Well after the proposal of this billboard piece, and a short while after its installation, I was sat across from an old but newly returned friend of mine. I no longer have room for misplaced words: I treasure them, their time, and the conversations we had that day in the room I share with my partner.

~

I’d like to paraphrase that conversation for you:

“I was talking with R + A (also old friends, also uniquely treasured) the other day, and I was saying that I was craving some bad old things that used to characterize my life.”

“It sounds like you’re seeking pain, then. Are you okay? Are things good?”
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“Yes, they are! They are really going well. I hope I didn’t scare you”

“No, you didn’t, but these feelings make sense. It makes sense that you would seek that because of how comforting it is.”
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“It is exactly that. I remember the toxic strength of that time. I felt like I could do so much.”
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“And now you know that you can do so much without that kind of destruction.”

“I suppose I do, and I suppose I still miss it.”

“Same.”
‍
~

May G N is a trans-albertan artist, educator, and co-director of TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary, AB. She worked in special education under the Calgary Board of Education for a time, and has spent many years developing and facilitating youth programming alongside her friends at the Esker Foundation.

For the foreseeable future, you can walk up a few doors from The Bows and bother her whenever you want; chances are she wouldn’t mind your company, even for a short while.