An Old Emergence

Let me begin by saying that this particular post is more of a long-form story than my usual four paragraphs and a quote. But I’ve been away for a year and thought it would be a good idea to update everyone on what has been going on. It’s been a truly transformative year, and I am excited to share what has transpired in my life. It feels like only yesterday that I was contemplating taking a year-long sabbatical from social media. Even I was skeptical about whether or not I would be able to last a few days, much less 12 months. As I look back over my original goals and aims for the year, I can’t help but laugh at how some of those goals (as with most New Year’s resolutions) fell quickly by the wayside. Yet, I ended up achieving goals I hadn’t even set for myself. And, overall, I can confidently say that my year “unplugged” was a positive one. I put “unplugged” in quotations because I came to understand that it is very nearly impossible to spend extended periods of time truly unp

Today marks the 26 th observance of World AIDS Day, bringing awareness to the global AIDS pandemic. And while it has been over thirty years since awareness of HIV/AIDS bubbled over into mainstream consciousness, there is still much to be done to combat the gross stigma against those living with HIV. We know now that HIV is not a “gay” disease as it was once thought to be, but we also know that the gay and bisexual male population is still at greatest risk for infection in the United States. However, it is the stigma of being HIV positive that is most detrimental to our communities, not the virus itself. In the gay community, terms like “clean” and “DDF” (drug and disease free) are often used to describe oneself when connecting with others within the community. This perpetuation of the idea that testing positive for HIV makes someone unclean has pushed many to concealing their HIV status. Even more destructively, the fear of receiving a positive HIV test keeps many from g