Looking Back Through This Life-Changing Year
I’m not sure how we got to December really quick, yet here we are a day away from saying hello to another year. Perhaps you’re excitedly thinking about how to start 2016 with a bang and much glitter just like everybody else, maybe even writing down your 2016 resolutions. As the present year draws to a close and a new one is at the horizon, we tend to look forward – which is a good thing. But at the same time, the dawn of a new year makes us sentimental. It’s a perfect opportunity for us to look back and reflect on the important moments and things we’ve achieved.
When Michee and I started Love is Love, we didn’t actually know what we we’re doing. We only knew that we were dead set on promoting love, equality, and acceptance. And that we wanted to make the LGBTQ community more visible by putting out LGBTQ centric products.
We weren’t sure how people would react to the message we were sending out. I had to tell Michee to toughen up once we put ourselves out there. Although, we’re promoting love, we would be getting a lot of heat and awful things would be uttered about us by people who don’t even know us..
Surprisingly, we got more love and support than we expected.
When we dove into this, we sort of readied ourselves for a tough storm. We had to be realistic. We are very much aware that discrimination and violence against the LGBTQs here in our country is very rampant. We are looked down, frowned upon, denied of our human rights and even our humanity. But at the same time, we remained hopeful.
Michee and I are true believers that people can change. They can grow and be generous. We didn’t let all the negativity stop us from believing in the goodness of people and their capacity to open their hearts and love. And so we started connecting with people the best way we know how, which is thru stories.
One of the most unforgettable reactions that I got from a reader was from the story of how my grandmother reacted when she learned that I was in a same-sex relationship. The reader commented that at she has been firmly against LGBTQs but after reading the story, she now thinks differently.
There were a few times when we have had people leaving negative comments on our Facebook page. But we have learned that love and kindness defeats negativity. Even though their words were vile and dripping with disdain, we answered them with kindness and wished them well. In the end, they deleted their hateful remarks. One person tried to argue with me using religion. Both of us left the conversation agreeing to disagree but with mutual respect for each other.
We’ve gotten messages on Facebook from people whom we’ve never met thanking us for what we’re doing and giving us words of encouragement and their support. Some have shared their struggles and trusted us with their stories. We were able to meet wonderful people both straight and identifying as LGBTQs who hold the same ideals as we do and are hoping for a loving and more inclusive society.
Before this year ends, we want to thank everyone who has been supporting us. Thank you very much. Thank you for squeezing us in on your tight schedule to read the stories we tell and for sharing them to your friends. Thank you to the people who bought the Love is Love shirt and our wood products. And to those who send us messages of love, encouragement, and positivity via our Facebook, Twitter or text, we thank you. Keep them coming in. You know that we always respond. We love talking to you and getting to know you better. To the people who joined us in our campaigns, thank you for your courage and for caring enough to make things better for the LGBTQ community. And of course, we want to thank our allies. Thank you for your kindness and big hearts.
To the very first person who showered us with love and support even though we’re miles and oceans away from each other, thank you. Scott Lyons, we’re ever grateful for the beautiful words of encouragement you’ve given us. Thank you for indulging us in short chats even when it’s past midnight your end and every time, we come out with our hearts filled with more hope.
If you’re reading this, we want to let you know that we are very honored for allowing us to somehow touch your lives.
2015 was the birth of our journey. Thank you for making it sweet!
Much Love,
Alla and Michee
