A blessing for Pride Month 2022

I believe so strongly in the power of our words to build each other up & give life. So I will keep writing Blessings, because I just believe they matter. As Pride month draws to a close, these words rose to the surface of my heart. Much love to you, wherever you find yourself on your journey.

Full text below the slide show.

Full text:

A queer blessing for you, on this Pride Month 2022

As this Pride month ends, may you feel a renewing sense of courage swell inside of you. May it help propel you forward, even a little further on your path.

May you feel a solid steadiness planted in your core identity, one that will hold you up when you feel those waves of fear or shame hit you.

May you wake up tomorrow feeling a deeper sense of appreciation towards yourself, towards your precious body, towards your one and only life.

May you feel surrounded with extra tenderness & support, if you see the road up ahead may be arduous. May you even be brave enough to ask for more support where you need it.

May you know that you are capable, you are strong, and no matter what is in front of you, you will overcome. May you see your joy and tears as the light and water needed to grow through this season.

May you find the clarity you seek, to those unspoken questions swimming inside. And may you rise to freedom with the answers.

May you never doubt your goodness, your uniqueness, your exquisite beauty. My friend, you simply glow as you move through this world.

May you make it your hard and holy work to listen for your sweet voice inside. Your voice is a gift to this world, and we desperately need it.

May you have the gorgeous audacity to believe that there is so much more for you. More to do, more to learn, more to give. And may you go out and live it.

A poem for me – and maybe you, too.

In tough times (especially), I believe we all need to do what moves us. For me sometimes it’s art, sometimes it’s cycling, sometimes it’s writing. (Sometimes all three in one day.) I wrote this because I needed to, for me. Maybe you need to hear it too. Sending love, my friends.

PS – God is She (Full text below)

Pedaling

furiously

I felt as though

Today

I had

become

The wind

I tried to outrun

The Grief

I tried to escape

The Sadness

But

They grew heavier

Pressing against

my ribs

Willing me

to take a deep breath

Knowing

I could not

Feel us

They groaned

Feel

Fully

Their wisdom

called out

To my

Knowing

within

Sobs escaped

up my throat

Found freedom

through my mouth

Into the thick

summer air

filled

with the setting sun

She will meet you

here

If you ask

She—

Well,

She already is

here

Don’t you see Her?

I stared in awe

at the

brilliant

sunbeams

Shining through

the trees

With such fierce

ferocity

As if to

scream

How dare you

question

your

Goodness

What is for you

For

You

And what is not

Not

Let go

And sink inward

Where

the only truth

you need

resides

And then move

forward

In your grief

In your questioning

In your audacious light

Where

You

Are

Meant

– June 26, 2022 ©staceychomiak.com

Sheridan Sharing

Recently – for Pride month – I was invited to share my story at my alma mater, Sheridan College.

Now, this is meaningful for me on multiple levels. Sheridan was a school I never thought I would get into, or remotely succeed at. But I did. And I’ve had a busy animation career since graduating with my thesis film, “Tah-Dah” in 2009.

Talking about LGBTQ & mental health, sharing my story of being closeted and coming to terms with my sexuality and faith, and it turning into “Still Stace”, was even more special to me, because I was fully closeted for my entire four years at Sheridan. And it was extremely tough on my mental health. But I got through it – and I’m flourishing now.

You can get through those hard times, and you can be better than ever. But we all need support to do it. Watch the recording of our discussion here:

They also wrote an extremely lovely article on me and my journey to “Still Stace”, which went live yesterday, June 20, 2022. Huge thank you to all the staff there for their ongoing support and encouragement! And for their dedication to have important conversations like these.

I’m going to England!

Friends! I’m so excited to be going to the UK for a working trip for most of July!

I’ve never been, but it’s always been on my artist bucket list. I can’t wait to peruse the streets, sample the fish and chips, and try to become invisible sketching at cafes!

I’ll be primarily in the London and York areas, so if there’s a church or LGBTQ event you’d like me to speak at, let me know! I’d love to connect.

Stay tuned for more sketches and musings along the way 🙂

A Book Dream Come True

Photos from the signing on Sat, June 11th – what a great time of seeing people in real life! Thanks to everyone who came by!

UPDATE! – I will be doing an IN-PERSON book signing at this location for Pride month on Saturday, June 11 from 1pm – 3pm PST! Drop by, I would LOVE to say Hi!

In early 2019, when STILL STACE was still mostly in my head, and a book deal was a literal dream away…

I walked to this Indigo bookstore on my lunch break. This is one of their really large and prominent locations in downtown Vancouver on Granville Street.

I slowly perused the bookshelves, wondering if one day, I would ever see my name on a cover amongst the throngs of books. It seemed almost too large to even dare to dream.

ALMOST – I still dared.

On May 2, 2022 – after our final day of recording the audiobook – I visited this location again. This time, I saw my name. And I signed some copies of STILL STACE – which they had even displayed out front!

Just never stop dreaming, dammit.

Still Stace – the AUDIOBOOK!

It’s official! STILL STACE is getting an audiobook – narrated BY ME!

May 24 Update: Releases August 9, 2022!

Pre-order on Audible, Apple Books or Barnes & Noble!

Last week in Vancouver, we began recording the audiobook for “Still Stace“!

WHAT an incredible and moving experience this has been, to put my *LITERAL* voice, to my own words.

Image of (nervous and excited!) me in Vancouver on the third day of recording.

I never thought I would get this opportunity, so I’m making sure not to waste it.

For me, that has meant one thing: vulnerability. It has meant opening myself up again, reliving these moments again….truly FEELING these moments again.

I tried to stay connected to myself the whole time – all the versions of me that needed love and care. I was holding all of you close, too – those of you who have shared your stories with me. This isn’t just my story – it’s ours.

This process has reminded me how important it is, to stay connected to our stories. To notice how far we’ve come. And where we still need some tenderness and care.

@staceychomiak
♬ original sound – staceychomiak

For the third day of recording, I wore my rainbow “God Is Proud Of Me” shirt, (@queerlybelovedtees) because it’s been tough & raw to open myself up in this way. But I do believe, God is proud of me. I’m really proud of me, too.

We have one more day of recording tomorrow, and I’m going to try my best to stay open, connected, and soak up every moment. Stay tuned for the release date – this will be on every audiobook platform! (I’ll try not to think tooooooooo long about that, insert nervous laughter here.)

If you listen, I hope you feel seen. I hope you feel connected, and I hope you find some healing.

Never stop telling your stories, my queer friends. We need every one.

Update on May 5, 2022:

When we were recording the audiobook for “Still Stace” last week, I had to make a conscious choice to dig deep into those memories of pain and heartache and rejection. I wanted it to come through in my voice, and the only way for me to do that was to feel it again.

But as I did that, I had this visual of me today, standing beside every version of myself then – with my hand softly on her shoulder. I was finally in a place to advocate for her. For myself. To literally make her/my voice heard, in all the places where I prayed into the nothingness.

This younger version of me was the first concept design I ever did for “Still Stace”. I thought it was time for an update.

Dear Younger (Gay) Stace – we finally got the chance to say and feel all we needed to. God is proud of us.

Oscar Posters for 2022

This year has been quite busy for me, so I had less time to watch all the movies I wanted that were nominated for Oscars. I did manage to watch seven, ending off with Best Picture Winner “Coda”. What a beautiful film, I highly recommend!

This is always such a fun exercise for me – the posters will be more impactful if you have seen the films. 🙂

Let’s talk about conversion therapy.

*Trigger warning: conversion therapy & suicide*

Tonight April 13th, at 6:30PM PST, for Week 2 of the Still Stace book study, we are going to talk about the documentary “Pray Away” (Netflix), and the effect of ex-gay Christian ministries on LGBTQ people. (We also have a special guest from the film joining us!)

I’ve been avoiding watching this documentary because I knew it would bring so much up for me. (And it did.) It’s not just my time I spent involved with Exodus (the largest ex-gay ministry at the time). It’s the years and years of believing my existence was wrong, a sin… a mistake.

It takes many years of therapy to unwind that, and I’m still continuing to find threads in my life I thought were long gone. Reparative, or conversion therapy is harmful. It leads to despair. I do not say this lightly.

A stat from the film says, “A national survey found that LGBTQ youth who experienced conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide.”

Because as Randy Thomas says in the film,

“For many people who don’t commit suicide, we’re killing ourselves internally, by not embracing who God created us to be.”
Randy Thomas

I feel this so deeply. If I had not embraced who I was and came out, my path would not have continued. There was no hope down that road. Ex-gay ministries taught me that.

Tonight we are going to create a safe space to talk about this, to acknowledge the hurt and to be heard. All are welcome to join. Message me if you want to come. (If you don’t feel comfortable coming but need to talk about this, I’m always here to chat.)

Never give up, my friends. There is so much beauty in this life meant for you.

STILL STACE Book Study – Open to all!

Friends!

The lovely folks at Susanville United Methodist Church in Susanville, California have decided to host an 8-week book study on Zoom – and the focus is Still Stace!

Week 1 starts tomorrow, Wednesday Apr 6, and Kathy Baldock will be joining to chat with us about all of her incredible work with the LGBTQ Christian community! She is one amazing human, I cannot wait!

Come join us on Zoom!

Email myself or CharlesWhite@protonmail.com to get added to the group & for the Zoom link!

I’ll be joining for all of the weeks, and am excited to bring some behind the scenes stories and content that didn’t make it into the book!

Week 2 the homework is to watch “Pray Away“, the documentary on Netflix about the ex-gay ministry. We have a special guest joining us who was involved in the film! I will also share from my experience in the ex-gay ministry as well.

I’m also really excited to have conversations about everything I shared and how it applies to everyone else’s stories and experiences.

Come for one week, or come for every one! I’d love to virtually see you! 🙂

STILL STACE is officially launched!

Sheesh CA-PEESH. Wowie wow WOW!

I feel like this is the first time I’ve been able to properly reflect on this beautiful road I have been on since Still Stace published on Oct 19, 2021.

I’m so grateful that even though my book released whilst we were all still navigating the pandemic, we still managed to safely have three in-person book launches here in BC. The third and final one was this last weekend, and it was in the city of Chilliwack, where we have recently settled. Even though we are fairly new to this community, having the chance to meet new neighbours and have this important conversation around faith and sexuality was such an honor.

If you came and listened and chatted with me after, while getting your book signed, know that you touched me. (If you emailed me about my book, know that is equally touching and an ongoing pleasure!) So let’s recap, from most recent to oldest launch! (At the bottom of this post I threw a bunch of photos of Still Stace out in the wild! PHEW What a thrilling thing to see.)

March 26, 2022 @ Smoking Gun Coffee in Chilliwack, BC

I also got to finally wear my very lesbian jumpsuit that I purchased from the queer-owned Wildfang! Much thanks to them for making clothes that make me feel very empowered and my Best Lesbian Self to launch my Very Lesbian Book! (Also this was the first time I tried a gin drink, so I’m a real grownup now, right pals??)

@staceychomiak
#stillstace #wildfang #jumpsuit #queerbook #saygay #booktok #queertiktok #lgbtq #faithfullylgbt #lesbiansoftiktok #lesbian #ledollarbean #gaychristian #book #girlswhokissgirls🌈 #fyp @wearewildfang 🌟 Thank you to @theowlandthecatbookery for selling books tonight! ❤️
♬ original sound – staceychomiak

October 30, 2021 @ Open Door Church (our home church) in Maple Ridge, BC

It was of course, very fitting to go out to A&W after to get our fav burger and onion rings to celebrate!

October 22, 2021 put on by my friends at OneTWU in Fort Langley, BC

Is there ANYTHING better than walking into a bookstore and seeing YOUR OWN BOOK just sitting there, on the shelf. JUST. SITTING. THERE. And even – EVEN – on the LGBTQ Voices Wall! *faint* If you see my book in the wild, send me a pic! It will thrill me TO NO END, I promise. (Also what fun to randomly sign a bunch. This life of mine, I tell ya.)