Bryan Garland: The Work of Looking Inward

The author and Freestate Publishing founder discusses ego, personal identity, and the experiences behind his books.

Bryan Garland has spent considerable time examining how people perceive themselves and the world around them. His books, The Accountability of Impact and The Garden of Ego, explore the influence of ego, memory, faith, and personal experience on human behavior.

For Garland, those questions are personal. His writing draws on years of reflection, including a period when he struggled to feel comfortable being himself. In this Black Boy Joy spotlight, he discusses what prompted that examination and where his creative work is headed next.

Understanding Perception

Intellectual Ink Magazine: Your work repeatedly examines ego, perception, identity, and self-awareness. What first drew you to explore those themes so deeply?

Bryan Garland: Those themes became my compass because we experience reality through perception, and generally our perceptions are influenced by memory.

As I studied my own life more and spoke with others about theirs, I began to see how true it was not just for me, but for the human psyche. We like what satisfies us or makes us feel good, but we avoid what makes us uncomfortable. And if we do it externally, how much more internally?

Confronting Personal Experiences

Intellectual Ink Magazine: Your writing invites readers to confront pain, pride, self-protection, and the narratives they build around themselves. Has writing these books forced you to confront anything uncomfortable about yourself?

Bryan Garland: Absolutely. Everything I write comes from personal experience and compassion. For much of my life, well into my early thirties, I lived as if I needed permission to be myself. Looking for someone to validate me. But why do I think I need permission to be who I am? As I began to confront my own thought processes such as this, I began to see that pain and fear were the guiding factors. As a result, I continue to assess how knowledge of good and evil—two things we were never supposed to know—could shape “personality” and decision-making.

What’s Next for Freestate Publishing?

Intellectual Ink Magazine: What is next for Bryan Garland and Freestate Publishing? Do you have upcoming books, music, events, collaborations, or other projects you would like our readers to know about?

Bryan Garland: Next up for Freestate Publishing are audiobook versions of The Accountability of Impact and The Garden of Ego. Next year, we’re releasing our third book and soundtrack, slated for fall 2027.

Read More in Black Boy Joy

Bryan’s complete interview, “Beyond Ego & Into Self-Awareness,” appears in Intellectual Ink Magazine’s Black Boy Joy, Issue 33. He discusses accountability, vulnerability, Christian philosophy, and the Garden of Eden as a framework for examining human behavior.

Discover more about Bryan Garland and Freestate Publishing at https://linktr.ee/freestatepublishing.