My name is H*ppy Mystik Rainbow StompingBear. I changed my name to this. Everyone always asks what was my motivation and the meaning behind the names. 

As you can see, H*ppy has a star in it. The “a” in happy is handwritten as a star. It is legally there. And it represents me in several ways. I’m bright and shiny. I’m up all night, and I am normally the star of the show. It’s not intentional, but people like what they see. This makes me mindful, so I always try to behave in a respectful way. Happy is because I’m always happy. Well, most of the time. I do have moments. 

Mystik is to justify it as a religious name change. I am a pagan, a shaman, a mystik, a witch. I deal in the occult. I am a lover of nature. The Gods I pay tribute to and pray to are Gaia, Green Man and Fortuna. Though I frequently deal with Dionysus, Pan, Nul, Thoth, and the Fates. I’m a “soft polytheist,” meaning I believe in one God. I just celebrate aspects of Him/Her/It/Them. 

We all know what a rainbow is. That represents me coming out of the closet. I am transgender — male to female. My pronouns are either ye/yim or she/her. I’m fine with any of those. 

StompingBear is written with a capital “B” and no space. Everyone messes that up. I am Native American, a member of Muscogee (Creek) Nation. But the name came about as a joke, a group of guys made fun of the way I was dancing and said I looked like a stomping bear. #DoTheStompingBear

I’m part hillbilly part hippy. I love the outside, especially the night air. I love rain and bodies of water. I’m bi-sexual, transgender, polyamorous, Native American, Irish, Dutch, and very fittingly aquarius. I’m an eclectic Pagan (Wiccan, Shamanism, Hinduist, Qabalist, Animalist). 

I love tattoos. I play chess and build my knowledge bank. I’m a jailhouse lawyer. I am sometimes an artist (when the Muse strikes) and a somewhat writer. My power/spirit animal is the fox. Electronic dance music makes me dance, but I also like a variety of other music from country to blues to jazz and rock. 

I learn quickly and retain information easily. I’m smart and adaptable, easy on the eyes, open minded and can generally see both sides plus of an argument. I have big ideas and huge goals. I’m always working on projects of change. I feel I must change this prison system. 

I’m an Okie. I was born in Arkansas because they had a better hospital. But I’m an Okie through and through. I grew up in Oklahoma until I was 15 when we moved to Arkansas. I got my GED at 16 and started working. I got into some trouble here and there. I did my first ritual at 17. I did a lot of partying and couch surfing, and I lived in one flop house or another. 

Every summer I’d live on the rivers. I had a daughter in 2006. We had fun, swimming every day, camping every night. I had her hugging trees at two years old, waving good-bye to the sun at sunsets. But I lost her to the state. I was in jail, and the jail didn’t transport me to the hearing, and the state terminated my parental rights. I’ll always love her. I just found her, and I’m trying to reach out to her now.

I’m in prison until around 2030. Once I get out,I plan to start a self-sustainable resilient homestead. I have some land lined up, and some people to help with this adventure, but I’m always looking for some more sovereign thinking people to join me.

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This Is Me

by Happy StompingBear, Prison Journalism Project
March 30, 2021

<h1>This Is Me</h1> <p class="byline">by Happy StompingBear, Prison Journalism Project <br />March 30, 2021</p> <p>My name is H*ppy Mystik Rainbow StompingBear. I changed my name to this. Everyone always asks what was my motivation and the meaning behind the names.&nbsp;</p> <p>As you can see, H*ppy has a star in it. The “a” in happy is handwritten as a star.<strong> </strong>It is legally there. And it represents me in several ways. I’m bright and shiny. I’m up all night, and I am normally the star of the show. It’s not intentional, but people like what they see. This makes me mindful, so I always try to behave in a respectful way. Happy is because I’m always happy. Well, most of the time. I do have moments.&nbsp;</p> <p>Mystik is to justify it as a religious name change. I am a pagan, a shaman, a mystik, a witch. I deal in the occult. I am a lover of nature. The Gods I pay tribute to and pray to are Gaia, Green Man and Fortuna. Though I frequently deal with Dionysus, Pan, Nul, Thoth,<strong> </strong>and the Fates. I’m a “soft polytheist,” meaning I believe in one God. I just celebrate aspects of Him/Her/It/Them.&nbsp;</p> <p>We all know what a rainbow is. That represents me coming out of the closet. I am transgender — male to female. My pronouns are either ye/yim or she/her. I’m fine with any of those.&nbsp;</p> <p>StompingBear is written with a capital “B” and no space. Everyone messes that up. I am Native American, a member of Muscogee (Creek) Nation. But the name came about as a joke, a group of guys made fun of the way I was dancing and said I looked like a stomping bear. #DoTheStompingBear</p> <p>I’m part hillbilly part hippy. I love the outside, especially the night air. I love rain and bodies of water. I’m bi-sexual, transgender, polyamorous, Native American, Irish, Dutch, and very fittingly aquarius. I’m an eclectic Pagan (Wiccan, Shamanism, Hinduist, Qabalist, Animalist).&nbsp;</p> <p>I love tattoos. I play chess and build my knowledge bank. I’m a jailhouse lawyer. I am sometimes an artist (when the Muse strikes) and a somewhat writer. My power/spirit animal is the fox. Electronic dance music makes me dance, but I also like a variety of other music from country to blues to jazz and rock.&nbsp;</p> <p>I learn quickly and retain information easily. I’m smart and adaptable, easy on the eyes, open minded and can generally see both sides plus of an argument. I have big ideas and huge goals. I’m always working on projects of change. I feel I must change this prison system.&nbsp;</p> <p>I’m an Okie. I was born in Arkansas because they had a better hospital. But I’m an Okie through and through. I grew up in Oklahoma until I was 15 when we moved to Arkansas. I got my GED at 16 and started working. I got into some trouble here and there. I did my first ritual at 17. I did a lot of partying and couch surfing, and I lived in one flop house or another.&nbsp;</p> <p>Every summer I’d live on the rivers. I had a daughter in 2006. We had fun, swimming every day, camping every night. I had her hugging trees at two years old, waving good-bye to the sun at sunsets. But I lost her to the state. I was in jail, and the jail didn’t transport me to the hearing, and the state terminated my parental rights. I’ll always love her. I just found her, and I’m trying to reach out to her now.</p> <p>I’m in prison until around 2030. Once I get out,I plan to start a self-sustainable resilient homestead. I have some land lined up, and some people to help with this adventure, but I’m always looking for some more sovereign thinking people to join me. </p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2021/03/30/this-is-me-1/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org">Prison Journalism Project</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/prisonjournalismproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-PJP-favicon-2.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1073&ga=" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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