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  • LAURA LING: Growing up, you were African American,

  • socialized as a girl, adopted by a white family.

  • That must have been extremely confusing for you.

  • KINGSTON FARADY: It was really, really hard.

  • And there was a lot of questioning

  • around how did I get here, and who am I, and how do I do this.

  • I always felt-- or not even felt,

  • I knew that I was different.

  • It made me very quiet and introverted and sad.

  • I remember in my childhood just always thinking

  • this isn't going to be my life.

  • LAURA LING: When you finally come to the decision

  • to transition?

  • KINGSTON FARADY: I started thinking about transitioning

  • around 17, 18 years old.

  • So it was around that time that I

  • started to ask myself questions around could this be me.

  • Am I really a man that had been assigned

  • at birth the wrong gender.

  • I finally made the decision when I was about 25.

  • I still remember receiving my first testosterone shot,

  • and how happy I was.

  • I knew I made the right decision.

  • LAURA LING: What was it like the first few years

  • after you transitioned?

  • KINGSTON FARADY: They were tough.

  • They were very hard.

  • So much shifted quickly.

  • You're learning new emotions.

  • You're learning how to deal with new thoughts.

  • You're learning how to deal with a changing body.

  • And then on top of that, you're engaging with the world

  • in a brand-new way.

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • LAURA LING: Tell me about the ritual

  • that you have adopted to help you in this life's journey.

  • KINGSTON FARADY: There are so many different aspects

  • of a human being.

  • Mind, body, spirit, will.

  • And for me, transitioning, I had to figure out

  • who am I now in terms of these different aspects of my being.

  • And so I created Love Your Vehicle, your vehicle

  • being your body, your temple.

  • I created that physical routine that I

  • needed to build my body into what I wanted it to look like.

  • And I love trail run, I love the obstacle

  • of having to leap over roots of trees

  • and run up hills and feel dirt and breathe the air.

  • The mind component is about learning.

  • It's critical that every single day I spend time

  • really enriching my understanding of what's

  • happening around me.

  • And the spiritual component is about meditation.

  • When I meditate, I will really focus

  • on just keeping my mind calm.

  • And I get to experience that peace

  • and realize that there is a peace that is a part of life

  • that we can have.

  • LAURA LING: How has this ritual of yours

  • of loving your vehicle changed you as a person?

  • KINGSTON FARADY: It has made me a lot stronger.

  • And it's also allowed me to be OK with myself

  • as a transgender person.

  • It's allowed me-- it's helped me to walk

  • in the world with strength and pride and confidence.

  • And it's allowed me to believe that not only are transgender

  • people real, but we are important,

  • and we are a part of the fabric of life,

  • despite anything else that I might hear during the day.

  • LAURA LING: Be sure to watch this next episode.

  • When you look in the mirror now, who's the person that you see?

  • SPEAKER 3: So I see a lot more confident person.

  • I see someone who's made a lot of progress.

  • And most of all, I see someone who's on a journey.

LAURA LING: Growing up, you were African American,

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