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Jardana Peacock

@jardana

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Louisville, KY
Writing: @seventhwavemag @swamp_pink, @pigeonpagesnyc & more
Lead Resource Mobilizer at Hollerin’ Up

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Brought my 2 favorites back to my favorite place and it was one of my favorite Fall Breaks ever.

They say parenting time switches between the longest/quickest days/months/years. I really understand this concept as my kids get older.

While their interests are often vastly different than mine, we delighted in a gorgeous waterfall, climbing rocks, daring each other to swim in cold mountain rivers, laughing at each other’s complaints and goofiness.

I love them with my whole heart. 💛 by @jardana

An epic adventure in Philadelphia with August & a day trip to NY. August fell in love with city life, adults who love playing games and treat him like a (his words), “real person.”

I saw so many beloved friends in such a short span. And am always deeply thankful for this community of love. Bonus was the special bond August formed with his angel parent, my beautiful Sheena. by @jardana

Waterfalls/lakes/AT/camping. Somehow the hardest became the best summer ever.

Often the anchor is yourself.

#wnc #queersummer #queersouth by @jardana

Unreal writing retreat with @rachel.e.parsons. When two parents get together to write for a week—REST is top priority. Proud about the ways we nurtured our bodies & hearts as part of our creative practice.

Worked on essays having nothing to do with my manuscript, so fun.

Lake/friend summer continues. by @jardana

I finally feel able to reflect on turning 47. It’s the strangest thing but who I wanted to be/what I wanted most/all my goals are similar to what I wanted at 40.

I find myself in this 7 year look back. I want all of the love, adventure, creativity, softness, ease, care, community, family, lovers, a partner, wnc (my heart), my book, travel, meaningful work. And, I cannot effort as much anymore. I have laid down “make it work,” I have invited in patience. I dance with wonder. I cry more, admit I care/love more (and especially when it matters) and am so full of gratitude.

I am so very thankful for this beautiful life.

It’s all I ever wanted. And more.

#love #queerasfuck #writer #queernature by @jardana

For 6 weeks (concussion healing), I have struggled like never before. I have taken heaps of supplements, rested a lot, walked my neighborhood, cried, visited with friends, cleaned my house, worked (a little), parented, danced, swam, & been forced to stay still. A literal feat for my momentum propelled ass.

The greatest gift—besides my gorgeous community of care & love (you know), has been the idea of edges—finding new ones. Learning my present capacity. LETTING go of what I planned & being in the moment.

In that spirit, I tried out a solo camping trip to Saint Helena Island, SC & Western North Carolina—2 of my favorite places in the world.

I have never swam so easily & so much in a day! I fell asleep to waves & wind. I worked in libraries along the way & found my way back to Celo—a place that holds immense magic and queer love for me.

I saw my friend in a play cast a spell so brilliant I cried.

I dropped into a reading at Warren Wilson and bumped into a Louisville writer! Cried more from the brilliance of parent writers & trans writers (notably @alexmlwrites).

And fuck. I felt like I was right where I belonged. I always do in these mountains. In the water. The world is extremely violent & hard but damn life is beautiful. Queerness saves me again and again. And art—well, we just would not survive without it.

Sometimes the risk is to hope.

#queerwriters #queerlove #wnc #queernature by @jardana

Introducing JARDANA PEACOCK (@jardana)’s tender, affecting essay, “Almost Home.” 🌱🏡🫂
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These past few days, we’ve been sharing little glimpses into each of our 15 contributors’ words and worlds, including Jardana and their essay, which “bravely asks how to abandon ‘traditional’ familial frameworks in favor of something infinitely more intimate, communal, and queer,” writes senior prose editor Briana Gwin. 📝🫶🏽✨
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Here, you’ll find some words from Jardana, as well as from our senior prose editor @shortcreativebursts, featured artwork by our art director @shytigers, and an excerpt from the essay itself. 😍 You can tap the link in our bio to read the piece in full, and to explore more work from Issue 19: Little Changes. 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 by @jardana

This was last week, Sunday morning. Then. In a day, life comes fast and hard and changes are massive in only a few seconds.

Later that Sunday evening, my child and I were in a car accident. We are okay. How, why, and we are.

I have a substantial concussion. I cannot process fully this one life. The life of my kid. The way time slows, lying on our side suspended in a car. Strangers climbing into the door to let us out. The circle of beloveds tending to me. I am recovering. Grateful for life and humbled by how short/quick/tentative it all is. by @jardana

Our annual backpacking trip to the Gorge!! An important reminder to pay attention to the wonder all around. And love, love, love who you are with.

#kentucky #love #camping #backpacking by @jardana

For more than a decade, Code2040 has been made possible by the people who believed in its mission and worked every day to bring it to life. We’re celebrating just a few of the individuals whose contributions helped shape this legacy!

Today we’re spotlighting Jardana Peacock (they/them) who serves as Senior Director of Development & Communications Lead.

For more than 20 years, Jardana has helped move resources where they matter — supporting communities, liberatory movements, and the people doing the work on the ground. At Code2040, they brought that same commitment to dignity, care, and collective possibility.

Reflecting on their time here, Jardana shares: “Code2040 has been one of the most nourishing places I have ever worked. I have learned so much about how to hold each other in dignity, care and liberatory leadership in the world and workplace.”

Jardana’s work is a reminder that movement-building isn’t only about vision — it’s also about resourcing that vision so it can grow. by @jardana

This winter & spring I was part of amazing readings online, in Baltimore and in Nashville. Each one reflected back to me the power of community, relationships and what happens when we tend to art—regardless of who will ever read/interact/or hear it.

Life does not make sense. Being human in this time is hard on a cellular and soul level.

Being a part of the Queer Love Project, @porchtn (one of my first writing homes), @seventhwavemag (where this essay I read in Nashville will be published in June) and all the folks in my writing workshop and who I have met over the last 8 years in workshops/classes/gatherings—so many writers writing for a more beautiful free world—reading/writing/art making is nothing short of life sustaining.

#writersofinstagram #queerwriter #southernwriters #love #liberation by @jardana

It’s always here I return. Of all the places I have traveled/lived. Here, my heart.

#home #queernature #wnc #writersofinstagram #queerwriters by @jardana