Q-FILES: Getting Cosy with Rosey

Photographed by Eloise Irwin / @hey.eloise_

Rosemary “Rosey” Nelson; my first real friend that I made in high school. She’s said for years that I’m her #1 fan and not going to lie, it’s very much accurate. Rosey’s intellect, wit and beauty is unmatchable in my opinion and I’m forever inspired by her view on life and ability to have me on the floor laughing. I feel very honoured to have her share her experience with us and give our Queerful readers a taste into the weird and wonderful-ness that is Roro.

Rosey, 28, She/Her - @roro.smash

What has Quarantine been like for you? It hasn’t been a time of major adjustment for me as I think it may have been for many. Luckily, Covid has not touched my life and I have been able to continue working from home. I don’t easily get cabin fever as well so that does help. Though I have found it has allowed for me to visit new and old interests like sewing and drawing that I probably would not have given myself time to do before. I am incredibly grateful for this actually. Being able to enrich myself through art and handicrafts has been so fun and rewarding. Like a pig in mud I’ve also just flourished into my trackie wear aka sloppy clothes and my low pony has made a triumphant return, a sight which has graced the sight of many an uber eats delivery person.

As a queer person, has it changed the way you view our community in terms of support? Not at all, it only affirms the support I know the community has for each other. As an ally I am lucky enough to witness the community in action and have always been welcomed with open arms and warm hearts. I know their capacity for love and the sense of family is STRONG.

If you were to quarantine with one high profile person, who’d it be and why? Pauline Hanson – controversial but I think I could break her.

How do you feel about the direction our society is going in, especially with important movements like BLM and the defunding of the police, LGBT+ rights and visability? I think it’s important now more than ever for people to standfast and speak up for themselves. We live in an increasingly conservative and borderline fascist world and the voices of people outside of systems of privilege need to be heard, spread wide and their power affirmed. Recognising where you fit in that schema is also vital, knowing your privilege informs how you should conduct yourself and how to help change that system. To see BIPOC, Trans, Queer, Disable etc. people affirming their power gives me hope for possibility of change.

Who do you live with and have you faced any challenges? I live with two friends and whilst I can’t say it’s always perfect, we are really lucky to enjoy each other’s company and respect each other’s personal space so our challenges don’t amount to much more than who’s taking the rubbish out. Sorry I don’t have any juicier goss than that.

Words of advice for anyone who is experiencing mental health issues during this time? I think you would need to be crazy not to be struggling, to be frank. I think the way our society is deliberately set up, the average person is normally driven to distraction by a long work week, expected overtime and the expectation to still be ‘doing something’ in their ‘free time’ – not to mention the responsibility of caring for loved ones and other commitments. We are not made to work 40-hour weeks for one and we aren’t made to not have time to be introspective. So, no wonder people might be struggling with their mental health at this time, it’s likely their first quiet moment to actually assess and address their health concerns. I just hope people can know their thoughts and feelings or even confusion over thoughts and feelings are valid and that whatever, if anything, that they decide to do about it will be right if it feels right.

Whats the first thing you want to do/change once the restrictions have been completely lifted? Well the first thing that comes to mind is spending more time in nature, at this stage in my life I rely on public transport to get around and this greatly inhibits the places I can go, especially now. Being in and spending time in nature is incredibly healing for me and is something I do long for. I would also like to visit my Pop and not feel guilty and be able to have a big party with all my friends.

What has your personal journey been like through this time? I quite enjoy being a hermit so its been a cozy period of cocooning for me and allowed me the space to un-mask and breathe. Something I likely wouldn’t get the chance to do normally. As neuro-diverse woman living with ADHD, the world can often be exhausting and foreign for me. Masking is the way in which neuro-diverse people such as people with ADHD and Autism translate themselves and hide or mask their difference in order to navigate the neuro-typical world more easily. It’s a daily task that I would normally need to engage in at work and socially. As such it takes up a considerable amount of mental effort and energy that I would obviously prefer to spend elsewhere if we lived in a perfect world. Not having to leave my house/room has given me the ability to reclaim that brain space for other things and has been incredibly liberating for me.

Have you had a mantra throughout isolation? If so, can you share it with us? ‘If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down!’

No, but in the honest truth my mantra would not have changed from my natural preset. I have only ever wanted to live my truth and have fun and quarantine or not I’ll be having a good time and living large!

If there is anything else you want to add: A poem, song, final note? I honestly think that everyone who’s stuck in their house with other people or, those of us being WAY too awkward when we leave the house and have to interact can get into Björk’s Human Behaviour right now.

Q-FILES: Getting Cosy with Rosey

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