Alive & Well
July 17, 1992
GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
Page 11
by Kyle Rose
When I began writing "Alive & Well" two years ago, I thought the phrase meant taking care of myself the best I was able, in all ways, and living life as fully as possible with honor and respect for my true self. It sounded simple. It wasn't. I did not always know what was best to do, and if I did, was 'not sure how to do it.
Today, however, it seems to mean so much more. It especially means more than curing my physical body of a virus which can lead to disease and death, for AIDS is much more a dis-ease than a disease.
Healing for me has become a stepping beyond the disease of AIDS. Recently I was asked how people could heal themselves of a disease. I answered that they can't as long as all they're doing is fighting a disease. For in order to heal a disease you have to have a disease to heal. The point is to self-heal, to step beyond AIDS to its symptoms: addiction, racism, sexism, homophobia and the overwhelming fear of others' judgements that we all live under and usually deny.
It's about no longer denying. It's about facing our fears. It's about turning them around, inside out and coming through on the other side. It's about reaching through our reason and touching our hearts and living with ourselves openly, honestly and in harmony.
The fact is that AIDS is every issue we have. Every personal issue, every community issue, every societal issue and every global issue. From shame to blame, anger and denial to the politics of insurance, national health care, employment ethics, social security and so on, AIDS is showing us it's time for change, time for healing.
Oh yes, once we start opening our eyes we see that there is serious, even fatal, dis-
ease everywhere. So much so that what we usually want to do is run away again. Better to wait for a vaccine or a pill; a band-aid or aspirin.
But there is no vaccine or pill for our disease. So what do we do? We complain and go on. We shrug our shoulders and say that's the way it is. We pretend it doesn't matter until we finally begin to believe it doesn't matter even when we know it does.
And then one day it's our turn. We are HIV or otherwise challenged and we don't know what to do. We read books, we go to seminars, we investigate passive therapies and we desperately look everywhere for answers and solutions. But we seldom ask ourselves: "So what can I do?" with anything more than rhetorical energy. And yet
that is our answer. The only place an answer can be found, the only way healing can happen, the only area in which a cure can be effective is in the "I." People come to me to complain about their lives. I hear them out and then ask, "So what can you do about it?" "Who me?" they reply, "I can't do anything." Well, yes you can.
If I accomplish nothing else in all the months of writing this column except convincing you that you can do something about your life I will be more than satisfied. For if I've learned anything over these past two years, it is that there is not a secret to healing AIDS, addiction or any other disease. There are no single answers or therapies in any book or seminar. There is no mystery. "Alive & Well" means taking
care of myself the best I am able in all ways and living life as fully as possible with honor and respect for my true self. It is all about me: what I can do, and doing it. And moreso, knowing that this is not the only thing I can do, it's everything.
I recently read an author who enlarged on the old saying about life being a banquet to point out that most of us spend all our time and energy reading the menu and never give ourselves the opportunity to actually sit down and eat.
The table is set. The rest is up to you. Please feel free to send comments, questions, or topics of interest to me in care of the Chronicle. I will be more than happy to address them.
Victory Fund endorses Columbus man, others
Washington, D.C.--The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a national donor network committed to financially supporting openly lesbian and gay candidates for public office, has endorsed additional candidates and established a 900 line to collect contributions.
The group has endorsed Cleve Jones, founder of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, who is a candidate for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Jerry Neal of Columbus, Ohio, who is running as a Republican for the Ohio Legislature.
Other endorsements include candidates running for State Representative in Wisconsin, Oregon and Texas. These include
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Tammy Baldwin, a lesbian attorney who is currently a member of the Dane County (Madison), Wisconsin Board of Supervisors and seeking an open seat in the Wisconsin Assembly; Jerry Keene, an attorney challenging an incumbent for the Oregon House of Representatives; and Glen Maxey, who won a special election last year to an open seat in the Texas Legislature and is running for re-election.
Other candidates who have met the Victory Fund's criteria for receiving financial assistance include Massachusetts Congressman Gerry Studds (re-election); Tom Nolan, a California congressional candidate and current San Mateo County supervisor; and
the re-election bid of State Rep. Gail Shibley of Portland, Oregon
The Fund has also become the nation's first organization to utilize new 900-number technology to raise funds for openly gay and lesbian candidates. It is the first to become operational under recent Federal Elections Commission approval of 900 numbers by political action committees and candidates. The number (900-678-3863 or 900-67-V-FUND) allows anyone from anywhere in the U.S. to call and contribute $19.92 directly to five recommended candidates or to the Victory Fund itself. Callers hear a personal message from the candidate, plus updates on their respective campaigns.
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