I am finally back as a blogger and content creator in this digital world with The G-Listed. It feels good, intimidating, nerve-wracking, and cathartic.
My return to blogging was supposed to happen in June 2022, after promising individuals that I would return for many months. Even my former coworkers, and a few current ones, were excited that I used to blog for over a decade and anticipated my return. But, I hesitated then, since my hiatus started in 2020, and hesitated, and hesitated, and hesitated, and hesitated, and hesitated, and hesitated, and hesitated, until today. Low key, part of me still wants to hesitate.
What has kept me from consistently returning to The G-Listed? There are many reasons, most of which I talked out in therapy sessions or loudly to myself. All of the reasons centered around my long-time battle with self-doubt. No one or entity got in my way at any time during my existence and hiatus as a content creator.
I have been struggling with self-doubt since October 2008. Before 2008, I thrived on pursuing dreams and facing challenges, especially when people rooted for me to fail. Kicking off my digital experience as a content creator was my dream to write for mass consumption, since I’ve put off writing a book since 2001. I’m working on this long journey to overcome self-doubt after realizing there are many things to unpack one at a time to be the Waddie G. I was before October 2008.
I could not rush getting The G-Listed back into publishing new content regularly until I knew and felt ready and excited about it. That time is now, literally as I am typing this blog post.
As you go back to The G-Listed main page, you’ll see that I’ve been blogging on the low fill some content before announcing today’s return.
The G-Listed platform did many great things with what I hoped to accomplish; however, the brand did not deliver everything I wanted it to be. I had the vision that I would execute now. My vision has always been to blend my love of pop culture, my lived experience, and my advice in the LGBT community in one platform.
The fear of releasing my personal stories for public consumption kept me from following and returning to that vision. I fought myself internally for a long time. Before 2020, I realized that recounting my lived experiences was consistently my blog’s second most popular topic. I did not want to release so much of myself for the fear of what I shared being used against me socially, professionally, etc. Now, I don’t give a f***. I will trust God and this process as I produce more content around my lived experiences and the advice I want to empower others.
I also ran The G-Listed like a news outlet. I was never passionate about trying to be one of the first to report on what’s going on with LGBT notables and events or pop culture moments. I prefer to selectively react to them and find ways to caution and empower – or entertain – readers.
I also wanted to hide behind The G-Listed name. Looking back, that never made sense. I was the only voice on The G-Listed. I shared my personal stories. The content produced was solely about my ideas and purpose.
I no longer hide behind The G-Listed brand and content. I am Waddie G., the publisher of The G-Listed, a Black gay man sharing my views on pop culture, LGBT culture, NYC, and social life. That is what The G-Listed is all about. Those are the topics I am most passionate about discussing, highlighting, critiquing, and celebrating.
I am glad to be back. Stay tuned for the great content I have been withholding for too long, and the new content. Be prepared to know me in the most intimate and unfiltered ways.