11th of October is #nationalcomingoutday in Ireland, the UK, the US, and various other countries and for me, it happened when I was around 16/17 years old which was so long ago. My parents were very open-minded and surprisingly my rough tough dad was more on board than my mother, though she followed very shortly after.
As an Afrikaans-speaking South African, in the early 2000s, “Coming Out” was difficult, as there was a lot of bullying and homophobia that existed in the Afrikaans culture. How it is in South Africa today, I don’t know. But in Ireland, my new home, I can truly say, I have never felt more myself!
Within my company and in my new home country, Cork-Ireland, I certainly feel at home and I feel respected for who I truly am. I sometimes take my confidence for granted and forget that others don’t have it so easily.
To those that still need to live their TRUE authentic selves, I wish you bravery and courage to one-day stand firm in whom you are, making no exceptions. Life is very short and the only beating heart that you own is the one in your own chest!
This means, that once that heart stops beating, you will realize that all the opinions of others, had no power over you whatsoever, whether you live or die, because the real truth is that we all must die, and how we live our lives is our own responsibility. Though others like to feed the illusion that they have control over you, they don’t.
As the Latin phrase goes: memento mori, which translates to, “Remember that you must die.” Everything until then is all YOU!!
If you need some help or further inspiration, here is a good blog post: https://lgbt.ie/get-information/coming-out/
Be Brave, Be Yourself.
Love and Light to All!
The End.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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