I'm Not a Writer. I Just Have Shit to Say.

At 53, she's done being invisible, done being polite, and just getting started. Pull up a chair. Bring snacks.

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By Kelly Wilson

When I got this writing gig, I told 3 friends in addition to my wife. One of my friends, Frank, wrote back and said, "Don't change one fucking thing about yourself!" I have really solid friends!

I took her response to heart. I do really good when I move on instinct and listen to my gut. Rarely does either let me down. It's usually the overthinking brain that does that part.

I reached out to that same friend today, telling her I had my first writing assignment, and I was feeling a bit undeserving. She was quick with the advice again, but this time it was, "Don't think, just rant. You do good on a rant." She gets me, but I'm not all that hard to get. I pretty much let it all hang out, for better or worse.

I'm supposed to be writing this 1st article for you to get to know me. I've written 5 drafts at this point, and every single one is vastly different. I know me pretty damn well, so writing an introduction about myself should be easy as fuck, and yet, in all previous drafts, I tried to cram 53 years of life into 13 paragraphs. It reads like trash, and so, I'm taking Frank's advice and keeping it real and simple.

I don't consider myself a writer, even if I'm doing writer-shaped stuff. Writers like structure and follow the rules of grammar. I break every rule every chance I get, and I believe grammar is a mere suggestion. I'm a storyteller. I believe very strongly in sharing your stories with the world. The good, the bad, and most importantly, the ugly. The ugly is the best damn part! The ugly is where all the growth takes place. It's where we sit in the muck and let it shape and teach us. It's where our wisdom is born, right in the stickiest of the muck. The longer you tolerate sitting in it, the wiser and stronger you grow. I know it sucks, but I don't make the rules.

I'm awfully familiar with the muck, and I'm just as familiar with frequently being stuck in it. Like most humans, I'm a very complex being, and I've lived lots of different lives in the last 53 years. I've learned the muck is part of the journey, so I stopped fighting it. Instead, I went all in!

What I mean by that is, I decided exactly who I wanted to be in this time in history and what I wanted to do with all this muck and mess. I've been very busy since the 2024 election doing, creating, joining humans together, and helping our neighbors. I want to share all of that with you because it's become very important work to me. I believe community philanthropy is one of the tools we need to become skilled at utilizing in this new world. I don't believe we make it out of this mess without it.

But I'm not just mutual aid and the things I've done the last 2 years. I'm a late-in-life lesbian, I'm parental estrangement, I'm chronic illness, I'm coming out while being married to a man, I'm a mother and wife, I'm raised by MAGA parents, I'm a child of religious indoctrination. I'm in a deeply satisfying marriage. I'm done with patriarchy, and I'm done being polite.

I'm 53, and I always heard when women hit their 50s, they become "invisible." Ha! What a fucking lie that one was. I've never been more grounded, more clear-headed, more aware, and more willing to walk into every damn room I choose and fuck shit up when needed.

But I'll also wrap you up like a burrito, put on your favorite TV show, and feed you snacks. Because life is beautiful, and life is incredibly heartbreaking. But we're here, in this time and place, to do something. Everyone gets to choose their "something," but we've all got one, and this is a very good time to sit with yourself and figure out what that is for you.

Because nothing has changed my life more than being in service to my neighbors and community for the last two years. I'm excited to share what I've been up to with all of you, and to see if we can all figure out how to walk through this new weird shit together.

I like together. It's less lonely, and the more humans, let's be honest, the more snack variety. I get this is serious business, but snacks are very important to resistance. We don't need hungry humans while we're fighting the patriarchy. We need to bulk up!

So grab a Snickers, bring an extra one for your new friends, and meet me back here. We've got a lot to discuss. Life is going to be like running uphill for a while. I hate both running and an incline, so I'm very aware I'm going to be uncomfortable for the foreseeable future. But being surrounded by like-minded, slightly unhinged humans is my jam. If you fit that bill, nice to meet you, bestie!

We're gonna talk lots of smack about all the things. I hope you'll keep coming back to take a peek.