Jun 302 min read

The Great Wall of Anthony

I am currently just over halfway in my journey to my new home in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the "Place to Be" for me.

It has been truly humbling to be on this journey, because I have learned over the past 14 days just how fortunate I am to have such a beautiful group of friends and "Chosen Family.”

For a very, very long time in my life, I always thought I had no real friends, especially long-term school friends.

But I do.

The problem wasn't that I didn't have any, it was me not being my true authentic self, and as a result, I never let anyone get too close to me.

In other words, I built the "Great Wall of Anthony" around me, and I made sure no one could ever climb over it.

If anyone got close, I made it bigger, because initially homophobia in the 1970's and 1980's influenced my decision to lead a totally straight life from 1983 to 2007, and then Internalised Homophobia in me from 2003 to basically now further complicated that defensive protection mechanism in me.

But not anymore.

I have broken free of all that traumatic history and I now let people in to my life. I have some amazing friends, both recently met ones, but also long-term ones too.

Since announcing I am moving to Melbourne, they have all started saying some of the most beautiful things to me.

I find myself crying tears of joy all the time now.

I have said to my eldest son Matt a few times now, "I now understand what it's like to have good friends like you do".

Sure I didn't understand that growing up, and it took me until age 56 to know what that is like, but I am so thankful to the Greek God Thalassa for blessing me with that now.

I am WOKE, I am GAY, and I am The Real Anthony.

I am PROUD of that, and NO ONE can take that away from me anymore!

I say now "who I am", not who I have become, because I have come to realise, I was always me, I just never let anyone meet The Real Anthony.

"And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am"

I now do want the world to see me, the real me, The Real Anthony, because I am me, I am happy, and I am PROUD of who I am.

I am WolverAnt!

I am a ‘Survivor’ and I mostly definitely have “The Eye of The Tiger" these days.

Learn about all my passions via my The Real Anthony LinkTree.