Choices
"Do you know what the weird kid and bruises have in common? Not everyone gets them."
There's always a difference in what people see vs. what is really happening.
However, it's not always as extreme as this situation.
For years I held everything together for everyone.
I went to school and no one knew what happened the night before.
At times I felt like a prisoner and was even nicknamed "P-13" by my Dad which literally stood for"Prisoner 13."
I would value my alone time because it was a rarity to get any privacy; especially after I was outed as bisexual by my school.
For years I contemplated running away or suicide, but I knew that wasn't what I actually wanted.
It's not that I wanted to die, but that I wanted the pain to stop.
It's not only my pain I wanted to stop though.
It was my parent's pain and my sisters and the rest of my family.
So I'd write it out and I'd bandage my emotional wounds.
I knew I couldn't help anyone if I couldn't help myself first.
So on 6/24/23 I left to take care of myself so I could come back and help people make choices that'll lead to healing for themselves and others.
Welcome to the Underdog Show
Photos by Courtney Earls and Bobby Leonard. Models: Shane T. Wheeler, Brianna Reynolds and Dodge Riot.
Welcome to the Underdog Show!
And he greeted death like an old friend.
Where It Began
#StoryTime
There once was a young lost boy who didn't know he was lost.... or a boy..
Until one day, he was taken to the Temple of Tolerance...
Where he met the Temple Master, Jim Bowsher..
The young boy listened to Jim speak stories of amazing outcasts whose stories he has collected...
He listened from a place of both fascination and unsettling discomfort from something he could not quite figure out..
Suddenly, Jim started talking of a story of a girl that was like him... and that's when it happened...
They locked eyes for the first time and everything in him changed...
Someone finally saw him.. and He finally found an internal mirror..
That was when he became 'Shane.'
Shane and Jim sat for hours connected on a level that he had not experienced before..
Story after story...
He found bits and pieces of himself in every story Jim told..
A few months down the road, Shane moved away to NY, but occasionally came back to share his own stories ..
His struggles with transitioning, depression, and drive..
To his discoveries, people he's met, and the art he has made
After a story of someone overcoming their own voices working against them, things got intense..
He knew he needed to do the same...
He began writing his first album after being inspired at a P!nk concert..
And he made a few helpful reminders to keep pushing forward..
He met up with Jim to tell him about the ideas he inspired..
Surrounded by the workings of Jim himself ..
He became so driven and inspired as he rambled on about his ideas and plans..
While Jim was working hard to keep up with the fast pace flow of ideas..
But he got it!
It only took a few minutes for the two to completely get distracted..
And so they went into deeper discussion on human nature..
And when things begin getting..
Intense..
So do Jim's animations..
(Lol)
Although things get deep and intense when these two get together..
They realize that...
The most important thing in life...
Is to laugh..
