On a Personal Note

Today I write to you on a very personal level. As you have probably figure out by now this story sticks very close to me because it's highly influenced by my own story as I came out to my friends and family. I want to discuss some emotions that I'm struggling to deal with and maybe putting them on my blog will allow you all to understand some aspects of my creativity. I came out in 2017, when I first started my current job, and I met some great people. People who were there to support each other and love each other, instead of finding yet another job, I found a family, people who understood each other and truly wanted to see each other succeed. There was one specific person who really made an impact on me and helped me to believe in myself. His name was Diego Ortiz. We had what you could call a complicated friendship, he had a certain level of toxic masculinity to him that bothered me, at the same time he showed a high level of care for each and everyone of my problems and conversations. He was truly interested in my success and happiness. When I told him I was gay, he had a difficult time understanding it but in the end he helped me become more comfortable in who I was. Alongside my coming out came many troubles at home, and Diego seemed to be the only one who would notice when I got to work upset, he would drag me outside and make me talk to him. He was truly invested in making my days better and worked with me to make my self esteem higher. He tried so hard to understand the things that I was going through and would remind me constantly of the fact that I was like his little brother, and all he wanted to see was me being successful and happy. I never really realized how much his words meant to me, it's hard to analyze the impact that someone has on your life. On Sunday 03.08 I lost Diego to a car accident. At 21 years old a perfectly kind should was gone. Someone who inspired me to be myself and love myself and not allow anyone to tell me otherwise. This film, and the remainder of the work I do to express sexuality for its beauty will be dedicated to him, for being an ally to the community and putting religious bias aside, for simply being one of the best humans to impact my life.

Excuse my rant, this one was highly personal. For Diego.

XOXO Media Nerd