I have a very close friend who has been nudging me for ages to share my own journey. He believes that the fact I’m still alive, still kicking, and still choosing to be kind after everything I’ve been through is nothing short of a miracle.
I said to him, “Well… isn’t everyone like that?”
He disagreed.
I told him, “There are only three things I’ve ever really known in this world — things I learned from childhood: vulnerability, struggle, and pain. Those are the things I’m most familiar with.”
Then he looked at me and said, “You’ve lived with anxiety, depression, and ADHD. You’re gay. You’ve survived sexual abuse and alcohol misuse. You’ve migrated across countries, lived as an Asian man in a Western world, and carry the weight of emotional neglect from childhood, with a father who struggled with gambling harm. And that’s not even mentioning the constant moves — house to house, school to school, state to state. And yet… you’re still standing. That’s not ordinary. That’s a miracle.”
And maybe — just maybe—he’s right.
Because despite all the pain, all the silence, all the surviving… I still want to help people. I still believe in something better. And I still show up.
So he said, “Please, share it.”
And I thought… You know what? F**k it. I’m over 50 now — what do I have to lose?
So here I am.
Once again, standing in front of an audience — naked, vulnerable, with all my truth on the table.
Visit Through My Eyes