#be your authentic self

[catscafecomics]

Stream of Consciousness

[beyondthesurface]

Being yourself is free.

[wordsofwisdomandsoul]

[gayasmodeus]

The best part about embarking on the the Left Hand Path is the dissolution of shame and self-judgment in your mind. Weather or not you decide to enjoy the fruits of following Satan, give yourself permission to tell shame to FUCK OFF! Psychologists agree on this: Shame is toxic and not beneficial in any way to the individual nor society as a whole, arguably. BE YOU! HAIL YOURSELF! Find me on Twitter: @LeatherBB666

[positivelypositive]

🌼

just because...

...other people's problems seem to be huge, doesn't mean that yours are insignificant.

what you're going through is real. the pain it causes is valid. and to worry about it, is natural.

you don't have to downplay your struggles in order to appreciate those of others. you matter too ✨

[travelersrest]

🪽⚔️🪽

[lacilou]

[nerdygaymormon]

Lunch with the Renlunds

I had the opportunity to meet Elder & Sister Renlund. We gathered in his office at the Church Administration building and they presented me a gift, a book written by both of them titled The Melchizedek Priesthood: Understanding the Doctrine, Living the Principles.

They were cute. Elder Renlund said something, then his wife didn’t exactly correct him, but pointed out his words could mean this or that. I commented it’s obvious she’s a talented lawyer. She looked amused and he said it’s true.

Sister Renlund apologized and said we were going to eat in a little cafeteria, and the food is fine but nothing to write home about. It’s a place we can go without being constantly interrupted. I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Are we about to eat in the Church Administration cafeteria? The most exclusive spot in town?!!” What I said was, “It doesn’t matter so much where we eat as much as the company we’re with.”

As we walked into the cafeteria, Elder Gong was walking out. During the course of the meal, several other people sat down at other tables and ate, including Elder Ballard, I think Elder Rasband (I was seeing the back of him, so can’t be sure), and Elder Oaks.

When we sat down, I reminded them that when we met several years ago in Brandon, Florida, we took a picture together and the stake president called out, “Every General Authority who takes a picture with David offers to take him to lunch when he goes to Utah.” And here we are, having lunch! We laughed at that.

I noted that when I first met Elder Renlund and disclosed that I’m gay, his immediate response was “Same-sex attraction isn’t a sin, but bullying people over it is.” This reply was unexpected but meaningful to me because it indicated you understand that is part of the experience. People make comments and do things that convey very rejecting messages. They may or may not intend it that way, but it’s this one, and that one, and another one. It may seem like no big deal to them, but I’m the one receiving such messages over and over and over.

He responded that we are to love everyone. It’s not our place to judge.

Sister Renlund said it’s true for many people, including those who are single and those who are disabled, they deal with many judgmental comments. We need to love and not judge.

I brought up the panel I’m going to be on at the Affirmation conference. Parents of LGBTQ children can ask questions to those of us on the panel. I’m thinking that what I’d like to convey is these are your children, love them. The children are the ones who have to make difficult choices and to live with the consequences. Parents shouldn’t make their relationship & love another tough choice. The Renlunds agreed. 

Elder Renlund commented that too often parents think they have to choose between their LGBT child or their church. So often they think of their choices as a binary, either choice A or choice B. He added that limiting our vision to A or B presents a false dichotomy, we can do both. Sister Renlund stated there’s usually a choice C if they will look for it, and choice C is always the right choice.

Then Elder Renlund added, “If a parent has a gay child who is getting married, some church members think they can’t go to that wedding. No, that’s wrong. You go and support your children, be there for the important milestones in their life.”

I replied, “To me, it would be like if a friend invited me to the christening of their child. Even though Moroni teaches strongly against this, that’s my belief, not theirs. I can be there to show I love and support them in this important moment for this family. They are making the best choices for themselves, and I make different choices for my life, but that doesn’t mean we can’t love and support each other.”

Elder Renlund concurred. “That’s exactly right. We have many non-member friends and when they come to Salt Lake City, we take them to a little restaurant that serves wine so that our friends can choose to have some with dinner. Our choice is not to have wine. I don’t lecture them about their choice to drink wine. I accept it is their choice and I get to make my choice.

I can go to a gay marriage to show I love and support them. I’m not there to participate in that choice, I’m not marrying a man, he is. I am going to show up as my authentic self and I expect them to be their authentic self. I prefer to meet with people who are being authentic and not pretending to be someone they aren’t.”

Lunch went on and I asked Sister Renlund if she usually travels with her husband when he goes on an assignment. Indeed she does. Elder Renlund stated that he likes having her speak. If it’s a priesthood leadership meeting of only men, then she probably won’t, but otherwise he wants her to speak. They are aware of how it looks for it to be mostly men speaking at a meeting and they try to counter that. If the meeting is to mostly or only women, then he may choose not to speak and let’s her do the talking for both of them. On a more practical matter, a husband & wife traveling together helps custom officials believe he isn’t there for business activities, which they will likely suspect if he were showing up alone dressed in a suit despite what his visa indicates.

I honestly don’t remember what caused Elder Renlund to say this, we probably were talking about queer youth who reach out to me, but I will always remember him pausing, looking right at me, and proclaiming, “You’re a hero.” I’m sure I blushed at that comment, it feels over the top, I was surprised he would say that. I’m just an ordinary gay guy trying his best to make things work in this space.

As lunch was winding down, I asked if I could share about our meeting and discussion on my blog, it’s a place where I write & share about my feelings, experiences, thoughts, and frustrations as a gay member of this church. They said to please do. 

Sister Renlund suggested we should take a picture to put with the blog post.

They expressed that they really enjoyed their time with me and invited me to get together again when I come to Utah. 

I sent a thank you note to the secretary who set this up and she responded, “Elder and Sister Renlund each gave glowing positive reports of your lunch together. I think it is safe they are in your fan club.” 😊

I’ve been in their fan club since the first time I met them in 2018.

[standupcomedyhistorian]

Good morning, everyone!

It is Bo Burnham's 33rd birthday today! 🥳

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BO! You've got seven more years to go per your last birthday song haha 😉

It is also my last day in my intensive therapy program. I feel SO much lighter and happier than when I started. I never thought it was possible! 🥰

I just wanted to again thank everyone who's supported me through the HARDEST month of my entire life.

The combination of being suicidal and then my ex asking for divorce on July 26th—one day after I was admitted to the psych ward—felt like the world was collapsing around me.

But I found the strength to open up during group sessions (EVERYONE at the hospital knew I love Bo's stuff haha), and some very special people there gave me the courage to go on living. Thank you, Alexia, for playing Bo's music in the gym and Donte for giving me a soft fleece blanket (the sheets were SO itchy) so I could finally sleep again.

Special shout-out to my sister. Jill has been there for me since we were kids (she's 4 years younger than me), and we've weathered the same shit from our awful parents and both have complex trauma because of it. I'm more sensitive than her in general and internalize things, but she sent me two videos that changed my whole perspective.

The first was Brent Charleton and his chart of the Ego States. This helped me reconfigure how my thinking was constantly making things worse in life. I'm basically a teenager learning to be an adult in my mind, and that is OKAY. I am learning to heal my wounded inner child, and she is thankful for the emotional support when she had none from her narcissistic mother and enabling father growing up.

The second was Tim Fletcher's series on shame. This is incredibly hard to watch (I recommend taking as many breaks as you need), but I promise you it gets SO much better when you let go of shame. All shame does is make us feel miserable...it is SO not worth it to live that way!

I know this all sounds like nonsense to most of you, but I was ready to kill myself because the intrusive thoughts had become unbearable. If you're at that state too, please watch one of these videos—I PROMISE it can get better 🌈

What made me realize my self-worth was watching my interview with Quentin Stuckey about my website. I could hardly believe that I could APPEAR that personable and happy when I was secretly dying inside.

Thank you so much, Quentin, for giving me the opportunity to be on your podcast, and I hope the weather gets better in Europe soon! 💗

And, last but not least, I have a brand-new interview with one of the most creative and inspirational Bo content creators I've had the pleasure of talking to: Dylan Case.

Please make it a priority to watch his 38-minute parody of Inside here—he is an absolute GEM and I will support his comedy career in any way I can! 🙌🏼

Thanks, everyone. I didn't think I would still be here on July 25th, but I'm glad I stayed. ✌🏼🐔

[anastasiaskarsgard]

Tumblr is not a popularity contest.

Followers and notes DO NOT matter!

Just post what you love and reblog fun stuff too!

It’s not that serious.

If you do get followers, take a couple seconds to verify they’re not one of those sex bots.

No one knows why they are even here, but if you just ignore them, their other sex bot friends will swarm you and you’ll have no real people appreciating your nonsense.

If someone is rude or crazy, just block them. This is a place for your joy.

Unless your joy is being crazy and rude, then rage into the universe and maybe you’ll find other crazy, rude people that would love to fight you.

Here at tumblr, anything goes!

You can be straight, gay, trans, non-binary and everything else there is! I am not leaving anyone out on purpose, I just don’t know them all, but you can be that here!

You can be any race, from any country, speaking any language. Language can be a speed bump, but we all love pics and can appreciate funny videos of animals doing something. They don’t speak your language either!

You can be an Olympic athlete, plus size queen, role player, fan fiction writer, student, chef, fire fighter, car hop, financial business analyst, train conductor, environmentalist, porn star, vegan, cyclist, soldier or any other thing in life and you’ll find your people here.

So don’t hold back! Be yourself and you’ll find others that appreciate you. Also, share those that you appreciate. A like is nice but if you think something is great, reblog it and spread the love. There’s no better compliment than when someone shares your little posts.

[borderpolardisaster]

[whyhellotherevoid]

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."

- Marcus Aurelius

It's easy to forget that.

Obviously not everything said is false, but many, many things are not true, either. Lies are like weeds in a garden; they usually outnumber the other plants.

So in essence, decide for yourself what to believe and what not to believe. Do not believe ideas or opinions because of pressure from your family, friends, or colleagues. Everyone has a different perspective on life, and their perspective should not force your own.

Have an open-mind, and seek to understand other viewpoints, but don't be coerced one way or another. Glean every healthy plant from the field, but make sure to leave the weeds.

[racoonsa]

I know some folks diss the way Ryan dresses. Me, on the other hand, I love that he can be his authentic self with his work family. And I love the way he dresses, it suits his personality and artist self so well 😌

[wordsofwisdomandsoul]

[tattoos-on-my-heart]

Did you know you were amazing? Well you are! Not because you checked something off your to do list, not because you worked hard, not because you accomplished something, not because you’re where you hoped you’d be in life. You’re amazing simply because you’re you. No matter what things look like or how you feel, just know you’ve managed to get through the days you thought you couldn’t, you dried tears you thought would never end, and if you’re reading this it’s means you’re still undefeated. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for! Show yourself some grace, be kind to yourself! You’re Amazing!!!!

[jbrito68]