Photo by Barbara Marie Minney. All Rights Reserved.
I was overwhelmed and just a little depressed by all of the end of year reflections that were posted on social media, and I have decided to do my own after I’ve had the opportunity to sufficiently review and shine back on the past year.
I will say that I have had both a successful and a difficult year. Many of my poems have been published in journals and anthologies, including:
Ø "new words {issue two}" (new words press, 2023).
Ø "Trash Sandwich Magazine Issue #13 " (Punk Rocket, 2023).
Ø "Christmas Anthology" (Common Literature Period, 2023).
Ø "Spices & Seasonings Series (Silver Birch Press, 2023).
Ø "new words {issue one}" (new words press, 2023).
Ø "Of Rust and Glass Pride" (Of Rust and Glass, 2023).
Ø "Sheila-Na-Gig Online Volume 7.3, Spring 2023" (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2023).
Ø "Ivory" (Spanish Translation, 2023).
Ø "Hamburger Channel" (Spanish Translation, 2023).
I have also had two collections published, “Dance Naked with God (Rusty McRustBeltFace Press)” and “A Woman in Progress (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions),” that came out of the manuscript that was discarded after my publishing contract was so abruptly and disconcertingly cancelled in August of 2022 just a month and a half before the manuscript was due. And, there is much more left.
Even though people tell me all of the time, it is still hard for me to grasp sometimes how much I inspire others and open doors that might otherwise be closed. Other goals were not met and may have to be discarded. Maybe it is just not the right time yet, or I need to veer off in a new direction.
But, I know I have much more to offer in terms of literary citizenship and my poetry as a ministry. I am just sometimes at a loss as to how to go about it.
I have also completed thirty-six (36) somewhat painful sessions of treatment in order to address my medication resistant depression, and I have shown remarkable improvement.
Growing up being indoctrinated with perfectionism makes my life difficult. It never seems to be enough. Maybe, I’m starting to learn that imperfection is perfection in and of itself.
I don’t believe in making resolutions, but I do hope to be more knowledgeable, kind, empathetic and less self-centered in the new year. It is not all about me. It rarely is.
Barbara Marie Minney is a transgender woman, award-winning poet, writer, speaker, teaching artist, and quiet activist. She is a retired attorney and a seventh generation Appalachian. Now based in Tallmadge, Ohio, her first collection of poetry entitled “If There’s No Heaven” was the winner of the 2020 Poetry Is Life Book Award and the Akron Beacon Journal Best Northeast Ohio Books 2020. It is available from the author or at www.poetryislifepublishing.com. Barbara is also the author of the "Poetic Memoir Chapbook Challenge," "Dance Naked with God," and "A Woman in Progress." Follow her at www.barbaramarieminneypoetry.com.