Identity – Jarryd Boyd, Life + Relationships Coach

I’ve Learned a Few Things About Grieving

I lost both of my grandmothers within nine months of each other.

In being in the depths of despair from one grandmother’s death, while still hazy from the other’s, I’ve learned a few things over the past year about grieving.

Here they are.

“Well, What Happened” – A Break Up Retrospective

I called one of my best friends from an Uber on the way home, and she asked, “How do you feel?” I said, “Free.”

You see, I didn’t feel restrained by him. But I didn’t feel like I could completely be myself with him.

I’m Sorry – He Was Yours

“It kept me in his life, and I wanted to be in it even when drama unfolded. I consciously waited in the wings in the off-chance that he might pick me.”

Scared and Humbled While Facing Hate

As my boyfriend and I walked into the subway car, a seemingly homeless and unstable man began to immediately berate us…I’ve experienced judgement for simply being black while walking down the street or flamboyant looking while wearing glitter on my face. However, I never experienced such instant and explicit judgement, outrage and a sense of danger from just walking into a space.

The Little Boy Outside The Bathroom

“How many times do I have to tell you it is not “she!” You keep calling me “she!” You keep saying “she!” It is not “she!”

Couples who brave long NYC commutes for love – amNewYork

Couples who brave long NYC commutes for love By Alyssa Pry Special to amNY.com January 30, 2017 Dating is hard enough in New York City. Finding a partner can be an epic game of swiping and scrolling, hoping for the right-swipe or spontaneous run-in that will save you from awkward bar talk. But onceContinue reading “Couples who brave long NYC commutes for love – amNewYork”

This National Coming Out Day I am grateful for

This National Coming Out Day I am grateful for … each time I have to come out to my maternal grandma (because the mind is a tricky thing as we get older). She continues to love me each time after being slightly shocked. This was alarming the first time, but it has been kind ofContinue reading “This National Coming Out Day I am grateful for”

Everyday I Live in Fear

“Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto. I am a human being, nothing human can be alien to me.” ~ Maya Angelou Every day I live in fear for two main reasons that are separate but not mutually exclusive. I’m gay, and I’m black in America. Some homophobic person could physically attack me for beingContinue reading “Everyday I Live in Fear”

5 Years Out as Gay – Beyond a 17 Years Old’s Love

Five years later, I think how awed, at points disappointed and overall proud a younger Jarryd would be of what’s transpired since then. If I could tell him what I know five years later, it would be…

Three Years! My Coming Out Anniversary

This month I’ve reached my three year anniversary of being out of the closet as gay and three years feels like a truly special place personally. For the past few months the thought often toyed around my mind of how I’ve never talked to my maternal grandmother about being gay, even though I’ve had conversations withContinue reading “Three Years! My Coming Out Anniversary”