naught and dreading no exposure."

The Seed & The (Easter) Egg

"Community is a place where the connections felt in our hearts make themselves known in the bonds between people, and where the tuggings and pullings of those bonds keep opening our hearts."

The Most Important Thing

"There's nothing you can do that's more important than being fulfilled… in this way, you will find, live, and become a realization of your own personal myth."

Out of Hell!

“If you're going through hell, keep going.”

Quiet Joy

“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”

Do You See It Too?

"Creative expression is not just a means of getting attention, although some have approached art that way. Think of art as a way of connecting, of sharing your insights with others."

A Chance

"Take a chance and you may lose. Take not a chance and you have lost already."

It's In Your Hands

“I don't know whether the bird you are holding is dead or alive, but what I do know is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands.”

Facelift!

"Joy is the best makeup."

The Purpose & The Result

"Deep human connection is ... the purpose and the result of a meaningful life - and it will inspire the most amazing acts of love, generosity, and humanity."

Reality?

"At this point, realism is perhaps the least adequate means of understanding or portraying the incredible realities of our existence."

Compensation

“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.”

The Fire

“Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow.”

Satisfaction

"I said there are at least two kinds of satisfaction, however, and the other has nothing to do with skill. It comes from human connection. It comes from making others happy, understanding them, loving them."

The Way

"As you start to walk on the way, the way appears."

Champions

“Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision.”

Not Always

"Grief can take care if itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with."

Infinite Connections

“In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.”

Raw and Real

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got."

Defeat & Glory

“Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.”

Inseparable

“Joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed."

Chosen and Connected

"Connecting expands possibilities - in work and in life - for ourselves as well as for others."

What Failure Can’t Handle

“Failure cannot cope with persistence."

The Next Thing

"When you look fear in the face, you are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'"

Joy-Powered

"Joy is my energy and energy is my powerhouse."

A Good Friend

"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world."

Pure Adventure

"Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art."

Go Around

"If you can't go straight ahead, you go around the corner."

The Finish Line

"In choosing joy, the finish line dissolves into a different matter altogether."

Less Anonymous

"I nod to a passing stranger, and the stranger nods back, and two human beings go off, feeling a little less anonymous."

Heightened Consciousness

"By whatever name one calls it, genuine creativity is characterized by an intensity of awareness, a heightened consciousness."

Ride It!

“If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”

The Same Coin

"He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy."

Each Other

"For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people's love and concern for each other."

Passion For The Possible

"Hope is passion for what is possible."

Keeping Sane

"What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did."

The Secret

"Gratitude, not understanding, is the secret to joy and equanimity."

Just Listen

"The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen."

Inspiration & Perspiration

"Once the inspiration comes, that directs where the perspiration goes."

Use Adversity For The Win!

“Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity.”

More Than All The Triumphs

"The reflections on a day well spent furnish us with joys more pleasing than ten thousand triumphs."

Connecting To Action

"Occasionally ask, "What is the connection between what I want most in life and anything I plan to do today?"

A Masterpiece

“Art is science made clear.”

What Hard Times Reveal

“In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.”

Plunging In

"Oh the wild joys of living! The leaping from rock to rock ... the cool silver shock of the plunge in a pool's living waters."

The Fabric

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men."

Don't Listen

"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor."

Why?

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”

Wanting What You Get

“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”

Hearts Ablaze

"The heart is an organ of fire and you can't stop it from feeling or connecting."

Finding and Losing Ourselves

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

Joy Builds Resilience

"Joy, collected over time, fuels resilience - ensuring we'll have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things do happen."

Recognizing the Moment

"Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can't earn, and can't keep, and often don't even recognize at the time; I mean joy."

The Language Of Friendship

"The language of friendship is not words but meanings."

Close To Heaven

Sherri Franklin started rescuing senior dogs in her own home many years ago. Today, Muttville isn’t merely spacious, spotless, and joyful; its new home was imagined by superstar designer Ken Fulk and it's closing in on its 13,000th adoption! Sherri is a true hero.

You've Only Got One

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Dreams Conquer

“I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.”

Where Joy Comes From

“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men but from doing something worthwhile.”

All You Need

“Never underestimate the empowering effect of human connection. All you need is that one person, who understands you completely, believes in you and makes you feel loved for what you are, to enable you – to unfold the miraculous YOU.”

Inspiration & Perspiration

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working."

Strength in Survival

“Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.”

Illuminating the Path

"E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' … This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard."

The Only Way

"Say what you want about aging, it's still the only way to have old friends."

Very Personal Post

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

Turning Challenges Into Joy

"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity."

The Power Of Focus

"Your joy, your happiness, your satisfaction and your ability to dance with life, depends solely on what you pay attention to."

Nature's Bond

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

Create To Grow

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."

Turning Rocks Into Joy

"There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them."

Here and Now

"Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy."

Nothing Is More Valuable

"There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend."

The Power of One More Try

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

Speaking Through Creation

"In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent"

It's What You Want

"Joy is not the result of getting what you want; it is the way to get what you want. In the deepest sense, joy is what you want."

Connect With The Force Inside

"It's important to know what you're going to spend your life on, and the only way you're going to find that is by connecting with the force inside yourself."

Mild Ecstasy

"There is a curiously sharp sense of joy - or perhaps better expressed, a sense of mild ecstasy - that comes when you find the particular form required by your creation."

Can You?

“I love those who can smile in trouble.”

You Both Win!

"Help someone in distress and you lighten your own burden; the very joy of alleviating the sorrow of another is the lessening of one's own."

Expand Connection

"Connecting to another is one of the most important things in the world and you can keep expanding that connection - one person, a family, a community, a country, a society, a culture."

You Will Never Know

"Whatever is powerful to you can be translated into something which will matter to somebody that you will never know."

A New Path

"If you are going down a road and don't like what's in front of you, and look behind you and don't like what you see, get off the road. Create a new path!"

Space To Enter

"Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter."

What It Is To Be Human

"We need to remind ourselves of the beauty of human connection and of nature and pull ourselves out of devices for a moment and appreciate what it is just to be human beings."

No Rules

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds."

The Tide Will Turn

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

Ingredients of a Joyful Life

"I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments gracefully strung together by trust, gratitude and inspiration"

Connecting Joy

"Release the joy that is inside of another, and you release the joy that is inside of you."

Our Dreams

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Move The Small Stones

"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

Look In The Right Places

"It is looking for the joys that come in small, precious packages and making the most of them, knowing that big packages of joy are few and far between."

What! You Too?

"Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .""

Great People Make You Feel This

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

How Civilizations Heal

“There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

A Good Grasp On Life

"A sense of humor... is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life."

People Never Forget This

"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."

Floating Bi-OH!

There are more openly bi people in 2025 than there were openly LGBT people in 2017!

It's Not Impossible

"All things that are truly great are at first thought impossible.”

Take Charge

“Take charge of your attitude. Don't let someone else choose it for you.”

Where The Joy Is

"Joy lies in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering involved, not in the victory itself"

Invest In These

“When you understand that being connected to others is one of life’s greatest joys, you realize that life’s best comes when you initiate and invest in solid relationships.”

The Incalculable Wealth

"Creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty."

You Keep Going

"Resilience is very different than being numb. Resilience means you experience, you feel, you fail, you hurt. You fall. But, you keep going."

You Can't Copy It

"A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe."

Depth of Friendship

"Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance."

Einstein Approves!

"Creativity is intelligence having fun."

Did You Unplug?

"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you."

Resolve

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”

You, But Better!

"Connecting to your passion is being you, but better."

Words Can Be Limiting

"You can only express in words what words are capable of expressing-- what language can communicate. Painting has nothing to do with that."

The Next One Is Easier

"Life is getting through the moment…Get through the first trouble, you'll probably make it through the next one."

Nature's Most Beautiful Gift

"Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift."

Defining Connection

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”

Pure Joy

"Creativity takes courage, but it also returns the reward of pure joy."

Face It!

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

Give It Away To Keep It

“Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.”

Directly & Indirectly

"Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly."

Challenge Your Assumptions

"Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in."

Strong Lives

"Strong lives are those that are marked by a sense of purpose, connectedness, resilience, and fulfillment."

Invent Imaginary Letters

"Some of the secret joys of living are not found by rushing from point A to point B, but by inventing some imaginary letters along the way."

A Human Being Must Learn This

“A human being must learn at a very young age how to connect to other human beings.”

You Can't Use It Up!

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."

Anger

“Anger ... it's a paralyzing emotion ... you can't get anything done. People sort of think it's an interesting, passionate, and igniting feeling — I don't think it's any of that —

We Defy The Storm

"It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it."

The Awareness That Brings Joy

"True joy results when we become aware of our connectedness to everything."

Take a Shower - Have an Idea!

"Everyone who's ever taken a shower has an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference."

Underlying Advantages

"Resilience is a precious skill. People who have it tend to also have three underlying advantages: a believe that they can influence life events; a tendency to find meaningful purpose in life’s turmoil; and a conviction that they can learn from both positive and negative experiences."

Everything Comes Out of Nothingness

"Moment after moment everything comes out of nothingness. This is the true joy of life."

The Essence of Happiness

"Connecting with the people who are meant to be part of your own North Star is much more important than any aspect of business. It's the essence of happiness, the full realization of your potential for joy."

Every Civilization Begins With Art

“There is no civilization that did not begin with art, Whether it was drawing a line in the sand, painting a cave or dancing.”

Strength

“Out of resistance comes strength.”

3 Steps to Paradise

"I was in darkness, but I took three steps and found myself in paradise. The first step was a good thought, the second, a good word; and the third, a good deed."

Collecting, Connecting, & Sharing

"Collecting the dots. Then connecting them. And then sharing the connections with those around you. This is how a creative human works. Collecting, connecting, sharing."

Art

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

Enough

"Effort + the courage to show up = enough."

Do Lots of THAT!

"Figure out what fuels your joy, then do lots of that!”

Connecting the Dots

"Quotes are like prompts. A way of searching, connecting the dots."

A New Way of Looking at Things

“One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”

It's The Grain of Sand

“It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe."

Queer Joy is the Goal!

"Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one's identity as a being of worth and dignity."

Welcome to Joyful Queer

For those of us who know adversity so well it feels like an old roommate, joy isn’t just an act of resistance - it’s an act of survival. It’s the thing you grab when the floor falls out beneath you. Sometimes, it’s the only thing.

Transcending Differences

“The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.”

The True Kingdom

“Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.”

Intuition Will Tell You

“Your intuition will tell you where you need to go; it will connect you with people you should meet; it will guide you toward work that is meaningful for you – work that brings you joy, work that feels right for you.”

Might As Well Dance

“You look ridiculous if you dance. You look ridiculous if you don’t dance. So you might as well dance.”

Your Strongest Ally

“There will always be enemies. Time to stop being your own.”

Bringing The Universe To Order

“Odd how the creative power at once brings the whole universe to order.”

Keep Calm & Include

"We should indeed keep calm in the face of difference, and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity."

Resilience Through Identity

“Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.”

Letting Joy Find Us

“Joy bursts in our lives when we go about doing the good at hand and not trying to manipulate things and times to achieve joy.”

Wear Your Cape!

“I see each and every one of you. The things that make us different, those are our superpowers — every day when you walk out the door and put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren’t in it.”

How To Judge Me

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”