...AND MY MAY-NIA ENSUES...
I’m excited for June.
Here we are, finally in May, after the winter-to-spring months of 2025 that felt (to me, at least) like shifting gel currents, winding goos, and stirring thick, opaque stews.
My energy has grown with the seasonal light – at the outset of the year, I spent a lot of time during the darker days tending to the soils of my heart and mind. I’ve already been moving differently for the past two years, both out of creative insight and political attunement to the state of humanity, in light of the revelations that come from witnessing our most violent existential exposés in real-time, every day.
So I went into this year with particularly poignant awareness that the power structures will only continue to crack down on and crumble around us.
This historical moment is, then, it seemed obvious to me, the precise time for me to cross that abyss I’ve previously written about. I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but I want to be clear. There is no part of me that has taken this effort lightly. Rather, I am turning into it with maximal responsibility.
All the more reason why I tried so hard to set myself up in every possible way (especially emotionally, physically, professionally, and financially) with a hearty enough constitution to take on the task of transforming, changing, healing, and growing.
Those closest to my everyday process have seen glimpses of the unusually quiet, dedicated stamina that has pushed me along the ocean floor of all my knowing.
Externally, there is a good amount to show for it already. I pursued new projects and iterations of others with an explicit intention to focus, to double-down, to lunge toward who I want to be twenty years from now.
I’m trying things and learning, but trial and error sounds so frivolous. I’ve been doing deep, deep work. I’m set on a horizon in the distance while watching where my feet land, step after step. It has been as arduous and disciplined as it sounds.
AM I EMOTIONALLY SECURE ENOUGH?
Meanwhile, I’ve been haunted by a question that found me one day, several months ago, which plainly asked, “Are you emotionally secure enough?” It could land as a threat or a challenge. But I felt this question as a loving nudge, a compassionate check in to make sure I was really prepared to do what I wanted to do. No one does anything alone, and most definitely not something like this.
I believe one can only take on this kind of effort, to become who you are, to be who we need, with an abundance of experience, purpose, commitment, support, diligence, guidance, community, and the will to extend oneself that is equally as strong as the will to look at oneself very clearly in the mirror.
For many people, these elements are only possible with the kind of relationships and resources that are very often a privilege to have, but it all goes to waste if one isn’t emotionally secure enough to lean on them while also moving with an enormous amount of faith. I do my best to make the most of everything I have.
I have been learning. Listening. Reading. Teaching. Thinking. Processing. Sharing. Discussing. Reflecting. Connecting. Feeling. Healing. Creating. Questioning. Exploring. Dancing. Singing. Trying. Experimenting. Practicing. Asking. Noting. Incorporating. Stretching. It’s all day, every day.
Yes, this is all a continuation of what I’ve been doing for the past two decades, and especially as a byproduct of the significant ways I and my life changed in the past four years since taking the “leap of faith” to leave my job and become a fully independent philosopher, artist, community-focused creator. But getting to May, thus far, this year, has been a journey in its own right.
If it’s not evident by everything I’ve just alluded to, I’m pushing through some big walls, planting seeds for more aligned possibilities, and following my heart’s biggest wants and priorities.
Super scary. Incredibly meaningful. Really exciting.
While things are in such dynamic flux, I’m writing this post to share info and updates about some of the things I’ve been working on (consistently communicating my process and projects is hard for me, but especially so during this season). I’m calling this my Month of May-nia, because the goals are lofty and stamina will need to come through me like a superpower!
This is the energy for my May-nia: “Heart open. Head Down. Ready, set, go!”
Here are some updates and things to know about what that means for me:
FOR THE LOVE OF STRANGERS - THE MAY SHOW
MAY 9TH @7:00-8:30pm! For Northern Colorado friends, come to the Visit Fort Collins Welcome Center in Old Town to explore some fascinating ideas around how to meaningfully connect with others.
For the Love of Strangers happens every second Friday of the month through 2025, but this show has special emphasis on the sensual side of things. Plus, now that we're four shows in, I’m really starting to feel myself. Don’t miss it :)
You’ll walk away with lots to think and talk about, and maybe even some ideas to try out…especially if you win a giveaway from our local partner this month, Mystique Lingerie!*
*Check out their Loteria Libre evening event on May 17th for drag performances, prizes, and sexual health resources. It’s free!
LIBERATION IS LOCAL - WOW! A WHOLE YEAR!!
I knew I needed this space and hoped it would offer something special for others, but even still, I didn’t know just how rich and valuable and impactful it would be for my own thinking. Liberation is Local has been this nourishing thread that subtly influences and informs everything I’ve created and shared with audiences since it started.
In January of 2025, we added some minor things that slightly shifted how and when we meet. Those adjustments have also clarified for me the extent to which my language has shifted and the edges of my own conceptions have sharpened. Amazingly, I do, in fact, feel more emotionally secure because of it.
This group still meets every Sunday from 10:30-11:30am @ FoCo Cafe (our super gracious community partner)! It’s an inclusive space for anyone who wants to build community and learn with others. Each week we focus on a different aspect of what liberation looks and feels like in everyday practices.
BUT GUESS WHAT…Sunday, May 11th is our ONE YEAR CELEBRATION! For this special day, we’ll gather at WASHINGTON PARK (301 Maple St.). If you’ve been curious about LIL or just wanna say ‘hi,’ come join us in the sunshine!
“FROM A PLACE OF LIBERATION” - share in my writing process on Substack
Earlier this year, I set a goal to complete a writing project (could it be a book someday, maybe??) by June 15th and my progress has been slowwww, so the bulk of my May-nia is focused on writing more than I’ve ever written in a month! No. Big. Deal. At. All.
I’m writing and publishing bits of the most important things I’ve learned about liberation over the past year and some life on coriwong.substack.com under my newsletter, Want to Know.
Oh yeah, by the way, I’m writing on Substack again... For those who follow me here on Buy Me a Coffee, you may be wondering what a turn to Substack means for your support and presence to my process. Me, too. ("Ughh...Why am I even writing this? I'm just further confusing communications streams as we read!")
First of all, I still love love LOVE your support on Buy Me a Coffee and appreciate it so much. People who continue to follow and support the twists and turns of my sometimes sporadic internet projects are the most generous, patient, and lovely people to have in my corner. And, well, I know it's not the most helpful thing to share, but I am literally trying to figure out how to do my things (and consulting with several others for support). That includes examining pesky details like figuring out exactly what, when, and where I do things.
Welcome to the Messy Middle! If there's one thing to be sure of it's that we’re here.
For now, though, please don't worry too much about overextending yourself to land somewhere. I'm doing plenty of that for all of us. And I promise to communicate more clearly once the issues around "what, when, and where" get sorted out.
Just know that if you want to know how to move through these times from a place of liberation, and process the process with me step-by-step as I write through my May-nia, you can also subscribe to my newsletter on Substack! If all goes well, your inbox will be popping! (FYI, any paywalls will be at the bottom of my Substack May-nia posts, which will hopefully encourage others to support my work without making any one who already "buys me coffees" here feel like I'm double dipping in your budget.)
P.S. Stay tuned for details about an online Q&A I’m thinking of hosting at the end of the month around the content of “From a Place of Liberation.” It’s going to be such a journey for me and, hopefully, also for those who follow along. I’d love to connect and hear your reflections, questions, learning, insights, and experience of the process, too.
Why am I excited for June? To see what’s true by the time we get to the other end of May, and also because there are a handful of additional things I’m working on to release in Summer 2025:
A Coloring Book featuring The Cuties and a bunch of my philifesophy phrases
AN UPDATED WEBSITE! Allow me to reintroduce myself…soon :)
A suite of more focused and aligned offerings from my small business, Positive Philosophy Consulting, to support us as we move through these times. (By the way, if you have feedback about what I've been doing so far or what would be most exciting to see in the future, you can use this form to share your reflections! It's so helpful!)
Oh, and…Mission Impossible 8 (FINALLY! Did you know I love these movies?? I am not working on anything related to this, just really, really excited to see it.)
As always, thanks for reading. Thanks for being here. Thanks for being part of my journey. And to all the people who have been holding my hand or giving me hugs or sitting in supportive conversation or participating in some of my spaces or sharing moments with me through 2025 so far, even from a distance, thank you!
I’m always consciously carrying all of what you share with me with so much gratitude, day by day.