Introduction

I spent may years wearing the wrong skin, desperate to fit in with people who knew I was an Alien in disguise.

I didn't know, though I did, but the loose drapes of skin the lifeless smile and distant, dreaming eyes felt safe. Felt easy.

I dreamed perpetually of a better life, as I fed the machine excuse after excuse, self taught lies and dysmorphia of who I actually am. Feeling the discomfort of the needles keeping that skin on me, detaching for another day, blaming the system, my parents, my partners, my bosses and coworkers until one day I see the skin, take it off and to my horror I see the lies, for a softness that is tangible.

Faced with hard truths, feeling raw and beaten. I dig, I reflect, I look at myself and with it I learned to love the skin the I was in, it served its purpose, I persevered and it helped me become the man I am today.

Without my past I would not have the strength I need, the grit made of iron and the empathetic heart. I cannot unsee the dredge and dirt of society now, I cannot undo the scars it gave me but I can see this as a lesson, a voice and willpower to pursue the dreams I told myself that was impossible.

I journey now on foreign ground, to a path I dreamed to walk, that I practiced walking on all my life.

This is my act of Becoming, this is me being.