I contain multitudes
My name is Devans Eli.
I use social media to celebrate the good things in my life with others. But Substack is where I’m trying to peel back the layers.
I’m interested in identity, culture, mythology, psychology, sociology, systems of oppression, spirituality, and everyday life. I love asking what is lurking in the shadows of the stories we already know, the things we believe, and the things we sometimes pass every day without noticing.
So I may go down a rabbit hole about an ancient myth, folklore, the origins of character names, what we read in our history books, or interesting spiritual customs. I might look deeper into one of my own stories and ask why a character behaves the way they do, what a theme says about the world around us, or whether there was another perspective that may have been hard to notice.
I’m definitely not here to tell you what you are supposed to see.
Hell, I might notice something in one corner of the room. You might notice something in the other. Both may have always been there.
I love those kinds of conversations, where we’re not trying to be right. We’re just trying to take off the rose-colored glasses and look again.
One of my favorite quotes is from Walt Whitman: “Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes).”
It wouldn’t be fair to use one word, phrase, or people group to describe the very essence of my identity. Like Ben 10, there is much of me to see, discover, embrace, and love. I have more than one superpower.
Here are a few things you should know:
I am Black.
I am a queer male.
I am an extroverted introvert.
I am a husband, son, brother, and friend.
I know what it feels like to lose community.
I am a writer who loves poetry, prose, short stories, fantasy, mythology, and the strange little details that send me researching for hours.
I am learning and growing.
The people I hope find this Substack are the kind of people who can look at something familiar and peel back a new layer.
You do not have to agree with what I see.
Actually, I hope sometimes you don’t.
Tell me what you noticed and what I missed. I want to know what the story, idea, or experience looks like from where you are standing.
Let’s talk and create community.
