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From Ties That Bind To Freedom: How I Escaped The Cycle Of Codependency
For many years, I lived in a constant fear of being abandoned by the people around me, so I did everything in my power to keep them happy and close by me. That strategy worked fine until the day I found myself standing all alone without anyone else to turn to. My earliest memories are of chaos. Chaos both at home and school, one seeming not to escape the other. It’s because of this that I made sure as soon as I had the means, I would turn and run away. But, I could never get away from the broken ties of ropes left over from the circus of our…
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My 2022 Reunion Tour
Ah, nostalgia. It’s the unavoidable memory of something from your past that strikes you unexpectedly and makes you feel warm inside. Usually this applies to positive experiences — but sometimes it can be painful to remember old times in your past when things weren’t so great. I was thinking about my childhood the other day and all the wonderful memories I have. I was born and raised in New York City, but grew up in a small town where everyone knew each other. I remember spending lazy summers days down by the river with my friends, fishing and swimming. We would get lost in the woods, explore abandoned houses, and…
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What It’s Like To Be Born With Female Pseudohermaphroditism (Intersex)
My name is Thomas, and I was born with a condition called female pseudohermaphroditism, which is an intersex condition. My condition means that while I was born with functioning female set of internal reproductive organs, I also had normal-appearing external male genitalia. After a doctor encouraged me to intentionally cause myself harm because, as they were concerned, “people like you should not exist”, I decided to write this article to educate, inspire, and inform those who are curious about my intersex condition. This condition is what caused my external genitals looked more like those of a boy than those of a girl. However, it wasn’t until I got my period…
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Fame Itself Is A Cancer And Ego Its Seed
No matter what I do, it seems that it seldom works out. On the rare occasion when it does, my triumph and success results in the jealousy of others who then seek to undermine and destroy that which I have accomplished. When I was a child, I was told that being different in some ways was a gift; I however, was different in every single way. I had my own unique way of doing things, especially when it came to writing. I was influenced by Allen Ginsberg, who mentored me, and inspired me to write in such a way that combined poetry and prose. Decades later, this is how I…
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Only The Moon Understands The Beauty Of Love
The last remaining hours of the year slowly ticked by as I watched the New Years Eve special on television, live from my home town of New York City. It seems that the winter, cold and bitter, and drearily silent, gives reason for one to think about the year, as once again one starts to draw picture-perfect maps of how their life and love will be for the year to come. I held Amelia through the night in such a way where only the moon understands the beauty of love. We gazed into each other’s eyes in the realization that I can still be who I need to be, the…
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Caught Daylight
This morning I caught daylight much too soon and in the cold foggy morning of Vermont as I lay awake, I stared out the window with not much to say outside of the thoughts circling within my mind. It seems that winter comes earlier and earlier with each passing year, bringing with it the promise of snow filled days spent inside thinking about the year. The wintertime gives me plenty of time to wonder about what I want to do with the rest of my life, and with each passing year, I know that I’m getting older, too. Time itself means nothing, yet through space and time, there exists a…
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In Another Set Of Chances I’d Take The Ones I’ve Missed
I used to write in riddles, and I used to write in rhymes; my body ached to write the words, the prose is what kept me alive. I write into the dark veil of the night, and in another set of chances, I’d take the ones I’ve missed. All the times in which I spoke into the silence, and whenever I do it seems I don’t speak, except to cry out and wait for an answer. I came into this world alone, marked in constellation, and when all else is gone, I will still be here. There’s a ceiling in the darkness, I am but a lifeless face that you’ll…
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Falling In Love (For All The Wrong Reasons)
For whatever reason, people I have lost touch with 10+ years ago have decided after all these years to get back in contact with me. Truth be told, I created my website as a means of staying in contact with people I know and as a means to deliver updates as to what I’m undertaking at the moment. These few people I once called friends at one time in my life; fast forward 10 years and they’re all working high-profile, high-paying jobs and married to extremely wealthy and successful spouses. They’ll tell you that they’re happy but if you look at a few recent photos, you can see just how…
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Wedding
Today is the day that I officially married my best friend, the love of my life, and the center of my world. This evening at our house in Vermont, Amelia Phoenix Desertsong, the most intelligent, beautiful, and wonderful woman I have ever met, officially became my wife. I am truly honored that we now get to spend the rest of our lives together. The wedding of Thomas Wilson Pratt Slatin and Amelia Phoenix Desertsong.May 24, 2021
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Summer Comes For Everyone
This morning I was lost inside a daydream and I was rehearsing a dialogue inside my head. In my dreams, it is always raining and in shades of black and white. The rain wraps fears around me like a blanket, making me feel short of stable, and then finally, it washes me away. These are the days I will remember all my life, the precious and often fleeting moments when there’s a story to be told, Amelia takes my hand in an empty room as adventure awaits. Summer comes for everyone; today is the springtime of my life. Social media became one drink too many and a joke gone too…
