All Love All Pride

Dear Literatis,

It’s been a while since I’ve been over on this side of the tracks, i.e. my home away from home. If you don’t know me, I’ve been a part of Hot Literati since 2024.

That year I created a column called Wayward Wonderland through which I recorded my queer life and its queer quirks. Its first installment was titled “Love,duh.”

With Hot Literati’s support, I’ve launched my own little world called All Love Media in which we publish a digital magazine! If you haven’t caught on yet, here’s the spoiler: I love love. As in all of it, in every which way, everywhere, any time. I don’t consider myself a romantic but I am above all else a lover. Love fascinates me, challenges me, shows me new ways of living, hurts me, and fulfills me. Love is my faith and it is my guide.

To celebrate pride as a tried and true literati, I’ve decided to return home and reflect on how a favorite author of mine, Alice Walker, has influenced my development since my recordings.

From Wayward Wonderland Ep. 1: Love, Duh:

“love became a burden. Love was the debilitating responsibility of keeping peace and keeping alive. Love was worry and panic.”

“The queer thing about queer love in this particular moment is that there is an innate understanding of unknowing.”

“ignorance is not an option. It is one vulnerability to admit to myself that I love a woman. It is another to admit it to her.

the unknown of queerness allows us to choose without expectation of definition or relative logic”

The Temple of my Familiar by Alice Walker taught me that if there are two sides to every story, you will find love on the side that you are not telling. Love is because there is something, or someone, on the other side. That being said, tell your side of the story knowing that whoever or whatever is on the other side will find love in it.

Love can only become a noun when willingly shared between people, and this must be chosen each second, continuously. Nounism is not its home. Love’s condition as an action is the only permanent thing about it. Just because you choose love one second does not mean you own it forever.

Sometimes we let ourselves believe we can’t move on until our hearts have been put back together but, as Alice Walker says, The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart. This book reminded me that if you are loved in one way it means you are lovable in any way. Love does not understand limits; just because we decide to put a boundary doesn’t mean our love stops there, and that’s okay. There are infinite ways to love and be loved. Love will find its way around the limit and lead you to someone who can love you — and vice versa — in the ways you need.

What I like about love is that our hearts, bodies, and souls know everything there is to know because it’s what they are made of. What I like about writing of love is that it helps the mind catch up. I don’t doubt that we all know everything there is to be said about love, but when we treat love like an insecurity our minds do their dirty work on it.

TLDR: have pride in your Love (all-inclusive) and you will find what you are looking for.

All love,

Vic

Victoria Bazan Thomas is a multimedia artist based in the U.S. She is the founder of All Love Media, a media company producing art that centers, explores, dissects, and enjoys everything that happens when love is present in our lives. Her favorite books are Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor and The Giver by Lois Lowry.