What I see: A man walking, and cleaning the tears from his eyes.
What I feel: Vulnerability. I feel like this man is going through a loss or a break up, or maybe an argument with a relative.
What Life Teaches Us
It never occurred to me that the people I cared the most were the ones who would turn against me and my life. Here I am, in the walk of shame for something I should not. I had never cried in front of unknown people, but as I took a step forward, I see that it's not so important, and it's totally normal.
I needed to come clean, to lift the burden I was carrying over my shoulders. The aftermath of the argument caught me out of guard, I was alone and without family. I still can hear the remnants of his words.
— I cannot accept this... you must be wrong. We don't raised you to be that way. If you don't change, we don't want you here... You're a shame to this family —said my father.
I didn't know what was the worst thing; the shame I felt of being part of our family, or how pathetic I was for thinking that their reaction would be different.
Being gay was something that took me a long time to process and admit. As a man, I felt even worst. The stares, the gossipers, the stereotypes and my family. I knew I couldn't keep that secret any longer, it was just a matter of time, and I had to say it out loud to be frantic with myself and the whole world, and that way I could live a life.
It wasn't fair, but some people say life isn't fair. For the bad things, I would embrace the good ones, and as an adult would be easier to keep moving on.
And who knows? Probably I'm better without them. Life teaches us how to be brave enough to stand for what we believe, even if that's something society doesn't expect from us.