I'm a transman and journalist using my platform to uplift others outside of the traditional gender binary live as their authentic self in terms of personal aesthetics and self confidence.
Being disabled and experiencing well managed mental illness has also lent a secondary demographic of encouraging people with their own troubles as well as encouraging people using mobility equipment to remain positive - having used canes, walkers, and wheelchairs at early ages forced me to find ways to build my own confidence and in doing so offer my experiences as an example to others. Dressing up and wearing makeup when too ill to go anywhere was always empowering. I may have felt like I was trapped in a chronic pain nightmare, but I always had something to ground me. It made me feel like I was still a person. It made me feel like I was still part of the world while communicating online and showing some aspect of my life when there wasn't much else happening at times during which I was bed bound.
I write for a cosplay magazine and I'm a music journalist for another - cosplay and several music based subcultures were huge parts of my personal journey, and have helped many like me. Local music scenes in New England and traveling through the Mid Atlantic experiencing the music scenes there offered a wonderful community on and offline, I cherish this deeply. Traveling the entirety of the east coast for anime and video conventions has done much the same.
The confidence to wear makeup, clothing, jewelry, and use skincare in general is important within all gender identities. I'm a large proponent of anyone being able to indulge in these and work as an example for it being a genderless form of self expression both in my personal life and life as a cosplayer - the latter of which I did semi professionally for quite some time.
I'm also a published poet with work in many literary journals with a great deal of experience in spoken word, thereby lending to my skills as a writer and orator. I had my first piece published at age eight and never stopped.
Work in cosplay both as a convention guest and hobbiest aided my ability to speak to anyone on their level in a manner that reaches them without difficulty. Translating my thoughts to words and performance across many demographics has always been of benefit. I've been featured in several magazines I don't work for because of it. It's also given me the opportunity to travel extensively, I wouldn't have it any other way. I've reached many people through that alone as an inspirational figure within the real world prior to my foray into social media itself, mentoring and encouraging people to be themselves regardless of any diversity - physical, mental, and societal.
This is what I do. This is who I am. I never meant to be an inspiration, I never meant to touch so many lives at first. The world itself pushed me in that direction regardless of what I was doing or where I was going. For years it terrified me, however, I've finally embraced this is my place. Liberating myself from those fears to liberate others from their own. I'm grateful I can do that.
I'm grateful we can work together to do that.
