Step Three; The Overturn

Written By Pink Flowers

It’s tough AF letting go, y’all — for realz!

Step three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of...

That statement makes it sound like signing up for a frigging cult. That’s damn sad, ‘cause the fact o’ matter is, it ain’t as deep as all that. Taking step three ain’t about becoming a priest or a nun, like they put it. Truth is, your life is already in the care of forces beyond your control. Step three is about facing facts you can’t do life without a multitude o’ people places and things coming into alignment in your favor.

It takes a fuckload of luck, plus all the preparation you can muster for shit to work out. Because the divine order tends towards balance, we take for granted that shit is just supposed to go our way. When it don’t we wanna ask why? We really need to be asking why—or just giving thanks—when things go well. Fact the sun come up every morning a miracle taken for granted damn near everyday. I want the Universe to give me a full stomach on top of that?

Yeah, we get spoiled and expect stuff to go our way just ‘cause we cute or smart or funny or kind instead of praying constant ass gratitude just that gravity is holding most of us in place. I’m guilty o’ that one for sure. Once you admit your ass is powerless (step one), then come up with a version of whatever is gonna bring you back to clarity (step two), taking step three is just logical. It’s just giving props the Universe has had your ass all along.

Still some folks gonna choose to live in the fantasy of the big shot. Go on with your bad self. Imma be over here thanking my lucky stars and being humble.

Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers is a Black trans artist, peacemaker, educator, and pleasure activist whose work lives at the intersection of embodiment, governance, and cultural transformation. Trained in Theater of the Oppressed, Art of Hosting, and Navajo-informed Peacemaking practices, Pink designs spaces where conflict can be addressed, power can be examined, and joy can be reclaimed.

Her artistic and pedagogical practice draws from African trickster cosmology, Brazilian Joker traditions, shamanic ritual, and cooperative economics. She is the founder of the award-winning Falconworks Theater Company (2005–2021), which used popular theater to build civic capacity and participatory leadership in historically marginalized communities.

Pink served for over five years as a trained Peacemaker in the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, facilitating restorative processes within the New York City court system. From 2015–2018, she worked in cooperative business development with the Center for Family Life, supporting worker-owned enterprises in immigrant communities.

She currently serves as Director of Education and Training for the Inter-Cooperative Council in Ann Arbor, where she leads leadership development and conflict engagement initiatives. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally, including at the Stretch Festival in Berlin and the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference.

Across ritual, performance, mediation, and institutional design, Pink’s work asks a central question:

What becomes possible when we refuse shame and choose conscious power instead?

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