Celebrity Unicorns | Casting Off from Bimini

August 18th, 2023

I have noticed recently that I have very few straight people in my life with whom I want to spend time with. Most just don’t seem like very much fun and many of them have outdated ideas and Trump dancing the jig on their heart. Nah, for me, the people that lighten my life are those who embrace love. Those who cast off all other comforts to come out into the light for love, yes, those are my people, and to the naysayers who believe they are an abomination and sin against God for loving who they must, I say no.

“No, Karen. Jesus wanted us to love thy neighbor.” Period. Jesus wanted us to love our neighbor and to love ourselves in the same way, and the whole point of that story is that it doesn’t matter who your neighbor may be. They could be ANYONE, and you know what? Jesus wanted you to love them anyway. So, Karen, I will say it again. No. Just NO. Please and thank you, just stop being a shriveled up, miserable, hypocritical, bigot. and just love-thy-neighbor. Trust me, girl, it’s more fun when you do, because they make the best martinis and they will often over-serve you. Here’s a shocker for you too. At many places of worship they are the ones who manage and serve you. Some are even married to Jesus, and wear a ring on their finger to show their commitment. Jesus is love, after all. Remember?

        

Anyway, by now you likely know my story, at least the part when we moved to Clearwater three years ago during Covid and I worked from home until a couple months ago. You know at least that part, right? So roughly translated, that means that I moved to a new city, yet again, this time with my husband and our sweet little chihuahua with heart issues, and my two miserable teens, who were paranoid about getting a virus and embarrassed to be white. In so doing, we ripped them away from their older brother whom they idolized, and their best friends, and they were both pissed. But, alas, opportunity was calling for their mom’s fiancé…so we all went to Clearwater. “It will be a fresh start,” we all told ourselves.

We all just embraced it and settled into our new lives, always at home, always together and we didn’t go anywhere or meet anyone for TWO years. The neighborhood Bunco league started up again around Christmas 2021, and thank God for that. I have met so many wonderful Cathys and Karens...and all joking aside, I am thankful for each of them. But for the past year my only friends have been neighbors. It’s crazy. For the first time in my life friends are not easy picking. Then I resigned from my job in May and I wrote You Have Arrived and basically, I have been sliding into the deep end of the pool with all my thoughts and fears about what I want for the future and what I am realizing is that life is too short to spend it with only Karens. 

Anyone who has a problem with them needs culture. Go to a museum or theatre and they will be on stage or behind the scenes breathing life and love into the arts. Book a trip to Broadway if possible, but local theatre is great too. Listen to any song or watch any funny sitcom and take a moment to consider that the reason any of it is any good is because of them! Just embrace the arts and embrace love. The most tortured souls know how to love the hardest. 

Want to feel loved in a hot tub in a very celibate way? I just did this and WOW! Hop in with a couple them and a couple of Karens and see the difference between their answers when you ask them how they are feeling. I am a journalist at heart so to spice up the conversation amongst this obviously diverse group, I asked them each to describe how they were feeling right now with just one adjective. Karens will say "happy" and "fine," but they will ponder deep emotional connections with words like "sedative," "content," and even, "effervescent." Yes, they know how to live and perhaps more importantly, they know how to express their joy and their disdain, honestly. It is immensely refreshing. They are just wired that way and that’s what makes them beautiful. 

I was so overjoyed to meet some wonderful unicorns on vacation and I really feel that the world needs them in positions of leadership, as role models, and as our states' representatives. After all, who could champion the cause harder for the people than those who have had to rethink, and reframe their lives. Who could be a better representative than anyone who has had to reconcile their very being. Who could be a better driving force of light and love and global equality and respect than those who have had to defend the most difficult choice they ever had to make, time and time and time again…when all they wanted to do was to love? 

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Shannon Joy Mekeel’s first book was inspired by her husband’s prostate cancer diagnosis and androgen deprivation therapy. It is entitled You Have Arrived and will be released in fall 2023 and is now available for pre-sale at ShannonJoyMekeel.com.

The companion documentary, Hurry Back will debut April 2024 at the inaugural Redfish Film Fest in Historic Downtown Panama City. This 12-part series tells the story of her family’s struggles and victories over the past century.