Our focus on Shot Callers around the country continues today with an update from San Francisco's Patrik Gallineaux. 

What a week!   How grateful I am to have survived Folsom Street Fair Weekend (such hard work, being stuck in the GLOSS Magazine booth with Bevin Shamel and Kenshi Westover and almost a dozen porn stars) as well as “Candy Outlandish”, my launch party for Stoli Salted Karamel and Chocolat Kokonut at The Café in the Castro. Runway Couturier Executive Producer Fritz Lambandrake really turned it out with his three amazing Runway productions, and candy-coated couture fashion.

But this sort of fabulousness would not be possible without real gratitude in my life for how blessed I am to be alive at such a wonderful time in history in such a wonderful place, and the fact that we sometimes have to realize that the journey is just as important as the destination.  Every bit of adversity has the opportunity to reveal a polar opposite of learning and strength, and every act of sincere giving can reveal gifts far greater than what we initially gave of our one self.

For example, several years ago, while working in Texas dancing the role of Riff in Garland Summer Musicals’ 2001 production of West Side Story, on opening night, 2 minutes in, I landed wrong from a jump and tore my ACL.  What I thought was to be one of the most wonderful moments of my life quickly became what seemed like the worst, and although I was able to remain onstage to deliver every line and sing every note, it seemed like I was living the sort of “actors’ nightmare” that happens so often while sleeping, of being onstage and having something go terribly wrong-but this was very real.  Despite no longer being able to dance the part, I decided to remain in the show (with the injury written into the script), and through the process gained a sort of gratitude I had not experienced before; how blessed I was to be able to walk, let alone experience the vast joy of being able to bring others joy through stage performance.  The universe I feel knocked me down a peg or two at a key moment when perhaps I was too caught up in “showing off”, defining my success in the wrong way, and although painful I gained new strength and wisdom that brought me to an entirely new place, without which I never would have evolved into a better teacher, and better equipped to live with higher positions of responsibility within my life experience.  By the way, I had a very successful surgery and can chasse and chene once again!

What joy to see so many others I know succeed amidst the spirit of gratitude, as well.  For example, my friend Jason Brock, one of the most talented and committed vocalists I know, has for years donated his time to help raise money for organizations such as The Richmond-Ermet AIDS Foundation and make performance appearances for far less than what his time is worth.    With a voice like Aretha Franklin and the glitter of Liberace and Elton John combined, he has maintained clear gratitude for his talents with such a giving spirit.   What a thrill (and I cried out of happiness, I have to admit) to watch Jason this week achieve a dream and appear on “The X Factor”, receiving a unanimous “Yes” from L.A., Britney, Demi, and even Simon.  To take the stage this week as Jason did and unwaveringly begin  by unequivocably stating his dream of a concert stage filled with dancing boys and glitter explosions despite Simon’s cynesism and then win the hearts of America takes power born of gratitude for that moment, such a long time coming, but for which well-prepared.    (See Jason’s defining moment at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpbCcwmSf74 ). 

There are so many others for whom success is well deserved and born of gratitude and giving.  Cheryl Burke of “Dancing with the Stars”, a Bay Area native, has along with her family donated so much time to non-profit fundraising and the LGBT community, and anyone who has read Cheryl’s book knows that she has dealt with obstacles along her way..  In 2009, Cheryl and her mother Sherri were key in helping me to create “Dancing with the Drag Stars”, clearly very inspired by the hit ABC-TV show.   By partnering ballroom champions with some of the most committed drag stars in the Bay Area and beyond, she helped to create a forum to demonstrate that drag can come in all forms and with all talents.  “Dancing with the Drag Stars” will enter its fourth season in 2013, benefiting HIV/AIDS agencies, and I never could have made this dream a reality without the Burke family’s spirit of giving and Cheryl’s own clear gratitude for her success.  How wonderful to see Cheryl begin this week’s newest season of "DWTS: All-Stars” with the highest score of episode one after a show-stopping cha-cha with returning partner Emmitt Smith.  (Remember to watch “Dancing with the Stars” and vote for Cheryl at 1 800 868-3413-multiple times-every week!)

There are so many success stories out there of people I know who have achieved success based in a spirit of gratitude learning from adversity along the way; in the Bay Area we have Sister Roma, Donna Sachet, and so many more.  I can look in my own life at qualities I have been so blessed as to gain from my parents Tim and Marcia, and hope that my nephews Lucian and Gabriel as well as niece Willow will grow up in a better world than any of has before, and bring the spirit of gratitude and giving well into the 22^nd century. 

And hopefully by the time we get to the 22^nd century, I’ll still be here blogging with you and enjoying my Stolichnaya cocktails.  Cheers to THAT!

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