August 9, 2025: Things I have Done in My Life That I Would Be Proud of if I Were Capable of Such Things
by Harmony Witte
An issue I have struggled with my entire life is low self-esteem and constant negative self-talk. I’m not going to go into all of the reasons here why I believe that’s been such a struggle, but it’s something I’m working to unpack in therapy. I had a humorous encounter while in the hospital where I tried to speak with some fellow patients about how hard it is for me to extend compassion to myself and how I find the very concept of self-compassion to be flawed and illogical. I thought they would understand and possibly commiserate—they were horrified. It has now become an inside joke that my inner voice sounds like a demon from a movie we recently watched, K Pop Demon Hunter.
One way that I’m trying to combat this low self-esteem while in the inpatient psych unit is to work on a list of things I’ve done as an adult that I would be proud of if I were capable of feeling any real pride in myself. Here is that list, it’s not in any particular order and hopefully it will continue to grow:
-Organized my first protest in 2002/2003 to protest the invasion of Afghanistan at my school. Got called into the principal’s office for the first time and told to shut it down. Made an anti-war t shirt featuring SpongeBob and wore it for the rest of the year.
-Graduated high school along with my triplets as the first in the family to do so, was the first in family to attend college and to live in a dorm.
-Left my hometown as part of the Appalachian Diaspora and shook the dust off my feet, working hard to deprogram myself from some of the negative messaging and walking the fine line of criticizing the broken aspects of the culture while celebrating others.
-Left an evangelical cult and spoke out about it publicly despite efforts to keep me quit. Spent years deconstructing from the harmful ideas that were instilled from my culture and religion.
-Was the first one in my family to seek mental health care, medication–attempting to destigmatize seeking care for mental health issues in my family circles and community. Participated in solo, couples, and group therapy for over 11 years.
-Married for 18 years—both of us came from backgrounds full of trauma and religious indoctrination. We’ve worked hard together to build a new family, growing and learning as a couple. Founded Mass Artists for Change in 2017 as “a group of MA artists and musicians who come together to create and build an activist community.”
-Collaborated on building and marched with the giant 8-foot Joe Biden puppet for a May Day March with Cosecha in DC demanding an end to deportations, took it to an anti genocide march in DC, and an anti genocide march in Cambridge MA.
-Organized the International Women’s Day poetry and art event at the Cambridge YWCA.
-Organized a music and art fundraiser to support Refugee Health and Human Rights at Out of the Blue Gallery.
-Organized 2 Graffiti Alley art protests in Cambridge MA—one to protest children in cages, one for Nakba Day.
-Organized an art show at the Cambridge YWCA featuring art and protest signs from the Women’s March.
-Helped organize an illicit community mural in my neighborhood in Cambridge to honor a community member who was murdered.
-Established DissArmoníe Zines and published dozens of tiny zines, mini zines, and art and poetry zines, collaborating with other zinesters. Teaching at zine making workshops and vending at nearly a dozen zine and book events. Contributed art, photography, and poetry to a handful of other zines. Had a zine featured internationally in the Rotterdam Tiny Zine Fest in 2024. Taught a protest making zine workshop at the MIT Scientists Against Genocide Encampment.
-Attended, photographed, and organized collaborative art projects at dozens of protests since moving to New England. These protests range in topic from Black Lives Matters, climate change, anti-police brutality, immigrant’s rights, freedom of speech, Pro union, women’s rights, anti ICE, workers’ rights, anti-genocide, anti-war, anti-fascism, and more.
-Filed a Title IV complaint against the Rector of Church of the Advent Boston after he sexually assaulted me—facing shunning, public shaming and humiliation, the loss of my position as a Church School teacher and altar server and (barely) enduring a drawn out 18-month process of investigation only to have him get a slap on the wrist and retire with his full pension. Organized a protest outside the church to protest the predatory priest and the corrupt Bishop who allowed him to predate once it became clear that the process had failed me and the priest’s other victims.
-Participated in over a dozen group art shows at galleries in Dallas and around New England exhibiting my paintings and photographs. Completed 4 solo art shows at galleries.
-Helped lead and organize a book group for over 5 years.
-Came out as non-binary and bisexual to try and live authentically. Changed gender to X on my MA Driver’s License in 2024.
-Taught thousands of children art lessons focusing on learning empathy, taking chances, and persevering in workshops, classes, and at camps. Mentored student artists proudly watching as several have gone on to successful art careers.
-Photographed hundreds of weddings, art shows, engagement parties, graduations, and protests.
-Spent years as a part of an art collective in Dallas participating in art shows, mentoring younger artists, and building community.
-Organized the Tree of Life Art Festival at Church of the Holy Cross in Dallas for 3 years.
-Attended hundreds of music concerts from basement shows, to stadium shows, and festivals.
-Attended Tribeca Film Festival as press 3 times, twice virtually and once in person where I attended a red-carpet movie premiere and interviewed Duchovny, David Ortiz, and Stephanie Beatriz. Attended and covered a dozen other film festivals.
-First in family to travel internationally: Canada, France, Italy, Germany.
-Learned to drive a stick shift, and how to drive in large cities– can parallel park on the left side of the road in a city in a snowstorm on a hill with traffic waiting behind me.
-Volunteered at the Longfellow House National Park/Washington’s Headquarters for 5 years.
-Self-taught “outsider artist” working consistently for over 17 years.
-Obtained an associate’s degree despite mental and physical health challenges, as one of the first in the family to get a college degree.
-Painted over a dozen murals in Dallas and Boston, including one for Yelp and one that was featured in an HGTV commercial.
-Taught myself through trial and error how to do grant-writing, building websites, painting, muraling, teaching art, zine-making, photography, arts organizing, and community building.
-Volunteered as a reader for Walden Pond Live Deliberately Essay Contest in 2024.
-Written and published 134 articles for Decadent Cosmos, Art & Seek, I Heart Noise, Sampan Newspaper, the DissArmoníe Blog, and Boston Compass. Submitted ideas to Boston Globe and Boston Art Review. Listed on the Sampan masthead as“art critic.” Self-taught as a journalist and art critic.
-Interviewed artists, filmmakers, musicians, and performers from Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia, First Nations Wampanoag, Palestine, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, India, Iran, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Pulitzer Prize winner Henry David Huang, Directors Francis Whatley and Scott Goldberg, Camille Trust, showrunner and author Charles Yu, Hao Ruoqi, Tehching Hseih, Chase Lombardo of CumGirl8, Jerry Saltz, and Sterling Hampton.
-Organized Driftwood: Communal Grieving Event for the City of Cambridge in 2023 and 2024.
-Organized the Vigil Against Gun Violence at City Hall working with Denise Simmon’s office.
-Organized the Boston Artist’s March as a part of the international Artist’s March.
-llustrated a book cover for a college textbook in 2024–Vigilantes: Extralegal Justice, Social Control, and Violence.
-Was a featured artist for a month in the St. Paul Small Art Gallery in my hometown and won first place in the Russell County Fair in the art contest in 2002. Won the school talent show with my best friend in 2003 performing the Dixie Chicks cover of Landslide.
-Was a vestry member/parish secretary for Church of the Holy Cross for 3 years, served as an altar server at 2 parishes, was a delegate at the Dallas Diocesan Convention. Proud Godmother to Marissa and Aunt of 7 kids. Met and spoken to Allison Kraus, Bob Balaban, Hamish Linklater, Alanis Morisette, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Guillén, Michael Hogan, Juliana Hatfield, Mike Flanagan, and Ed Begley Jr.
-Officiated a wedding for 2 dear friends in 2025.