David J Baldwin

Your parents cry when you tell them you want to go to school for 6 years to work at Gap. You watch videos of famous Gap employees to see how they do it. You pay for lessons to maintain the skills you learned in school. You practice. And practice some more. You skip dinner so you can pay for a coaching. You volunteer to gain experience. You hear about the perfect job opening! You send them your new headshot and resume. You're sure they'll see star quality. You send them your "Interview Fee" too. You pray they'll grant you an interview. They don't. You're disappointed. And maybe a little upset.  But then they have a cancellation and squeeze you in! You get all nervous and introspective before the interview. But you  give it all you've got. You're pretty sure you nailed it. They offe

You're Never Gonna Get Over Your Ex... Over the course of the past 2 months, I have had the unfortunate experience of being "dumped" by 3 different guys, all of whom said (after 5-12 dates) that they weren't over their ex. In each case, I knew a varying amount of information about their exes, and they had been single from 2 months to a year. But this isn't for me to speak in depth about their situations. In each case, I was disappointed to see it end, because these were great guys. I don't make it past a 3rd date with that many people- I'll admit to being rather picky. I'm 35. I know what I'm looking for.  I've been in the shoes of these guys before. I've gotten to the point where I wasn't emotionally ready to take the next step, and I respect the emotional maturity that allowed them to admit that to themselves and then tell me about it. And I've had my fair share of break-ups, after 1 month, 3 months, 2.5 years. I've le

I had considered posting some sort of “I’ve been in NYC oneyear, and this is what I’ve learned” blog post, but honestly, other than how tonavigate the subway system (EmbarkNYC iPhone app), where to get a cheap haircut ( Clinton St Barber Shop ), and where to get thebest homemade ice cream ( Ample Hills Creamery ), I haven’t learned too much over the past year. Exceptabout myself. And that the body image insecurities I’ve had since junior high gym class are still there. Sunday night, I took a yoga class with Matt Giordano ,and his reminder that “YOU ARE ENOUGH” nearly brought me to tears as he urgedus to enter our practice with humility while reminding ourselves that where weare is already good enough. (This was one of the messages of my blog post “Three Things Your (Gay) Christian Kid Needs to Hear from You.” ) This has beena tough message for me to internalize this year, as I have struggled and failedto forgive myself for not maintaining a body that I feel is at its optimumwe