Sandra Zapata, I am from Mexico, and now I live in Colorado. It's been a long journey here. As a human, I've always been very scared to get complacent. And I think part of moving is forcing myself to be uncomfortable in new places with new people. I've been doing LGBTQ+ advocacy for 20 plus years, whether that is in queer spaces, domestic violence, sexual assault–that's always been my main focus. I really enjoy working with youth the most. It feels like there's more space to grow into yourself when you're that young. And I can see what allowing youth to be open about who they are, and embrace who they are, I can see the difference that it makes. 

It is such a gift for someone to take time out of their day to spend that with you. I like to ask people about things that make them happy. So, I asked them about their favorite food or their favorite restaurant, or their favorite place to be or what's their favorite thing about being married, or their family or the people that they know. I feel like that gives me a better sense of who they are as people. I usually ask them, “What's the best thing about being married?” And to hear men being like,  “My wife,” or, “Just being in this family and making sure that they're okay,” I'm like, okay, there's depth in here. It's just–we're not necessarily asking questions of each other.

I really enjoy my solitude. Through the pandemic, I was very, very specific. If I'm going to be stuck with myself, I'm going to have to like myself. And that was a many years project. So I had to be very intentional about not running away from my own feelings. And I really had to figure out–am I a good enough human? But also giving myself the space to be like, “You're gonna fuck up a lot, and often.”

I really want to write more; I want to do a poetry book on grief. You don't know how life altering it is until you go through it. I mean, I knew my grandma was going to pass eventually, but she was my rock. And so to have her gone has made it difficult, but also, I'm not afraid that I'm going to disappoint her anymore. So there's freedom in that. We can speak about those things. And we can put it down and we can feel it. And, eventually, it's not going to feel like this. That has to be a process of love. So I really want to give more to it. Because it feels like a way of honoring her.