{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F5b811445-5b00-48d7-9052-ab1216030f10","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"Episode 091: Two Gay Guys Get Real About Life, Love and The Pursuit Of Authenticity \u2013 Edward Rivera","description":"Real talk. No fluff. And finding your truest calling\u2026maybe even while being gay but not making it the focus of who you are, for yourself and the world.\r\nToday we\u2019re exploring what it\u2019s like to be a guy, a gay guy, who keeps coming face-to-face with his destiny, but often finding it slipping away, only to return again, and again, and again. Yes it\u2019s a wakeup call that keeps nudging you to \u201ccome out with it already.\u201d Everything from pursuing your musical passions, admitting you\u2019re a shy guy to, finally saying \u201cI\u2019m gay!\u201d\r\nYup we\u2019re going there today with a casual conversation with a friend of mine that I hooked up with at a networking event, and it wasn\u2019t the kind of hookup you might think. Instead, it was a hookup of two spirits who found a way to dance into each other\u2019s hearts and connect so that we could come to this place of exploring the truth of what it means to be gay men, from two different generations.\r\nShow Highlights\r\n\r\n* If he\u2019s going to hell, he says he\u2019s going to do it right!\r\n* Being gay pulled Edward out of boxes that he didn\u2019t believe in. Hear how\u2026.\r\n* You absolutely have to \u201ccome in\u201d to your own coming out experience\r\n* If you prepare for the good stuff, blessings will happen\r\n* When he first accepted being gay, he says he cried\u2026\r\n\r\nConnect with Edward Rivera\r\nBorn in Northridge, California to Puertorican parents, Edward Rivera has\u00a0been singing since he was child as\u00a0has always loved music and the joy it brought to his life. He decided to pursue singing contemporary Christian music and recorded a demo when he was 18. After dropping out of business school,\u00a0\u00a0he\u00a0began singing and songwriting with different local DJ\u2019s in Orlando and moved\u00a0to Phoenix, AZ, deciding\u00a0to pursue his music career. Edward\u00a0created an artist name or a persona, Akani, which means \u201cenemy\u201d in Taino (indigenous tribe in Puerto Rico) and released an\u00a0album and video for a single. By 2009, he decided again to go the \u201csafe route\u201d and went back to school to complete what he had started. Graduating\u00a0with a Bachelor\u2019s in Arts Degree in Psychology from Arizona State University, he worked a corporate job but music continued beckoning him.\u00a0He joined a meetup titled \u201cShy Guys and Shy Gals\u201d and began to sing with as the house band titled Sweet Musical Fusion performing cover songs, as well as doing songwriting. Edward finds himself resetting his\u00a0story to what it should have been all along \u2013 loving music and singing. He has\u00a0finally found the confidence and courage to pursue music later on in life. It is a passion that continues to resurface and this time he is\u00a0heeding the call.\r\nWebsite\r\nTwitter\r\nInstagram\r\n\u00a0\r\n<a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Frickclemons.","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/4b9b6c41-474a-4fd0-a374-cbb2a7aa23a4/1400x1400_uncloseted_artwork-01-573.jpg"}