{"id":278,"date":"2009-01-06T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-06T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=278"},"modified":"2009-01-06T05:30:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-06T09:30:00","slug":"wysiwyg-and-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=278","title":{"rendered":"WYSIWYG and Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“WYSIWYG” is an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get.” I was sharing this with a buddy via email yesterday when we were exchanging thoughts about self-confidence.<\/p>\n

So what you see in this picture is what you get, or would have gotten (or seen) if you trailed me around on Sunday when I was going about activities in the community. I went to one elderly man’s home to replace a hallway lighting fixture so that it can accommodate a much brighter bulb, so he can see better. I went to another elderly woman’s to replace a hinge on a door that had broken and was preventing the door from closing. I went to a third home to install a grab-bar in the bathtub\/shower, so the woman could be safer as she entered and exited to bathe.<\/p>\n

And I was wearing Wesco harness boots and a leather shirt. Why? Comfort. Preference. That’s it. (I wore the jeans over the boots. Wearing jeans inside my boots while visiting older folks’ homes to do repairs is a bit “much.” I also didn’t don the Muir Cap. Even this Bootman\/Leatherman knows his limits.)<\/p>\n

My friend with whom I have been exchanging email further said this: Although the journey of self-discovery never ends, perhaps our confidence in ourselves grows as we age to the point where we care little about attempting to be something that we’re not.<\/i><\/p>\n

He was referencing how he is feeling about mingling with other gay men, and feeling more confident in coming out as a gay man. I understand that, and appreciate his insights. You know, it’s interesting, but another confident, masculine gay man from the same state has characterized himself as “WYSIWYG” — and he is wonderful to behold. Truthfully, to me, the “what-you-see” stuff is related to outward appearance of self-confidence. (Perhaps boots improve that? I’m not sure, but many feel that a man wearing boots exudes a confident appearance.)<\/p>\n

For me, I give a huge tribute to my parents, who encouraged me to be a confident person, starting back in grade school where I was narrator in the second-grade play, in junior high school when I gave a speech to our state’s General Assembly about an issue about which my peers and I were concerned, and in high school when I ran — and lost — then ran again the next year to win a student government position. Same is true through college where I ran and won positions on various student organizations. Continuing to this day, where I serve in various public service positions.<\/p>\n

It all comes down to self-confidence. I was a confident guy long before I knew what “gay” meant. I thank my parents and my siblings for instilling that in me. (Guess it’s one good thing about being among the youngest in the family — you have to learn how to stand up for yourself!)<\/p>\n

I no longer give a darn about what other people may think about my physique or looks. All that is outside stuff. I am who I am. My parents, family, and true friends taught me that what’s on the inside is what counts most. Further, I see being confident and being gay as independent things, and I am both.<\/p>\n

My inside is confident. My outside, is, well: WYSIWYG!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“WYSIWYG” is an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get.” I was sharing this with a buddy via email yesterday when we were exchanging thoughts about self-confidence. So what you see in this picture is what you get, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-issues","category-home-life","category-masculinity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}