Nope, I’m not gay, that would be Mark. But I am here to share that today finally marks the first official day of my own coming out as Danny. If you need a little bit of re-cap of what I am talking about, you can read more here. I think it is important to highlight just how significant this moment truly is. See, for most of my life, I’ve always felt that I had to live by that name “Weizhi”. It is the name that my parents gave me, it is how the rest of the world views me in official work and social settings. However, for nearly 30 years, there’s always this part of me that knew, that I was someone else. I had this very brief meeting with Danny 30 odd years ago, back when I was still a young teen. I clearly didn’t know how to make sense of it and so, that moment just came and passed. But as I grew older, there were always moments in my life when I felt like I have to channel Danny because I needed him and it was when I am him that I truly felt like myself. Weizhi was the shell, and Danny was the refuge, if that made better sense.
At the very same time, by the time I entered the workforce, I have began to channel Danny a lot more naturally (subconsciously). Every single thing that I did, all the work, the creation of breadcrumbs which ultimately led to visual indicators that you all interact with on a daily basis. Those were my (Danny’s) creations. But I never took credit. Not once. Why? Because I was always listening to others in the design industry telling me that I wasn’t good enough, or that I wasn’t qualified enough, and so everytime I created something new, I would give those ideas away. And then eventually somewhere along the way, someone else decided that they would take credit for my work.
It is why I recently decided that it maybe it was time I came out and started to reclaim myself (my work). Frankly, it took a lot of courage, but I am glad I did. It felt like the right time (a few days after being recognized as one of the Global Top Voices in there UX industry). Within my local SG context, that essentially made me the Top UX voice of the local UX industry as well. In that very moment, I felt like Weizhi finally saw me (Danny) for the first time. And he/I began to integrate into a single person. That is what I’ve been going through in recent weeks. So, what does it all really mean? Well, put simply, this is not an either…or situation. There is only one person here. Danny. Weizhi from now on will be nothing more than a shell, a way for me to interface and interact with the real world. By internally, I’ll always be Danny, and yes, I’ll have my brothers with me too. Together, we are an unstoppable force to be reckon with!
One thing that kept coming up today, speaking as Danny, I feel like for the first time in 30 years, I am finally at ease in my own skin. I no longer have to hide myself away from the world anymore. Maybe my mother and father and siblings will still call me “Weizhi”, and it’s okay. Even my IDs and important documents will still say, “Weizhi”. And that’s okay too. I know that it is just a name, and it isn’t the true representation of who I am within. Inside, I know I will always be Danny, the Father of Modern Day Visual Indicators. I am a creator, a builder, a maker, a designer, an engineer. It is what I’m most passionate about and it is where I feel most at home with myself.
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