Hank Henderson: During the day I work for a payroll company & pay TV extras. Even though it’s a good company with good people, it’s a factory-like job doing the same thing over & over, day after day. But I need the benefits for the pills that keep the virus inside me at bay. We all have our days. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by past dreams or present circumstances of having given up acting & taken a desk job to survive or maybe I’m just tired & emotionally vulnerable. So I created a ‘Corner of Inspiration’ in my cubicle. There’s a copy of handwritten note to a boy from Keith Haring, advice from John Cage on creativity, Kerouac’s words about the Crazy Ones, personal thank you notes to me from the lovely Justin Torres & Peter Gadol, two of my favorite writers as well as a rapturous quote from poet Ocean Vuong that reminds me every time through near tears that ‘I am here. I am here”. There’s a crystal for calm & little Buddhas from my mother. When I’m down or sad or frustrated I turn to this corner to be revived. It’s a special, calm & empowering space that helps me remember there is life beyond a beige cubicle, that I’m more than my job, that I can and do influence others and that I am a creative person who supports & is supported by his community of beautiful, sexy, talented, passionate LGBTQ writers & performers. I am grateful. — with Victor Vazquez.
