Not the poetic kind that lands on a fence post and stares meaningfully into the void—but an actual rooster. Somewhere in the grounds of the building at the back of the tower block I’m currently in. Or maybe he’s crowing from on a rooftop, maybe hell. It’s hard to say. What I do know is that he begins his unholy sermon at around 4:12 a.m. and continues, quite earnestly, through every sacred pause in my day.
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This on top of the tooth infection I'm healing means it feels, right now, like there is no sanctuary from anything. This is not a romantic village fable. This is sonic warfare!! I have, however, survived much worse. The previous place I was staying had a rooster so loud it was like a jet engine, and very close to my bedroom. I survived that for over a year, so this is essentially nothing in comparison.
At first, I resisted. Earplugs, white noise apps, herbal oils that smelled like a reiki healer’s sock drawer. Nothing worked. And then, today—somewhere between rage and exhaustion—I paused.
What if this feathered fiend isn’t just annoying? What if he is a spiritual archetype?
What if the rooster is shadow work?
🪶 The Crow as Interruption
Roosters crow for a few reasons—most of them primal. Territorial declaration. Hierarchy. Anticipation of sunrise (yes, they crow before it happens, little prophets that they are). But spiritually, they serve another purpose: they interrupt the illusion.
Crowing is disruption. It’s inconvenient. It’s loud. It doesn’t care if you’re sleeping, grieving, or just trying to sip your tea in peace.
Sound familiar?
What if the things in our lives that feel like interruptions—awkward truths, emotional triggers, legal rulings, family dynamics—aren’t intrusions at all, but invitations?
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What if they're not trying to destroy your peace, but reveal where your peace was never built on stable ground to begin with?
The rooster doesn’t show up to ask permission. It announces. And sometimes, so must we.
🪞 Visibility, Noise & the LGBTQ Shadow
In the LGBTQ+ community—particularly among trans and nonbinary folk—this metaphor runs deep. So much of our visibility has been hard-earned. But somewhere along the way, some of it turned into spectacle. Headlines.
I actually wrote a piece the other day that explored a similar thread:
—about how, somehow, aspects of our visibility became performative. Not everywhere. Not for everyone. But in some corners, it started to feel like we were performing queerness rather than simply being. Whether that was partially orchestrated by the media or by ourselves, I couldn't possibly say.
This isn’t a judgment. It’s not a criticism. It’s certainly not me speaking on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, or the trans community, or any community at all. It’s simply reflection. I’m just one soul, sharing from my lived experience. Others will have their own truth—and I honor that fully. If your way of being shows up through performance or protest or poetry, then so be it. We’re all different instruments in this symphony.
Interestingly though, it’s a conversation that’s beginning to echo through others, too. Fabrice Houdart wrote something recently that landed with a similar pulse—you might want to explore his article below:
Different language. Different lens. But perhaps we’re all tuning to something deeper now. Something that comes not from within a politicized identity, but from above—a higher frequency. A remembering.
I'm not here to tell anyone how to live. It’s none of my business. I’m just opening a window.
Visibility that feels like sunrise, not sirens
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We are not cultural phenomena. We are people. And being seen shouldn’t have to be extraordinary. It should just be.
I didn’t transition for visibility. I transitioned for congruence. My inner life aligned with the outer world—and then I went about my day. Quietly. Steadily. As myself.
So when we over-correct and attach value to noise, we risk losing the point of the transition in the first place: peace. And if the rooster teaches us anything, it’s that noise without intention just wakes the neighbors. Not the world.
🌅 Resilience Isn’t Resistance
Whilst we're at it, let's also have a chat about resilience because that's often thrown around, particularly for our community. Many others have rightfully said that it shouldn't be a point of just accepting and sucking things up and getting through something. And they're sick of hearing it, or having to. And I totally agree. So why don't we re-frame resilience too.
It’s not gritting your teeth and soldiering through. It’s not white-knuckling your identity through legislative rollback or family estrangement.
Resilience is remembering who you are, even in a world that is noisily crowing and mislabeling you.
It’s presence without performativity.
It’s persisting to write substack articles to uplift, and creating art that celebrates - desite challenging enironments.
It’s silence that isn’t shutdown—it’s sovereignty.
If the rooster is our shadow, maybe it’s also our reminder: not everything that interrupts you is trying to hurt you. Some things are just here to ask, gently and terribly:
"Are you awake yet? Are you ready for the next level?"
🌸 What We’re Building
I believe this moment is asking something new of us. Not silence. Not submission. But depth. Fewer declarations. More embodiment.
Not “how loudly can I say I’m proud?” But “how deeply can I rest in the knowing that I just simply belong here? That I am building beautiful in my corner of the world, regardless. That I don't care about the noise. I create my own reality.”
Fighting to be seen? Well, in terms of law of attraction, law of assumption or even just good ole’ psychology of linguistics, that just continues a war. Perpetuates and attracts the same energy, the tug of war “Them and Us” status quo.
Instead, what if we quietly - yet assuredly - choose to walk away? Take every brick thrown our way and use them to build a world where no one has to ask to be?
And as I’ve written elsewhere—this is not about demanding more than others. It’s about building better for all. Not just our community. Building a world that works because we all belong. Not despite it.
✨ The Real Crow
So back to my rooster.
He’s still out there as I type this. Crowing like he’s auditioning for American Idol: Farm Edition. But I’m not fighting him. He’s not my enemy. He’s my alarm clock—albeit the annoying kind from a discount bin in purgatory. Perhaps a little bit like some of the people pushing back against our community.
I still fantasize about relocating him to a very peaceful, very distant monastery. But I now also listen. Not to the sound, but to what it reflects. Some of you may know, I have been in this very challenging situation in the Philippines for approaching six years and been trying to move myself beyond it.
And maybe that’s the whole point. Maybe shadow work begins with asking: “What part of this noise have I internalized? What truth have I been avoiding? And how can I turn this interruption into an invitation?” Sometimes the universe has to make us very uncomfortable in order for us to make the next move. Even if it pushes you beyond your comfort zone.
Sometimes, the loudest call for alignment and building that next level of expansion wears feathers. And sometimes, a crow before dawn is the soul saying: Wake up! Let’s begin afresh…🪶💖
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Thank you so very much for the mention!