Reaction Wednesday

I think every Wednesday I really want to try to react to something in a blog post. I'm not sure if I'll have time to do it every Wednesday, but hey...here's to trying something new!

What I want to react to today is Ingrid Nilsen and her recent Youtube video about her being gay. 

I have always loved watching Ingrid on Youtube and she seems like such a sweet person. I love watching her healthy recipe videos, especially, but her entire Youtube channel just seems genuine. You can tell she's someone who is not just in it for the money, in other words. I saw that she had a new video post yesterday, I actually found it through John Green's facebook page, and I immediately needed to watch it. The video is titled, "Something I Want You to Know (Coming Out)."

I have only ever watched her beauty-life-cooking-related videos before (I'm not sure if she 'vlogs' or not), but somehow just reading the title of this video made me like her even more. And that was just reading the title. I wanted to watch it based off of the title because, to me, this makes Ingrid so much more than just a 'Youtuber.' It makes her a human being, someone who has gone through ups and downs in life, as we all do, but she just happens to share some of her life with the internet.

I clicked and watched her video and immediately started crying when she started to cry. I felt so proud and happy for this other person that I have never met in real life, someone I really don't know at all. I'm not gay, for those of you wondering, but I really could feel her struggle through the way she told her story. It must be incredibly difficult to live inside this 'prison' of wanting to be happy but not knowing how to do so because those around you won't accept you for who you truly are. 

I watched her video at maybe 8 o'clock last night...It had about 12 thousand or 20 thousand views. This morning? Over 2 million. It just makes me think of how many other young adults are in a position now or were in a position similar to hers...how many people she's potentially helping with this video. I think she's an incredibly courageous person to go onto Youtube and 'come out' as gay to literally millions of viewers. I don't think I could do something so brave. 

If you haven't yet, watch the video and tell me what you think! I'd love to get a discussion going in the comments. However, please be respectful. 

Also, just saying, Beyonce commented on her video. B-freakin-yonce. 

Go, Ingrid, you're amazing, beautiful, and so extraordinarily brave.

Don't forget to breathe.

--Dana