It feels like yesterday that I started to brave the online world with how I truly felt. Seems only yesterday that I reached out to other gay Mormon bloggers (who I am still friends with today). Seems only yesterday that I was wrestling with two halves of me, not knowing that I could be complete and whole as a distinct individual. Seems only yesterday that the world was simpler, black and white, and easier.
Yet, I look back over the past six years and I am floored by how much has happened and how distant my old life seems. Going to church with my family (when I have the chance) seems foreign to me with only a hint of distant familiarity. My old thoughts and thinking patterns seem labored and heavy compared to the lightness I experience today while contemplating life. It seems a lifetime ago that I discovered the world has so many colors, hues and diversity that makes it truly beautiful.
The world has changed. Gay marriage is now legal. Slowly, there is more acceptance in the world. Information is readily available and communication is easy for anyone needing love, support or help. I've had close gay couples who are dear friends marry (some divorce), adopt children and start their own families. It seems that a lifetime of change has happened in only a few short years.
We still have a long way to go. Policies change, laws are introduced, intolerance still exists. But we are stronger together. We cannot become complacent and forget where we have come from only a few short years ago. Yet we can also celebrate all we have accomplished and push forward, including making personal progress, enhancing friendships and building up the community we have created.
Six years ago I came out on this blog. And in what seems like both a brief moment in time and vast era of change, I've never been happier.
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