#MCM: Matt Diaz

It's one of the bravest videos ever posted on social media: "this is what 270 pounds worth of excess skin looks like essentially".

Thanks Matt Diaz​ for being our #MCM, telling us your story, & supporting so many globally:

1. What's your story? What makes you unique?

My story is a long and complicated one. It involves loss, depression, weight gain, comedy, internet popularity, weight loss and a journey to self-love.

My story is one of opposing forces, about losing a fight but winning a bigger battle for the human spirit. Wait, no, that's Rocky. Sorry.

I grew up as the chubby kid and a mega nerd; Awkward, shy, anti-social and struggling to make friends. Over time I gained a lot of weight, being almost 500 pounds by age 16. At the same time, I started a Youtube series, "MyAnnoyances," which served as both an outlet for my aggression and a comedy show to gather the attention of others.

My fascination with social media flourished around the time that my weight loss journey began, which led to several years of video blogging/writing about the way my weight loss has affected my personal life (This can be found at Youtube.com/MyAnnoyances2.)

Over time, my ideas about body positivity and feminism began to really grow as I learned more, and I began incorporating that into my writing. These days I've become more of a social media personality, hopeful author, as well as a self-love and feminism advocate.

2. What motivates you?

I think my biggest motivator is just the desire to make more things. When I was 10 years old, I fell in love with the Harry Potter books. They took a weird, dorky child and helped him escape. Those books took me into a magical land where I felt okay to be myself, because the entire world was strange. When I realized that, I decided I wanted to do that for everyone.

3. Who is a hero of yours?

Robin Williams, definitely. He was a funny, energetic guy who always seemed really passionate about what he did. He always seemed to put his full heart into his work regardless of how ridiculous it might've been, to the point that I never would've thought he was depressed. Then, unfortunately, he took his own life, and weirdly enough I realized that he and I were more alike than I thought.

I'm a hopeful author and comedian and public speaker. I love entertaining people, provoking them to think and making them laugh. I've also suffered from depression for around 10 years now, and weirdly enough that actually drives me to do more. I know what the pit is like, and to laugh when you're depressed is, in a small way, to know everything will be okay. That's what I think Robin Williams felt, and that's what I want to do for people.

4. What's your future plan? Your goals?

Things are really up in the air right now. With my video blowing up Upworthy and Buzzfeed and Cosmo, it's putting me in the limelight a lot more than I accounted for in any sort of "future planning." The only things I know for sure are that I want to use the attention I'm getting to create good things that make people happy, and I want to finish writing the novel I've been working on for almost 2 years.

My future is blurry, but I get the feeling it's bright.

5. If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?

There are going to be detractors in your life. There are going to be people who say you can't do it, or that you're ugly, or that you're stupid. Sometimes, they're anonymous comments on your blog. Sometimes, they're the people you're supposed to call "family." No matter where they come from, these people are wrong.

The reason they say you're ugly is because they know you shine. The reason they say you're stupid is because they want to shame you for being bright.

When someone tells you that "you can't do it," look them dead in the eye and say "no. YOU can't. I will."

Tell yourself you're beautiful every day. Be kind to others, but never let yourself be stepped on.

Do no harm, take no crap.

6. Anything I haven't asked that you'd like to talk about.

Understand that there is an important distinction between hating yourself and wanting to be better. Human being are always going to grow and change, it's probably the most wonderful thing about us, but that doesn't mean demonizing and hating the person you are now. To want change is not to hate yourself. To want change is to love yourself enough to desire better things.