JENNIFER PATTERSON…CREATING SAFE SPACE FOR QUEER COMMUNITY

Meet…Jennifer Patterson, 37
Grief worker & Editor of Queering Sexual Violence: Radical 
Founder of Corpus Ritual and is a member of The Breathe Network and Breathwork for Recovery

How do you connect with people in New York City?
I’m a queer person and spend a lot of time in the queer community, personally and professionally so sometimes there is an overlap between all of them which feels sweet. A lot of my connection comes through meeting with people through my healing practice and workshops. You can also find me hanging with dear ones at karaoke, poetry readings, at lectures, or protests, or intimate little dinners with friends.

Do you consider your social life healthy?
For me, I’m often trying to find a balance between work and social life and my personal healing work. I have a Libra stellium so you gotta know that I love balance! I try to have at least one friend hangout a week, as well as spend time with my girlfriend, do one personal healing thing each week (which sometimes just means I make my dinner and call it a night) and then see what I have left. Some weeks are better than others!

What does social wellness mean to you? 
For me it’s about building like-minded community, people that can lift us up or hold us when shit gets hard, people who we feel able to support without resentment and if there is some that build, we can talk about it because we know we want the best for each other and because we value honesty in relationship. I can’t do superficial surface friendships anymore so I think social wellness is also about having a depth of connection in a relationship and a willingness to grow and change.

FOLLOW JENNIFER ON IG!!