Terra Tempest Moore
The Next Generation Awards 2012
Terra Tempest Moore
(Photo by Julian P. Vankim)
While dealing with creating change in the world, Moore also has had to face a dramatic change at home after her mother died on April 21. As with the other turmoil that she has faced, though, Moore addresses it with a sureness that would be notable in someone twice her age.
”I’m fine with the death of my mom. I’m at peace with that. I cried very briefly when I was making a Facebook message saying, ‘I’m not ready to write this message yet. I’m not ready to do this without my mom here.’ But my reality check is [that] she worked from the day that she came into this world until that day that she died – and she died working.”
”She’s finally taking a break, and it’s a vacation that she never would have accepted had you tried to give it to her, and that’s just the woman that she was,” Moore says. ”She’s with her mom and her sister and with family members, and that washes over me with comfort.”
Saying that her mother’s death has meant she’s ”had to become more of an adult,” Moore is – as always – full-steam ahead.
”I was put here for a reason, and because I don’t know that reason, I’m afraid that I’ll never necessarily amount to the worth and the potential that I was given when my mother gave me life,” she says. ”And, I think that with her passing, that need to show up in the world is that much more present.”
She turns to wisdom she gained elsewhere.
”I love poetry,” she says. ”Someone said, ‘Don’t let this world regret you.’ To me, that’s something that I think about every day. Don’t let today regret your existence. Make sure that you make it worth living. Make sure it’s worth getting up and out of bed in the morning. I think that’s what motivates me.”
As such, the Metro Weekly Next Generation Award is, for Moore, just another step. On May 10, for example, she will be in Pulled Apart, a play being staged by the Voices of Now ensemble at Arena Stage.
”You can sit and dwell on a victory for too long. I think, like we say, ‘You learn more from failure than you do from victory,’ because usually you let the victory wash over you and you don’t stop to think,” she says.
”For me, it’s: I don’t sit still. If you give me an award, it’s like, ‘What can I be doing next? What’s the next challenge? What’s the next adventure?’ Not so much, ‘I’ve won this award. I’ve done enough.’ The journey is never over.
”I’m ready for the next bite. Give me something more to chew.”
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
