Light Work (If You Can Get It...)

Hi everybody. My name is Sean M. P.

I dropped my legal last name—Kennedy—when I got to Hollywood because (1) there's too many Kennedys out here and (2) I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And politics these days...well, that's the problem!

I know first-hand: after receiving my PhD in English in June 2020, I was put on paid leave by my then academic employer, Gettysburg College, when I spoke out about the unsafe working and learning conditions on campus. Fortunately I kept my salary but the episode derailed my professorial career.

It's one of the stories I tell in my memoir, Química Divina: A Testimony of Sexual—and Spiritual—Healing, for which I seek your financial support, whether that be $5, $55, or $555!

The title of the book intentionally echoes the R&B classic "Sexual Healing" because as countless Black people from Marvin Gaye to Willie Jolley to Beyoncé have taught me, when life deals you a setback, you make lemonade.

And that's exactamente what I did. With the newfound confidence I received from meeting the love of my life, Arthur Paul Sanchez, I decided to try my luck in La La Land and see if could make it as an entertainer.

And it worked: I joined the world-famous Hollywood Improv's talent-development program while driving for Uber, tutoring K-12 students, and performing in TV productions as a background actor. I also produced and starred in a steady stream of online solo performances for YouTube.

But then the strikes happened—first by the writers' union, then by the actors'. My income from working as an extra dried up. So, too, did my tutoring revenue, thanks to the summer break. The last straw was my body revolting from all the hours I'd spent driving across Southern California.

So I pivoted yet again, started searching for a job within walking distance of my apartment, and began writing Química Divina. An inside look at the entertainment industry following the upheavals of both #MeToo and the pandemic, the book also chronicles how I conquered my alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety, allowing me to become my true self, whether on stage or off.

I also share all the tools I've used to realize my lifelong dream of being a performer, from practicing hot yoga to resuming the tennis I enjoyed so much as a kid to changing romantic relationships (and coasts) to numerology.

And that's where you come in, friends. In every spiritual tradition I've studied, numbers are sacred—and I need a fiscal miracle right now.

With your assistance, I can (A) resolve my outstanding rent of $2100 and keep myself housed and (B) establish a rent fund of $3200, which I'll save in a high-yield account and draw from to pay my rent of $800 a month as I settle into a new day job or two and rebuild my financial foundation. (Remaining monies will mainly be captured by GoFundMe.)

Once this basic need is addressed, I can focus sans distraction on the writing of Química Divina.

Although I no longer professionally identify as a Kennedy, I did beat the Kennedy curse (aka drink). Now I wanna share the secrets to my success with the world.

Will you help me publish my own Profiles in Courage?

Either way, I wish you Godspeed.

{Fine print: Per GoFundMe policy, "no raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations" made to this fundraiser. Capeesh?}