My First Chapter on My Medium Journey
It feels good to be home
I was a reader on Medium long before I was a writer.
I was reading so much that I would tap on a story and they’d bring up the membership page. However, I was hesitant to publish my writing on here. I had been consistently posting my poetry on Instagram, but Medium was different. It was a whole new ball game, and I was a rookie. I started posting consistently in March. I wrote my first article about Black Panther on March 5th.
Then I just started trying to find my voice and a community within Medium. On April 4th, I published my article on Gender Roles. I was looking for my little corner of Medium, but it found me instead. Darren Stehle, Saoirse , and Jack Preston King clapped for this piece along with a handful of other amazing people. I didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but I followed them and started to read some of their own posts.
I followed My War With Gender Roles with How Youtube Taught Me How To Tie A Tie, and everything fell into place.
This was the article that became the sign I was looking for. I discovered James Finn after he left a response and immediately began to read his writing until my eyes hurt. People started tweeting about my article and I had no idea what was going on. It was nothing close to popular, but people actually took the time to read a piece of my story. I found my community on Medium at Th–Ink Queerly with Darren Stehle, James Finn, Saoirse, Benny Phi, and all the other amazing writers and creators in this rapidly growing publication. I’m proud to be a part of such a great platform for LGBTQ people.
Words can’t describe the amount of happiness that hit me in the chest when I was accepted as a writer for Th-Ink Queerly. It was a Saturday morning, and my grandmother and I were just about to head to Walmart. I looked down at my phone, and the email popped up. My first post with them came the next morning on April 8th.
Elementary School Taught Me What Gay Was couldn’t have been a better debut, in my opinion. 500+ claps to some people might not be a lot, but I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was ecstatic. I felt like I had won a championship ring. I had no idea people would really be interested in my story, and I think a lot of people feel that way. The truth is — everyone has a story in them. Everyone’s story matters, no matter how small you think it is. No matter what you’ve gone through in life, I would bet my last dollar that someone can relate to it. Sharing a piece of yourself with the world is terrifying and freeing at the same time.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” — Maya Angelou
I didn’t think anyone would really take the time to read a part of me, and then I began to get comments telling me that they related to my words. It’s an amazing feeling. It motivates me to keep sharing my story. People used to ask me all the time when I would write a book about my life, and I honestly thought they were crazy. I didn’t believe it was that interesting.
I’ve been through a lot.
I had a liver transplant at two. I was getting blood work drawn from my arm every couple months before I knew how to talk good. They thought I was going to be mentally delayed and have to be in a special education program. When I was first born, they didn’t even think I was going to live. Then my 7th grade year, my mother passed and my kidney began to fail. I had to go on dialysis and be put on the transplant list. I got the transplant during the last week of my ninth grade year, and they thought they were going to lose me. Every complication that could have happened did. When I look back, its so hard to believe that all of this happened. I wasn’t sure I was going to live long enough to graduate high school, and before I knew it I was going to college and coming out as transgender to my closest friends. I got my first tie and bottle of cologne and began navigating this new path in my life. That’s not even half of the things that I’ve experienced growing up, but I’ll touch on other chapters of my life as I continue to hit publish on Medium.
I write because I want you to know that things have a way of working out. I’m not going to sugarcoat it and tell you that we all get fairy tale endings; we don’t. I want you to believe that you can overcome whatever life throws at you. I want you to know that you deserve to take up space, love whoever you want to love, live in your truth, and be genuinely happy. I write because I want you to know that you’re not alone. Whether you’re straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, cisgender, or anything else (that isn’t horrible like pedophilia), you’re not alone and you’re not broken and you’re not a mistake. I hope that you continue to read my posts and ride along with me on this journey as I continue to find my voice and find the courage to keep sharing my story. I appreciate every single one of you. You all have no idea the ways you continue to brighten my days and make them special. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
–BFoundAPen
I hope you have an amazing day!
