Hangrid: The Beginning

Playlist Live: Orlando

One thing I love about being a youtuber is all the amazing people I have met over the years. Unfortunately being a youtuber also requires you to work a lot and you don't always get to see other youtuber friends often. That's why its great when we get to go to these conventions like Playlist Live and see people we don't get to see as often as we wish. Now don't get me wrong we do plenty of collabs together but its so much fun having all your friends hanging out at same time. 

That isn't to say these events aren't crazy hectic with panels and interviews and more collabs. But we do manage to fit in some hangout time. I naturally hangout with my two besties Grace and Mamrie (the holy trinity as we have been named). Despite our busy schedules we do try and hangout a lot and Playlist is just our excuse to get drunk and party with all our other youtube friends. 

After a stressful first day of panels Grace, Mamrie, and I head out to the Playlist sponsored party. As we get there all we hear is the exuberant voice of Tyler Oakley "The party has officially begun! My bitches are here!". Tyler is always one for the dramatics, not that we can blame him, we do know how to party. 

Naturally the night consisted of lots of drinking, dancing and talking to friends. But after a little sometimes you just need to relax for a few minutes alone and compose yourself. So I walk off drink in hand to find a spot to relax for a bit. I end up by the hotel pool, where i also happen to find Ingrid Nilsen. Now I've known Ingrid for a few years but we never really been close friends. I know I came here to relax alone but when I find Ingrid something told me I should go up to her. 

"Hey Ingrid. Hows it going?" I say to her, taking her by surprise. She must have been in deep thought since she didn't notice me. "Oh hannah, you caught me by surprise. Sorry I just needed a break from the party. Got a lot on my mind lately". Now I am certainly not one to pry, but something kept telling me she really could use someone to talk to. 

"Anything I can help you with?" I ask not certain on what her answer may be. "No thank's, I'm fine" she says clearly not looking fine. Not giving up I say, "Look I know we don't know each other that well, but i've been told i give good advice". She just gives up knowing she really could use someone to talk to.

I look at her and you can tell how nervous and scared she is. I've never seen this side of her before. I can tell it takes a lot for her to say these next few words.  "As you know I have been seeing Chris but we just decided to end things. Because I'm gay and i just couldn't put him through that anymore".  At this point Ingrid is crying and all I can do is go up to her and hug her knowing full well what this is like. 

There is nothing harder than admitting to yourself, let alone others, that you are gay. Being in the spotlight just makes it that much harder to accept. So I just keep hugging her knowing what's to come wont be easy for her. After lots of hugging I let go of her and just say "I can't imagine how difficult it was admitting this to me. Coming out is never an easy thing, I know from experience. But trust me when I say it's worth it. You deserve to be happy. We all deserve our best chances at life". 

Words can't describe the look Ingrid had on her face after I said this. You could tell the swirl of emotions she was feeling as she hugged me again and said, "oh hannah, you have no idea what this means to me. Thank you so much. I swear I wont forget this. You are an incredible person. I'm so glad you pushed me to talk". I just smile at her and say, "Hey what are nosy friends for". 

After that we just talked more about being gay and really getting to know each other better. Not long after we decide it be best to head back to the party since we had been gone for longer than we expected. Heading back I knew our friendship was going to change. She just revealed this major thing to me and I knew she would need a friend in the process of telling more people her secret. I never expected her to change my life as well.