i remember when someone sent me the @fatyonce account on instagram, how fantastical and amusing and nourishing it was to me just to see that dreamed up intersection of confidence and flesh. last night i got to see something even better – a real life thick diva in a stunning sexy little outfit, with thick dancers, singing and seducing like the love child of Aretha and Mae West.

Lizzo is a phenomenon. she has come to heal us and all we have to do is unleash the love in our hearts.

i saw her in Chicago with my sister and the incomparable PG (who i have to shout out for the persistence of organizing me to make it to this show, making sure i didn’t forget to buy a ticket, or lose track of time, or need a ride – dreamy woe). we pulled up and the line to get in was wrapped around three blocks. and it was almost all white people, which i’ll admit was a surprise! like…y’all know my friend? who sings about my body and my heartbreak and my life? intriguing!

got inside and the only seats left were in the rafters. it didn’t matter, i’d have climbed a mountain. and Lizzo is big enough to fill the world. she came out and started with “Cuz I Love You” and the vocals were massive. the energy was expansive. and it just built and built until we were frenzied and free.

what most excited me about the concert, though, was the preaching and healing Lizzo does between hits. she sits down and gets vulnerable. she let’s us know her songs are carved from her heartbreak, her longing, her lessons. she tells us there’s nothing wrong with us. that we are all survivors. we all know about Jerome! we all deserve to be proud of ourselves, of all our small and big transformations. to love ourselves enough to allow our full emotional range, including bad days, including tears.

Lizzo stands on the stage like i once watched Nina Simone do, stands and accepts the worship she knows she deserves. she invites us to heal her with loving, and then she has us gather the love from the room and place it in our hearts and promises to be with us when we need someone to remind us that we are 100% that Bitch.

i’m a believer. i want this holy word for all of you. pay her, support her, glorify her.

and i’m casting spells for her health, for her deep sleep, for her to be thoroughly met by all of her lovers, for her to have time to bask in the divinity she’s claimed for herself.