This week has been mostly uneventful so
far. I had one interview with a gay man on Monday, and he had rather
intense story. I actually have some reservations toward using his
story in the research because of a couple of the details that I can't
share, but it was certainly much more difficult for me as an
interviewer to process. I do think that interview helped show me a
broader range of what I might expect to experience, and problematized
the standard It Gets Better narrative in predictable but noteworthy
ways. (I'm sorry for the academic speak, but I'm not going to share
any details of interview stories here. That's not this blog's
function.)
Tuesday was a very stay-at-home day.
Other than jogging in the morning I didn't leave the house all day,
and I read through a good portion of House of Leaves and futz around
on the Internet. I haven't been getting that many emails from
interested people through my networking, so I think I will have to
try more aggressively to search for especially LGBTQ interviews. I
also have been developing the habit of getting up only shortly before
noon and going to bed after midnight, and that's partially because
I've had late night activities (such as book club last night and
Waffle House tonight) and partially because my room doesn't get that
much light. I'll need to be working on that a bit if I plan to have
interviews not in the evening (though evening is often the easiest
time).
This (Wednesday) evening I went to a
small group based out of Missio Dei at a home in Weaverville (north
of Asheville) that is, during the year, mostly full of students (from
UNC Asheville, Western Carolina University, and AB Technical College,
for the most part). I had told the couple that led and hosted the
group about my project ahead of time, and while I didn't get to make
an announcement to the group as a whole, I did get to talk to some of
the people and make plans to interview them. I even got one interview
with a guy who's going off to seminary in a week. He did the
interview right after the small group. It was practiced and we were
done in less than five minutes while other people were still around;
he seemed completely comfortable in the setting, though. (Also, in
general the IRB's restrictions are more worried about the LGBT
interviewees because there generally isn't any sort of danger to
Christians in this country for sharing their testimonies.)
On a personal level, I had been
increasingly aware of my isolation in Asheville since returning from
Charlotte, and especially the staying-in on Tuesday made me feel
restless and in need of social interaction. When I arrived at the
house where the small group was to be held I immediately felt
welcomed. The hosts introduced me to the people who were there, and
showed me the snacks that were there for a the small group (which
included hamburgers, though I was assured this was unusual). They
also remembered my email from a few months back explaining why I was
in town.
In addition, when I was introduced to
some of the people in the group (specifically Samuel, Kat, and Tara),
they immediately asked if I was “Wesley's friend”. (Wesley is a
friend of mine who goes to UNC Asheville and has helped me out with
this project in numerous ways, including letting me crash on his
couch for much of spring break and helping me with information about
many things including what churches were in the area that might be
good places to look. He also told people about my project, including
the two of them.) Naturally, that social connection helped me feel
more at ease as well. Tara and Kat both volunteered to be interviewed
and tell their friends about it as well.
After the small group and my one
interview, I went with Tara and Kat to Waffle House. We hung out for
about two hours or so and talked about a broad range of topics,
ranging from how churches should deal with differing opinions to
ceramics to Asheville's underground punk scene. It was a good
experience to be able to hang out with people and feel like I have a
group of friends in Asheville, since being here as a researcher makes
it hard to be comfortable in the settings that I normally can carve a
space out for myself in. It's also a reminder that the reason I chose
to study stories told by these groups is because I am a person who
lives in these communities, not just a person who is interested in
them. And while yes, this does mean that I may not be the most
objective observer, it does mean that whatever I learn this summer
will be something that matters to me.
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