A Gay Masseur’s Guide to Happy Endings was initially conceived in 2017, once I’d fully realized my “side gig” had unintentionally blossomed into a full-blown career... hate it when that happens.

Thinking I’d struck gold, I ran the idea by a few mentors, all of whom said it was hilarious and interesting—but ultimately dangerous and could destroy any chance of me being taken seriously as an artist.

So, like a lot of great ideas, it got shelved for a long, long time.

Seven years, to be exact.

I do believe that time—that incubation period—was a gift. Because I’m not sure I could have told this story without fully living it. And after more than a decade as a worker, I can confidently say that I’ve lived it.

I’ve come to understand it. I’ve come to respect the hell out of it.

A Gay Masseur’s Guide to Happy Endings changed me in more ways than I can count. It made me bolder as an artist, less afraid as a person, and more in love with what it means to be human—to be messy and unresolved. Because as people, we rarely exist in black and white, it’s the gray where we spend most of our time. I don’t believe in tidy narratives. I don’t think people are defined by their worst moments or saved by one perfect breakthrough. I think change happens slowly, in small cracks in the patterns we’ve built for ourselves.

And maybe the ending is always happy... depending on how you choose to see it.

Austin Jennings Boykin

Sunday, August 2, 2026