| Tsunami Caryl Averlyn�s Opening Statement |
| O.K., it just wouldn�t be right to start off this �opening statement� without first saying many thanks and a thousand kudos to our good sista Amanda, for making this all possible, and volunteering her time and efforts to make it work.
However, I�m not the least bit happy about her �deadline� for all this. I don�t know about you grrrls, but she hit me with only 3 weeks to prepare, so here goes. (smile) First, my natal name is Wallace Mitchell (arrrgh!) and I�m now known as Caryl Averlyn, although I�ve had other en-femme names and titles over the years, mostly associated with my professional career. I�m a 32 year old, full time, �non� op TS. And just so we don�t get too caught up on descriptive terms, I say �non� op, even though I�ve had over 20 femme enhancement surgeries, I have no desire to have the ultimate SRS, so I don�t fit the tone of the �most common� term �pre-op� TS. I�ve taken it as far as I wanted to take it, and I�m quite satisfied. In the adult film industry I�m what�s known as a �fully functional she-male� since, despite being a wholly voluptuous female in appearance, my penis still works. (smile) Among other things (and careers) I have a lengthy history in the adult film industry. I have been �out� since approximately age 12, and full time since approximately age 14. I have done a lot of volunteer work, activism, and promoting in the trans community. And I either belong now, or have in the past, belonged to multiple organizations in our community. Those of you that receive some of the trans publications may be familiar with some of my writings, news articles, poetry and artwork, either as Caryl in more recent years, or formerly as �Chanel.� Turning to religion. I can truly say, without a doubt that I am �blessed� and truly �saved.� And I say that not in the sense of a Christian zealot screaming of some fictional �born again,� but in the sense that I acknowledge that there is a higher power (i.e., Creator God, Entity, fill in the blank) and that power does not have a problem with me. Indeed, the first thing I had to do to be saved, is to get saved from my �self.� You are the biggest factor in determining what your life is going to be, whatever it�s here, the hereafter, or whatever your individual beliefs might be. Once I became comfortable with �self,� indeed, fell in love with self, everything else fell into place. Quite easily. I�ve been �religious� per see all of my life. Which of course caused me to wrestle with spirituality due to the lifestyle I lead. In the traditional ortho-Judaism sense, everything I did was �sin� and I was doomed to eternal flame. I also had to wrestle with early experiences off molestation by a Catholic priest whom literally said �Oh God� every time he climaxed. Imagine how confusing that was to an already �confused� 9-year old. Fortunately, I was able to use some of the money I made doing �sin to do a lot of research on religion, theology, dogma, divinity, etc. and most importantly, history. It�s vital to study and know history, to even begin to understand why\how religion came to be, or the belief in a Supreme Being(s). If there�s a trans who�s a scholar on the subject, than I�m your grrrl. (smile) I�m well versed on all of the major religions in the world, and �most� of the minor ones, to include some cults and occults. Currently I�m a member of the �Church of the Larger Fellowship.� This is a specific body within the Unitarian Universalist Church, that is comprised mostly of gays, lesbians, bi�s, trans, and people that just plain don�t fit in to one category or another, but still value their spiritualism. The UU�s generally mix a lot of concepts, beliefs, practices & traditions from multiple schools of religion without forcing a doctrine of one way in the only way. Indeed, the better concept is whatever way brings you to your nirvana, your heaven, you spiritual awareness and comfort, is the way for you. On a personal note, I refuse to believe a God of any kind could �hate,� much less hate based on gender or sexual preference. It would not make any sense in the overall balance and scheme of things. Moreover, such a God would not be worthy of worship or �belief� in any sense of the word. I�ve noted throughout my travels, study and experience, that the Creator (God) is many different things to many people. (E.g., I�ve me atheist whom believe civilization was started by extraterrestrials. For them, that is their God (Creator) whether they acknowledge it in that sense or not.) �Religion� is the ritual, practices and traditions that go to an individual belief. The belief that if you follow those particular rituals, practices, traditions, you ill achieve (fill in the blank) heaven, nirvana, reincarnation, resurrection, higher form, enlightenment, eternal life, etc., etc., and most of all that you won�t suffer. Now suffering is the �other� part of religion, without which, it won�t work. In other words I had to think that by putting tits on my body, I would go to hell and burn before I became concerned enough to see it was true. Ergo, the fear that I might suffer, rather it be in this life, an afterlife, or whatever. The suffering part, or fear of, more often than not, drives one to religion. Even in the transcendental sciences, where one believes that past bad behavior/experiences, creates bad karma for current behavior/experiences. Now, true bitch that I am, I could gossip on just about anything, but we�re on my 2nd most favorite subject, so I could just go on and on and on. But I want to hear from some of you grrrls, and I�m so thankful that Amanda has offered to facilitate correspondence between us, should we need it. Although I can probably write out to just about anyone direct, I�m in a federal facility, so the only way an incarcerated person can write to me direct is if you don�t have to put your prisoner number on the return address. Also, if you discuss being in prison in your letter, you must do it in a way where the po-po won�t catch on. As a TS, the feds periodically read my incoming mail. If they peep that it�s coming from another prison, it�s dead. Oh, before I go, some of you might be wondering what is my favorite subject, since religion is 2nd�.. No, it�s not sex (shame on you naughty grrrls!). It�s cosmetic surgery! What else, I�m the queen of the knife. (smile) Please, protect yourselves, and I luv you all. In solidarity, Caryl. |
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