“I am not my homosexuality”

“For me, the word SHAME is a mix of the words: SHOULD, HATE and BLAME. As a gay man – and growing up as a gay kid – the thoughts that have run through my mind have been: “I SHOULD have been born straight. I HATE the fact that I am gay. And I BLAME myself for not being what many people want me to be.” SHAME used to run rampant through my consciousness.

But, I’m learning how to undo all of those thoughts – put there by the media, by the interpretations of the religion in which I grew up, by the society into which I was born – and transform them into powerful affirmations. Now, I train myself to think positive thoughts about being a man who loves men. I speak uplifting thoughts. I even sing them as a singer/ songwriter: “I AM” is a song I wrote to inspire all kinds of people to be who they are! It’s on my debut album, EVERYDAY WARRIOR: Acoustic-Neo Soul for Your Soul! Through my music, and through a lot of challenging work on myself, I’m taking my shame and alchemizing it into something that helps me get through life in a better way and that helps ALL people – gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered – to stand in the power of who they are.

I am gay. And, I now see that as a great thing! And, although re-defining what gay is for myself has been great, too, being gay doesn’t define me. I am so much more! There’s so much more to me.

I AM HUMAN. I AM HERE. I AM ALIVE. AND, I AM ALL THAT I WAS BORN TO BE!”