Post by: Emma1017 on July 26, 2020, 03:22:53 am
There are a lot of things I need to resolve, most specifically my relationship with my wife, before I proceed. There is even a chance that I may not go through with this, for medical reasons for example. But even if I can't, I know that I am Emma in my heart and soul. It took a long, painful journey to get here.
Thank you to all of you for your endless support and wonderful love.
I can summarize the three prior chapters as "Do I have gender dysphoria?", "Am I transgender?", and "What am I transitioning to?"
Here are the links:
Chapter 1 Which Hurts Less? https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,240370.0.html
Chapter 2 So I am Trans, Now What? https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,248609.0.html
Chapter 3 Great so I am Transitioning, Now What? https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,252749.0.html
Massive hug to all,
Emma
Post by: Northern Star Girl on July 26, 2020, 03:45:13 am
Dear Emma:
I am eagerly looking forward to reading and following your
new Chapter 4 of your journey... Becoming Emma
Rest assured that I and the rest of your followers are your biggest fans, always ready to offer support and encouragement. We are always rooting for your success and happiness.
We have our ears ready to listen and our shoulders for you to lean on when you experiencing disappointments and discouragement.
HUGS and more HUGS,
Danielle
Wow I think this chapter in my trans life scares me the most. It is irreversible that I am Emma and now I want to permanently physically change to be me.
There are a lot of things I need to resolve, most specifically my relationship with my wife, before I proceed. There is even a chance that I may not go through with this, for medical reasons for example. But even if I can't, I know that I am Emma in my heart and soul. It took a long, painful journey to get here.
Thank you to all of you for your endless support and wonderful love.
I can summarize the three prior chapters as "Do I have gender dysphoria?", "Am I transgender?", and "What am I transitioning to?"
Here are the links:
Chapter 1 Which Hurts Less? https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,240370.0.html
Chapter 2 So I am Trans, Now What? https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,248609.0.html
Chapter 3 Great so I am Transitioning, Now What? https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,252749.0.html
Massive hug to all,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on July 26, 2020, 10:25:43 am
Gender Impostor
I am over 18 months into hormone therapy (HRT) on the cusp of the most profound decision of my life: Do I physically transition and finally live the rest of my life as a woman I have been denying all my life or live with the extraordinary pain of gender dysphoria every day for the rest of my life being someone else to please the world?
I have desperately battled over this decision for the last three years since gender dysphoria exploded into my life. It accompanied, for the first time of my life, thoughts of suicide. It has been a desperately emotional battle and I have come to understand that gender dysphoria was only an important warning sign of a medical condition that I have spent a lifetime denying, I was transgender.
So my struggle continues.
After years of therapy, deep research and scathing self-analysis, I still find it hard to believe that I am truly am transgender. Yet, irrefutably, I am. I am constantly challenged, emotionally, to simply accept the facts.
I keep asking why I continue to battle my reality. It is crucial that I know the answer because the next, very public step, affects every aspect of my life.
If I physically transition, I must come out publicly.
I found a You Tube presentation that seemed to resonate with me. It discussed something called the Impostor syndrome. It is a psychological pattern in which one doubts the reality of one's accomplishments or true sense of self and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud". It generates feelings of severe inadequacy and self-doubt that can leave people fearing that they will be exposed as a “fraud”.
Impostor syndrome can affect anyone. In fact, it turns out that it is normal and common in society. The only ones that seem to be immune are narcissists and the militantly arrogant.
So my impostor syndrome centers around the internal fear that I am not woman enough or am I really a woman? 64 years of looking in the mirror and seeing a man look back in addition to everyone in my life seeing the same image is a massively difficult sense of reality to overcome. It creates huge doubt of who you truly are. It shreds any confidence you have of the true “you” that you know you are.
An internal part of me doesn’t accept that I am really are transgender. I
just can’t seem to fully accept it as my fact. I can’t accept that it ok to transition and that it is OK to be who I am.
I feel like an impostor.
Society has set the rules that judge me. I feel like I am trespassing in an area that I shouldn’t be.
Fortunately I have not blazed this path first. I find myself on a path traveled by thousands of transgender individuals before me. Most have described the same alien sensation, the same feeling like being an impostor. Again, fortunately for me, they found that it is merely a very unpleasant growing pain to finally be your true self, sort of like a gender adolescence.
Just what I needed in my 60's, another round of pubescent insecurities…
Does the impostor syndrome disappear? Sadly no, but that is OK because that just means you are normal and it is not caused by simply being transgender. I like knowing that I have a normal neurosis like everyone else.
It means I am not an impostor after but just another human being trying to get through life.
I like that.
Post by: EllenW on July 26, 2020, 11:48:45 am
I also found a you tube on gender imposture. I found it very interesting and to be very true at the start of my journey. Like you my transition started later in life, although I knew from a much earlier age that is I was an imposter. A women pretending to be a man just because I was assigned male at birth. I was afraid to change as I was afraid of losing my income and my wife.
After a lot of work, life could not be better. In two weeks my wife and I celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary. She has come to accept me as the woman I am and has been supportive. she even picked by first name Ellen. :). I truly believe if you love your wife and she loves you. You will be able to work through your physical transaction.
I am now 66 and alomst three years after transition at work, I could not be happier at work. My boss even invited me to join the company's Womens Networking group on teams.
I no longer fell like an impostor and I think with time you will no longer have those same feels. Please hang in there and remember you have a great group of followers that are here to support you.
Ellen
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on July 26, 2020, 04:18:09 pm
I just have one thing to say about imposter syndrome: I don't think it has anything to do with gender transition.
I have imposter syndrome from time to time because I often doubt my abilities as a software engineer even though if I look at the facts, my skills are actually pretty good; not necessarily the best, but still good!
I'm not sure gender transition is the sort of accomplishment that applies here.
Post by: Sephirah on July 26, 2020, 04:31:24 pm
I am never going to be a conventional woman in my wildest dreams. Never. I can't physically transition, and fit into the boxes people try and put other people into. It's never going to happen. Passing isn't even on my radar.
What helps me with this is trying to come to terms with the idea that being a woman means what you want it to mean. That you have to ditch this notion that you have to be woman "enough". That you have to prove yourself in the eyes of the world.
Being an imposter, as you put it, assumes that you have to fit certain criteria to be genuine. And I do not believe that in the slightest. It's not only an insult to trans people, it's an insult to non-trans people as well. It's basically saying "You have to be like us or you don't count."
Tell that to all the women who don't fit the stereotypical "female" criteria. Tell that to all the women who dare to encroach on things typically deemed as a guy preserve. To like and enjoy things, to want to be around stuff that it's not "normal" for women to want to be involved with.
I detest putting people in boxes like that, and I think it's supremely limiting to both how, and who you are. Being your own woman means what you want it to mean. This is the thing. You aren't female because you want to live a certain life, and be a certain way. You're female because that's who you are. It's the canvas upon which the rest of your life is painted. It's a default state. Not something you have to try and prove.
Be your own woman, don't be everywoman. Because that never works.
Love you, Auntie Em. :D
Post by: Emma1017 on July 26, 2020, 04:58:17 pm
Ellie and Sephirah I think you both are approaching the concept of impostor syndrome from the same angle, self confidence. I don't have it yet. Impostor syndrome is not usually a permanent state and in my case I believe that to be true. That is why I pose it as a transitory passage to self-acceptance.
As you both know from pages of my own testimony on my thread, I am suffering from an acute case of insecurity. Something that I have never known in my life. I clearly have over-responded to this entire experience. It has required me to reject most of my preconceived motions of myself, my gender and my life. That is a lot to absorbed. You all have been incredibly patient has I journeyed this path...but it is not over.
Impostor syndrome generates feelings of severe inadequacy and self-doubt. That describes me exactly right now but clearly doesn't describe either of you and that is excellent. I think my description of it as a "gender puberty" captures my concept exactly. It will pass with time as I see "me" emerge from this male shell I have been walking around in for 64 years.
My ego is still a "Doubting Thomas" that needs more proof to feel the confidence I need to move forward. My ego has taken a bunch of painful hits over the last three years and definitely needs to heal a little bit to go forward. The impostor syndrome is just some of the bruising that needs to heal as well.
Sephirah have you apologized to your aunt yet for insulting her? ;D
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sephirah on July 26, 2020, 05:09:19 pm
How did I insult you? I am very confused.
Whatever I said or did, I am very, very sorry. I love you sweetie. Insulting you would be the last thing I would ever want to do.
Sincerely.
Also... hon, it's not about self confidence. It's about acceptance. The vast majority of women don't have much self confidence either. Why do you think the makeup and beauty companies make so much money. It's not about being confident in yourself, it's just about accepting yourself and who you are. That doesn't make you suddenly have no problems, or feel like you're untouchable. It just makes you be you.
People attach all this baggage to being someone. Be that male, female, or non-binary. They dump all these criteria onto them which people have to somehow strive to reach. In order to be seen as legitimate.
Babies born into this world have none of that. You don't tell a baby girl she has to like makeup, or barbie dolls, or wearing pink clothes, or whatever else. Not till she's much older. She just is who she is, you know?
You are no different. The world has just told you different things and you've had a lot longer to assume they are the only way things can be. In essence, you're still just a baby girl, sweetie. You are who you are. The imposter is actually the person the world has made you be. Not who you actually are. Confidence has nothing to do with that. It's just about accepting it. :)
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on July 26, 2020, 05:22:52 pm
Want know the thing which helped me with this?
I am never going to be a conventional woman in my wildest dreams. Never. I can't physically transition, and fit into the boxes people try and put other people into. It's never going to happen. Passing isn't even on my radar.
What helps me with this is trying to come to terms with the idea that being a woman means what you want it to mean. That you have to ditch this notion that you have to be woman "enough". That you have to prove yourself in the eyes of the world.
Being an imposter, as you put it, assumes that you have to fit certain criteria to be genuine. And I do not believe that in the slightest. It's not only an insult to trans people, it's an insult to non-trans people as well. It's basically saying "You have to be like us or you don't count."
Tell that to all the women who don't fit the stereotypical "female" criteria. Tell that to all the women who dare to encroach on things typically deemed as a guy preserve. To like and enjoy things, to want to be around stuff that it's not "normal" for women to want to be involved with.
I detest putting people in boxes like that, and I think it's supremely limiting to both how, and who you are. Being your own woman means what you want it to mean. This is the thing. You aren't female because you want to live a certain life, and be a certain way. You're female because that's who you are. It's the canvas upon which the rest of your life is painted. It's a default state. Not something you have to try and prove.
This. ALL THIS!
This is the expanded version of one of my sayings. "It's not about being a woman, it's about being me."
I sometimes wear makeup and I do get compliments from doing so, but I don't do that every day. I sometimes, but not always, wear a wig when I go out.
I have A-cup boobs and there are women that have smaller boobs than that who are cisgender. I fit into a size 10 UK dress and my understanding is there are loads of women that would love to have that ability. I have a good figure. And it is wonderful not having to conform to the expectations of society.
That post needs a +1 for its insight.
Post by: Emma1017 on July 26, 2020, 05:24:50 pm
Regarding impostor syndrome, we are both describing the same thing with different words, accepting myself and having confidence in myself. They are both elements that I am developing but haven't achieved....yet.
I absolutely trust confidence and acceptance will come...with time, but they will come. It is all part of the process of putting my pieces together after three years of very painful, personal dissection.
Ellie we are also in agreement, I am simply trying to be me not some ideal woman.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sephirah on July 26, 2020, 05:47:12 pm
Holy Mackerel Sephirah you can never insult me, ever. I was teasing you about insulting your aunt for saying she looked like me!!! :o ;D ;D ;D
Aha I see. Well truthfully, she's quite beautiful. As are you. Back in the day she was a maneater, I guess you'd call it. Before she grew out of that kind of thing. ;D I kind of think you are cuter though, but the physical resemblance is there.
Post by: Emma1017 on July 26, 2020, 05:56:02 pm
Post by: Alice on July 26, 2020, 08:33:22 pm
I know how hard it is to struggle with being Trans. I had a massive struggle accepting I needed to transition and all of the depression that came as a result.
I look forward to reading your articles when I have time.
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on July 26, 2020, 09:39:40 pm
Post by: Jenny_Oh on July 26, 2020, 10:03:32 pm
my impostor syndrome centers around the internal fear that I am not woman enough or am I really a woman?.
Imposter syndrome is very real and a brutal part of transitioning and seems to be experienced by a lot of us who go through transition, no matter how old or young we are or how we look. The physical and emotional reality is, transition takes time, even though you know your a woman, you can't just flip a switch and wake up the next day physically and emotionally transformed. So during our transition, we experience doubt and one of those manifestations is akin to imposter syndrome as you say. I got it hard about 3 months after coming out to my wife, parents and several colleagues.
My solution after a month of talking about this with my therapist, was to acknowledge and accept the reality. Yes, I know I am a woman and I feel like a woman inside. But physically and emotionally, I am transitioning. So everything isn't perfect or how I want it. And that's okay. For now I deal with the feelings of being an imposter by owning the label, transgender. I am a transgender woman, and I'm good with that. For now.
Post by: Emma1017 on July 27, 2020, 06:54:50 am
Jenny thank you for sharing.
I think going for complete physical transition creates this situation because you have in your minds eye a vision of how you see yourself. The challenge is to accept the limitations of what you are trying to achieve before you have surgeries. Anyone who goes for plastic surgery needs to have reasonable expectations.
Post by: Jessica_Rose on July 27, 2020, 07:42:44 am
In some ways I also feel like an imposter, because my life experiences will never be the same as those of a cis female. That doesn't make me an imposter though, it just means that my life experiences are different from most other females -- it doesn't invalidate who I am now. There are many things we must endure and overcome in our journeys, and possibly the biggest of all are the obstacles we have created in our own minds.
Love always -- Jessica Rose
Post by: Emma1017 on July 27, 2020, 05:28:07 pm
I have said this before, it is amazingly humbling.
Post by: KimOct on July 27, 2020, 06:27:51 pm
But even if I can't, I know that I am Emma in my heart and soul. It took a long, painful journey to get here.
Massive hug to all,
Emma
Emma I know I lean on you pretty hard but I also believe that you know it is out of love. The above quote is the best thing I have read from you in a long time. Regardless of the path you take you are indeed transgender and whether you transition or not it does not change who you are. I think you have arrived at that and knowing who we are is a powerful thing.
Post by: Alice on July 27, 2020, 07:37:42 pm
I have desperately battled over this decision for the last three years since gender dysphoria exploded into my life. It accompanied, for the first time of my life, thoughts of suicide. It has been a desperately emotional battle and I have come to understand that gender dysphoria was only an important warning sign of a medical condition that I have spent a lifetime denying, I was transgender.
So my struggle continues.
After years of therapy, deep research and scathing self-analysis, I still find it hard to believe that I am truly am transgender. Yet, irrefutably, I am. I am constantly challenged, emotionally, to simply accept the facts.
I keep asking why I continue to battle my reality. It is crucial that I know the answer because the next, very public step, affects every aspect of my life.
Jessica Rose you are right, it really is a mental journey. As I have been told by more than a few people here it is a matter of accepting who you are, not who you have been told you are. There is a lot to overcome and unravel. It is so amazing complex
I have said this before, it is amazingly humbling.
Emma,
I was wondering if the last quote could be improved to
As I have been told by more than a few people here it is a matter of understanding and accepting who you are, not who you have been told you are.
Like yourself I battled this for all it is worth. All of my old entries within Susans was about fighting my dysphoria. I did my own research in my early 30s when gender dysphoria was affecting everything with my life. Having an understanding of what I was facing is so critical to a positive outcome.
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on July 28, 2020, 05:51:08 am
Alice I like your update: "As I have been told by more than a few people here it is a matter of understanding and accepting who you are, not who you have been told you are." This is all such a head game.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on July 28, 2020, 08:24:35 pm
Tonight my wife and I went for a walk. We watched a perfect sunset and chatted with various neighbors. It was one of those simple, lovely summer evenings.
I asked myself for the billionth time how could I give this all up. I know that it won't all disappear but it will change.
Alice, I was thinking about what you just wrote: "Like yourself I battled this for all it is worth. All of my old entries within Susan's was about fighting my dysphoria." It truly is an epic personal battle. One that is fought all most entirely in our own heads. I wish others could see the incredible emotion pyrotechnics we suffer through. It would be an amazing fireworks display.
I hope, sometime in the future, I will look back on this brutally painful experience with all that I am risking and say:
"It was worth it".
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: EllenW on July 28, 2020, 09:24:16 pm
I asked myself for the billionth time how could I give this all up. I know that it won't all disappear but it will change.
Emma
That is the same thing I thought for decades before stating to transition. I went slow and allowed my wife to work things out and she is now accepting that her soul mate is another women (Me ;) )
Yes things are different for the two of us, but it is also better since we no longer have this 300 pound gorella (transgendism).
Go slow and work with your wife and I believe you can have a wonderful life together
Hugs
Ellen
Post by: Alice on July 28, 2020, 10:19:07 pm
Tonight my wife and I went for a walk. We watched a perfect sunset and chatted with various neighbors. It was one of those simple, lovely summer evenings.
I asked myself for the billionth time how could I give this all up. I know that it won't all disappear but it will change.
Alice, I was thinking about what you just wrote: "Like yourself I battled this for all it is worth. All of my old entries within Susan's was about fighting my dysphoria." It truly is an epic personal battle. One that is fought all most entirely in our own heads. I wish others could see the incredible emotion pyrotechnics we suffer through. It would be an amazing fireworks display.
I hope, sometime in the future, I will look back on this brutally painful experience with all that I am risking and say:
"It was worth it".
Hugs,
Emma
Emma,
If you are interested I written my story (see wordpress link at the bottom of my signature). I titled my story "The Battle Within" as I also found it is a battle within my head.
In the end, stopping the fight is all that matters.
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on July 29, 2020, 05:57:48 am
That seems to be the bottom-line, you can't out run gender dysphoria. It is a symptom of a the bigger issue, trying to ignore that you are transgender and that is not going away. You are left to deal with it the best you can. You need to find your very personal solution out of the spectrum of choices.
Societal and personal ignorance makes it more painful than it should. You are force to fight through a lot just to be cured.
Ellen, your solution with your wife is exactly what I am hoping for with mine.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on July 29, 2020, 07:55:40 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtlCd7EAzZ0
Post by: Confused1 on July 29, 2020, 08:39:46 am
You look beautiful as always!
HUGS,
Confused1
Post by: Jessica_Rose on July 29, 2020, 09:05:29 am
Love always -- Jessica Rose
Post by: Emma1017 on July 29, 2020, 09:06:23 am
That might come in handy after I transition ;D.
And thank you for the nice compliment. I have to get used to female compliments. I love them but I hate them at the same time. My analysts calls them a trigger words because I react like a guy...but we all know that I am not a guy...so thanks for making me smile :).
With Donna out of town I am going have to start watch YouTube for makeup advice. I haven't even come close to broaching THAT subject with my wife. That needs to be the next round of conversations soon.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on July 29, 2020, 09:11:33 am
This gave me hope and it is 4 years old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r42_UzbGWU
Post by: Jessica_Rose on July 29, 2020, 12:35:16 pm
Most women seem to be very accepting, most see us as a new member of their tribe and welcome us. On the other hand, most men seem to give us a cool reception, they aren't quite sure what to think, some act like we may be contagious. It is not uncommon for men to open doors for me, offer to help me with my luggage or other items I may be carrying. I'm sure 'passing' helps quite a bit, but from the photos you have posted you should have no problems.
Your biggest enemy in all of this is yourself. I have been Jessica Rose since 16 Feb 2018, yet my mind has still not caught up. When I talk to myself, the first name that pops up is my dead name, and I mentally misgender myself all the time. Sometimes it catches me off guard that everyone I encounter treats me like a woman, while parts of my mind are still not quite convinced. I'm not sure if I will ever completely adjust, but I know I am much happier now.
Love always -- Jessica Rose
Post by: Emma1017 on July 29, 2020, 02:38:13 pm
We all need the time to evolve. It clearly won't happen over-night. I feel this intense impatience with myself and with this process at the same time I wish it would all go away...a very mature attitude ::)
Post by: KimOct on July 29, 2020, 03:54:53 pm
One that is fought all most entirely in our own heads.
"It was worth it".
Hugs,
Emma
One that is fought all most entirely in our own heads.
Emma I know you quoted this and did not say it but.......uh......yeah.
Being Transgender, living it, accepting it, coming to peace with it, self love, the rejection of bigotry these are all complex issues.
But to take a more Zen point of view. It really is rather simple.
This battle is fought almost entirely in our own heads. YES. And for the umpteenth + 1 time......
It is internalized transphobia. Hmmm who said that? Oh right ;D
This battle can be won once we truly believe the <poo> we have been taught is exactly that - <poo>.
THE BATTLE IS IN OUR OWN HEADS. Stop fighting the wrong battle. Reject the wrong internalized lessons.
Post by: Emma1017 on July 29, 2020, 03:56:53 pm
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on July 30, 2020, 08:06:52 am
The doctors I want are in Chicago and San Francisco. I have to book in advance and make a deposit before I go. With the strict quarantine restrictions and the challenges of flying, it has become really difficult. Additionally, just thinking of the increase exposure raises the question of the ultimate necessity to transition versus these new risks.
Yeah, I know every problem has a solution.... :D :o ;D
Post by: Confused1 on July 30, 2020, 01:50:25 pm
As if making the final decision to physically transition isn't difficult enough, this pandemic is making booking even a medical consultation challenging.
The doctors I want are in Chicago and San Francisco. I have to book in advance and make a deposit before I go. With the strict quarantine restrictions and the challenges of flying, it has become really difficult. Additionally, just thinking of the increase exposure raises the question of the ultimate necessity to transition versus these new risks.
Yeah, I know every problem has a solution.... :D :o ;D
Hi Emma,
I just got a ZOOM consult date for mid October, but not where you want to go. I plan to go to Kansas City. Surgery will be sometime next year.
If you fly, I recommend wearing an N95 mask. If you get one with the little valve it will make breathing easier. The N95 will not totally stop the virus, but nothing else available to the average person will come close. I have worked at 2 different jobs requiring masks for probably over 15 years total with all the training, fit testing, and lung capacity testing required. One job was under the jurisdiction of OSHA. The other was under MSHA. MSHA is like OSHA on steroids.
HUGS,
Confused1
Post by: Emma1017 on July 30, 2020, 02:24:41 pm
Confusion thanks for the recommendation. I ordered N95 masks for my team at work in January (I told you I am a neurotic over-planner) and I am glad that your professional experience confirms the choice. I will hold them in reserve for the flights if I go ahead. I only have four left.
My other thought, as a scuba diver, is to strap on an oxygen tank with regulator. That would be interesting getting through airport security ;D.
Of course I could just give up this whole transitioning thing and live in gender dysphoria pain for the rest of my life.... :o ;D
Post by: Emma1017 on July 30, 2020, 04:47:52 pm
I live by a beach and every year, all my life, I have been diner for every mosquito for miles. This year not one bite but my wife has been chewed alive. She usually only gets a few.
Since its the female mosquito that is the biter, maybe I am getting a courtesy summer off... ;D
I am sure they will be on me next year.
Post by: Northern Star Girl on July 30, 2020, 05:11:43 pm
Dear Emma:
The real test of your mosquito theory is to come to Alaska during our short summers and long daylight hours in July and August... the mosquitoes are thick.... and they seem to land on and bite men and women equally.....
During those times the repellents are helpful but not very effective.
HUGS,
Danielle
In the theme of "go figure", I discovered a new benefit to female hormones.
I live by a beach and every year, all my life, I have been diner for every mosquito for miles. This year not one bite but my wife has been chewed alive. She usually only gets a few.
Since its the female mosquito that is the biter, maybe I am getting a courtesy summer off... ;D
I am sure they will be on me next year.
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on July 30, 2020, 05:13:49 pm
In the theme of "go figure", I discovered a new benefit to female hormones.
I live by a beach and every year, all my life, I have been diner for every mosquito for miles. This year not one bite but my wife has been chewed alive. She usually only gets a few.
Since its the female mosquito that is the biter, maybe I am getting a courtesy summer off... ;D
I am sure they will be on me next year.
Hmm...
My wife gets bitten by small critters a great deal. It basically never happens to me. And whilst I'm "kind of" on HRT now, it's not really; it's just treating my male pattern baldness (although I have low expectations for that purpose).
I concluded given additional delays from Covid-19 that it was time to go private here in the UK, and I've just been offered an appointment for 3rd November through zoom. It may be replaced with a physical appointment. I'm hoping it won't be as it is about 150 miles away. I would do the travelling if needs be, but if this care is possible over Zoom, it seems to me that there is no need for my physical presence. I will probably have a discussion along those lines if the consultant tries to change it. After all, I'm the piper who gets to call the tune.
It should be possible in this country for me to self-declare that I am a transgender woman for the purpose of starting hormone treatment. I am female on the NHS. I have changed my name. I present as female. Why is that not enough?... Ah well, that's life, I suppose.
Post by: Emma1017 on July 30, 2020, 06:03:50 pm
Danielle, we have little whinny mosquitoes here. Nothing the vampire bats in Alaska. I will only go up there if you guarantee my own sweety tooth fairy.... we could even share a practice or I can just get a delivery job at the coffee shop....I am old and ready for social security anyway ;D ;D ;D
Post by: RandyL on July 30, 2020, 06:55:04 pm
Sent from my dual-floppy Victor 9000 using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on July 30, 2020, 07:00:29 pm
Post by: RandyL on July 30, 2020, 11:10:15 pm
Randy don’t forget the necklace of cloves of garlic.Ah! My wife insists on surrounding our tent with mothballs in bear country. Doesn't help with mosquitoes though.
Sent from my dual-floppy Victor 9000 using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on July 31, 2020, 06:54:26 am
Danielle what do you use against mosquitoes? I hear they are big enough to carry away small game.
Post by: Dorit on August 01, 2020, 01:59:48 am
I hope, sometime in the future, I will look back on this brutally painful experience with all that I am risking and say:
"It was worth it".
Hugs,
Emma
Hi Emma dear! I want to catch up with your story after missing a few days, plus a possible 10 hour time difference between us doesn't help for any real time communication.
Every time I throw out the trash, walk in the park, or go to the neighborhood grocery, I say it was worth it! No more hidden life, no more fear of being found out, no more shame about who I am. It is wonderful to be free.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 01, 2020, 08:58:48 am
Dorit what you are living is all that I want. I just want to feel and be normal. I want to choose who knows I am transgender and have the rest of the world treat me just like the rest of the world.
That is my ultimate hope.
Post by: EllenW on August 01, 2020, 09:40:42 am
Every time I throw out the trash, walk in the park, or go to the neighborhood grocery, I say it was worth it! No more hidden life, no more fear of being found out, no more shame about who I am. It is wonderful to be free.
I could not have said this better. There is not on moment that I do not think all the mental anguish was worth it.
Emma
You to will find it worth every tear you have shed
Ellen
Post by: Emma1017 on August 01, 2020, 08:17:42 pm
"You to will find it worth every tear you have shed." thank you so much Ellen!
Post by: Emma1017 on August 02, 2020, 02:28:41 pm
God I am stubborn....
You all are the only ones I can share these with. So here is my bakers dozen of denial-proof photos:
This is first photo of me as Emma, February, 2018.
(https://i.imgur.com/IpUJxJU.png)
April, 2018
(https://i.imgur.com/oIeRxPr.jpg)
June, 2018
(https://i.imgur.com/pMLpHpF.jpg)
October, 2018
(https://i.imgur.com/ArCQ1bb.jpg)
I started HRT November, 2018 and this is from January, 2019
(https://i.imgur.com/3K0UcMk.png)
May, 2019
(https://i.imgur.com/B2qzik1.jpg)
August 2019
(https://i.imgur.com/Pirvj3r.jpg)
September, 2019
(https://i.imgur.com/QlU2DTM.jpg)
October 3, 2019
(https://i.imgur.com/SxIy8Qe.jpg)
December, 2020
(https://i.imgur.com/zUYpjml.png)
January, 2020
(https://i.imgur.com/WOjRhRC.jpg)
February, 2020
(https://i.imgur.com/pQzGSZr.jpg)
July, 2020
(https://i.imgur.com/jYps3j7.jpg)
Post by: Jenny_Oh on August 02, 2020, 03:09:53 pm
What a wonderful, amazing and inspiring series of photographs. Absolutely beautiful. You have created a fantastic record of your thoughts and struggles as you've worked through your transition, both in text and in photographs. Have you ever thought about making this into a book? It would be so useful for parents, spouses and other people struggling with gender issues to read.
Thank you for sharing,
Jennifer
Post by: Alice on August 02, 2020, 06:53:55 pm
I enjoyed those photos, thanks for sharing.
Alice
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 02, 2020, 07:11:52 pm
I have been reading through your recent posts and I do truly wish you the best results...
Here I am deciding on if my next crossbody bag should be just large enough to hold my tablet device or about two inches smaller and a little cuter.
Then I think of what is going through your mind and what you are dealing with and I say I would rather have no new handbags ever if Emma could have some peace of mind, has to give up virtually nothing to simply be herself, and for her to live happily ever after.
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on August 03, 2020, 07:00:35 am
Alice I also enjoyed seeing my photos showing me who I am, over and over again...someday, hopefully.
Chrissy, for goodness sake buy both crossbody bags! I love the spirit of your wish. It's funny but last night I actually prayed to God for help...and think I got my answer, strangely enough, because my next thought after I mocked myself for thinking my problem was worth the time given the suffering in the world, is, simply, God helps those that help themselves. So Chrissy (and I am sure that Kim will agree ;D) time for me to put my big girl panties on and deal with it all.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on August 03, 2020, 01:52:22 pm
All of those baker's dozen pictures are wonderful and you can be very proud of them.
Many people have indeed done it, but that doesn't mean it was easy! There are many who will never go as far as you have.
Thank you for sharing your gorgeous shots.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 03, 2020, 06:03:21 pm
...
Chrissy, for goodness sake buy both crossbody bags! I love the spirit of your wish. It's funny but last night I actually prayed to God for help...and think I got my answer, strangely enough, because my next thought after I mocked myself for thinking my problem was worth the time given the suffering in the world, is, simply, God helps those that help themselves. So Chrissy (and I am sure that Kim will agree ;D) time for me to put my big girl panties on and deal with it all.
Hugs,
Emma
Emma,
You will figure it out and taken the action you decide upon.
It is tough sometimes looking at tradeoffs, as what you give up often does not exactly equate to what you gain, but both are valuable. So at the end, it is a very personal decision followed by a plan of action.
On the bag situation, I decided to buy a nice tote and a crossbody bag. I ended up getting a crossbody bag that can also hang down on the shoulder. I can remove the long strap and just use the short handle straps too. So cute, with really soft leather, and versatile. I ended up getting neither of the two bags I was thinking about this weekend.
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on August 04, 2020, 07:16:47 am
Chrissy every day I weigh everything on a balance scale, which makes sense since I am a Libra and that is my zodiac sign :). Everyday the scale leans towards transitioning and then something causes the scale to swing back.
The pandemic has created a very difficult relationship situation and has limited the options.
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 04, 2020, 07:50:58 am
Sounds like you're more ready to move forward with yourself, from the look of things. Which is great. :)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 04, 2020, 02:20:18 pm
Sarah you haven't missed much on my thread. I am moving at a glacial speed with lots of thawing and remelting. The photos show more progress than me, unfortunately.
It is not analysis paralysis. I am just trying to remove the mines before I run through the field. I have my track shoes on in anticipation.:D
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 04, 2020, 08:40:19 pm
Thank you Ellie for the compliments. I can't deny what the photos show. The question is whether I have the courage to live it.
Chrissy every day I weigh everything on a balance scale, which makes sense since I am a Libra and that is my zodiac sign :). Everyday the scale leans towards transitioning and then something causes the scale to swing back.
The pandemic has created a very difficult relationship situation and has limited the options.
Emma,
It sounds as if you are swinging on a pendulum instead of using a balance scale. Back and forth it sways. :)
Do have a nice evening. This will work out.
Chrissy
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 04, 2020, 10:34:16 pm
Sarah you haven't missed much on my thread. I am moving at a glacial speed with lots of thawing and remelting. The photos show more progress than me, unfortunately.
It is not analysis paralysis. I am just trying to remove the mines before I run through the field. I have my track shoes on in anticipation.:D
Sounds like progress to me. At least from what I can see.
I'm moving slower than you anyway. As long as we can make steps and try not to swing quite as far back, i think we're still moving forward. Well, I'd like to see it that way anyway. Still got lots to work on.
Post by: Pammie on August 05, 2020, 03:11:50 am
Thank you Ellie for the compliments. I can't deny what the photos show. The question is whether I have the courage to live it.That makes sense. I do admire how you mainly manage not to panic when you hit new roadblocks Emma. Xxx
Chrissy every day I weigh everything on a balance scale, which makes sense since I am a Libra and that is my zodiac sign :). Everyday the scale leans towards transitioning and then something causes the scale to swing back.
The pandemic has created a very difficult relationship situation and has limited the options.
It feels like you are progressing in a very logical Emma way xxx
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 07:28:13 am
I hate that so much. I would like to make the "DECISION" once and for all and then stop second guessing it.
"Am I satisfied to know that I am transgender? Is knowing my soul is Emma enough? Can I live the rest of my life as Emma? Is it worth it given the nasty way the world is heading against LGBTQ? Is it worth the pain I will cause my wife? Is it worth the risk of surgeries...at my age during a pandemic needing to travel to get them? Have I satisfied my need that gender dysphoria has alerted met to? What is enough? What do I decide? When?"
I know I am not alone in this cycle of doubt but it is much easier to read about some one else's pain than to live it yourself.
Time for another cup of coffee......
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 05, 2020, 09:24:00 am
So, don't let the negative run around your mind too much, is just my advice, or else you constantly get pulled into thinkings and debating yourself when it actually leads nowhere in that energy.
I'm not saying it's not good to process some of the feelings somehow, but you've done a lot of the running around with them, so maybe remembering that it can and does distort things can help to sometimes go beyond them and know better. ;)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 09:33:05 am
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 05, 2020, 10:04:14 am
So in other words Sarah, stop chasing my tail and move forward ;D
Lol, you can do that too ;) And why not, you know it's what you want. Why waste energy ;p
(Doesn't mean we can't work on our minds too once in a while, that's part of moving forward as well, but yeah)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 10:05:14 pm
I have never felt to sad and so afraid...
I am going to hurt the one person in my life that I love more than anything...
I feel so alone
this hurts more than anything in my life.....
I don't know how I can do this?
Where am I going to possibly find the courage?
I wish some one could save me from this...God the is so painful
I am so sorry to dump this on you all...I have no where else to go
How tragically sad.
I hope some good comes from all this but I can't see it.
I am truly sorry to dump this, you all deserve better
I feel so selfish
I wish with all my heart that there was another way.....for the last 3 years I tried to so desperately to find another way...
I give up, I surrender. I have nothing left. I can't fight any more...
So sorry to dump.
Transitioning is the only solution.
I hope to God it is worth it..............................
Post by: Alice on August 05, 2020, 10:11:55 pm
I know it hurts, we have all been there. *Hugs*
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 10:14:50 pm
Post by: Alice on August 05, 2020, 10:21:16 pm
I had that period were I knew it was right, I could live again, breath, exercise and enjoy life for a change. I did not have to hide away, I could finally relax.
There will be tears. I had some more today after losing my job. But in the end finally being confident of who you are is so so important.
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 10:21:30 pm
I just can't but I am...this makes me feel so vile
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 10:26:00 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 10:30:16 pm
I am a coward. This is my problem...
Post by: Alice on August 05, 2020, 10:35:41 pm
Facing up to this is being courageous. Never forgot you were brave enough to try and understand your situation.
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 10:51:41 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on August 05, 2020, 10:53:39 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on August 06, 2020, 08:59:28 am
A few too many beers and in true guy fashion, repressed emotions and feelings exploded forth. I know its my thread but I needed some outlet besides crying. Fortunately my wife was at our vacation house.
Its so tough holding it all in and holding it together sometimes.
Sorry for the drama...again :)
Post by: Northern Star Girl on August 06, 2020, 09:51:58 am
Dear Emma:
No worries.... it is indeed your blog/thread and there is no better place for you to vent and share what is going on in your life.
Your followers here are your biggest fans and we are always rooting for your happiness and success.
When you report good news, we will rejoice with you and when you report not-so-good news and express things regarding discouragements and disappointments we are here to give you our ears to listen and our shoulders for you to lean on.
Today is a new day.... the past is past and nothing can be done about that.... go forward with a positive attitude and a bright outlook.
Helpful LINK>>> Positive Mindset... put away negativity (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,238255.0.html)
HUGS and more HUGS,
Danielle
Sorry for last night. I was out with my buddy Mike who not only knows I am transgender but is absolutely convinced I am transitioning.
A few too many beers and in true guy fashion, repressed emotions and feelings exploded forth. I know its my thread but I needed some outlet besides crying. Fortunately my wife was at our vacation house.
Its so tough holding it all in and holding it together sometimes.
Sorry for the drama...again :)
Post by: randim on August 06, 2020, 09:57:55 am
Post by: Emma1017 on August 06, 2020, 10:45:11 am
Randim I absolutely loved this:
"Emma, The beatings you inflict on yourself should be reserved for the climax of Rocky movies."
I didn't know Rocky was transgender.... ;D
I am in the last round now which is what happened to me last night. I have decided, unless medical reasons prevent it, that I am transitioning. I have a GCS consultation at the end of September and that will be the last roadblock.
I will talk to my wife in the next few days and see what she decides...that is my true pain. :embarrassed:
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 06, 2020, 11:59:08 am
I realize though that you do have a lot of pain to process, and I'm sorry about that. They're your feelings and it's ok. Just remember what's around your happiness too, where there's some good feelings. Just wanted to say that :)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 06, 2020, 01:15:00 pm
It's funny Sarah but I just admitted to my therapist that I have already transitioned. My body needs to catch up. ;D
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 06, 2020, 03:31:25 pm
Post by: EllenW on August 07, 2020, 09:44:50 am
I have already transitioned. My body needs to catch up. ;D
Emma,
That sums up it for me. I have fully transitioned every where except GCS.
After years of work with her therapist my wife has come to accept the fact I am a women and if I want GCS it is my body and my decision. Now between her cancer and other medical issues I have become her full time care taker. Which means I cannot be laid up for any amount of time.
I know you will get through this just as I will.
Ellen
Post by: Emma1017 on August 07, 2020, 09:48:16 am
The problem is I know I can successfully transition. If it wasn't an option, for example medically, then I could find a way to live with it. I would have no choice. But that would true of any medical procedure. If it couldn't be performed then I would have to live with that fact too.
So who am I kidding?....the answer is obvious.
This isn't a real choice anyway, it is a medical necessity and it is possible to be medically fixed. I just have to get that into my head but I am working over-time rejecting it.
I am still trying to protect my wife...that's what guys do....It never ends does it?
I still can't just do this because it is only for me...but I have to.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 07, 2020, 09:54:13 am
I am truly glad that your wife has found a way to accept you and that you have found a way to stand by her side, particularly now.
Please make sure you take care of yourself as you take care of your wife. A minister told me once that he has buried more caregivers than the one being cared for. Balance your sacrifice with your own needs...perhaps your own personal day of beauty at a beauty salon. :D
Massive hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sephirah on August 07, 2020, 01:37:27 pm
I still can't just do this because it is only for me...but I have to.
I'm going to disagree with this statement. And here's why. Emma, transitioning isn't only for you, sweetie. It isn't just to make you feel normal. See... when you're suffering gender dysphoria, it doesn't only affect you. It affects everyone around you because it changes the way you are towards them. You become introverted, thinking only about the pain you're feeling... like a bad tooth. It's all you have on your mind. And those around you suffer because of it. If it's severe enough to make you actually depressed... or worse... it doesn't just impact your life. It impacts every relationship you have.
We aren't islands, sweetie. Our lives are the ripples in the giant cosmic pond, created the moment we were dropped into this world like the proverbial pebble. A lot of the time we don't see that because we are very self-focused... but it's there. What we do affects people we've never even met.
When you're in pain, when you're suffering, when there's something which is causing you to focus inwards and divert a lot of your attention on it... that affects people in your world who have relationships with you. It's noticeable. Your relationships aren't what they could be because you can't be all of you for them. You can't... ignore something like that.
To be free of that pain isn't a purely selfish thing. It isn't just for you. It's to enable you to be you in order that you can enjoy your life and your relationships as fully as you possibly can. Without this lingering thorn in your mind which causes you pain, and causes you to focus more on what's bothering you than you otherwise would.
It's like those... uhm... ads for feminine hygiene products where you see the women rollerblading and walking puppies in the park. Transition doesn't give you a life, it lets you live the one you already have but may have been too closed off and unwilling to actually live. You, too, can graffiti random stuff on a wall with someone called Brad. If that's what you want to do.
It turns your mental gaze outward, not inward. And that, sweetie, is a benefit to everyone. Not just you. :)
*huggles*
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 07, 2020, 02:25:21 pm
What kind of world would it be if everyone feels bad and keeps themselves a certain way where they're unhappy, just to please others? That's no life, and no way a society should be. Being kind to others is one thing, but sacrificing your own happiness teaches others to sacrifice their own happiness, and to not be themselves. That's not a society I want to live in. I'm sure you don't either. Of course there's pain when there's people used to certain things or how someone is, but it's actually irresponsible of them to rely on you for their own happiness. And also isn't good for them to be like that. A more open kind happiness makes more sense, don't you think?
So, be happy, be yourself. It's the best you can do for yourself as well as be an example of what makes sense for everyone :)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 07, 2020, 02:40:05 pm
As I said earlier I hope it is worth it all to me in the end.
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 07, 2020, 02:50:13 pm
I have to destroy someone’s happiness, someone I love deeply, to be happy. It’s a pain that must be caused but is ripping me apart. Gender dysphoria leaves me no choice.
As I said earlier I hope it is worth it all to me in the end.
Conditional happiness. It's not where anyone should be. If she's relying on you being a man for her to be happy, something's not right, you know? I know it's more obvious to me because I don't have a wife, but relationships come and go, we aren't 'supposed' to rely on someone for our happiness.
I hear more and more people realizing what healthy relationships can be, which is two happy people coming together for love and companionship, and when you love someone you want them to be themselves. Else it's a more selfish kind of love. And maybe not real love at all. That's what I think, anyway.
I hope that makes sense. I know we're different and that you're much more deeply empathic than me, but I hope you come to care for yourself so much more, Emma, I really do. You deserve it. *hug*
Post by: Emma1017 on August 07, 2020, 03:37:27 pm
Yes I am coming at this at a different way because my wife and I are truly soul mates with 44 years of history together as a man and a woman. 44 years of an established working relationship between loving hearts.
We're absolutely not perfect and we have had some rough times in our relationship but we each, individually, have always decided to stay together because the good times were always worth it in the long run.
This is entirely different. This is a game changer. She was raised in Irish-American Catholic tradition with all of the morality and binary coding that comes from being raised in the 1950's and 1960's. If you figure how successfully I buried my gender incongruence,and I am the one transgender, think of her confusion. You have witnessed my near-obsessive self-battering as I try to process this 24/7. How do you think she can process it any better.
I will not measure her love for me based on whether she decides to stay with me or not. That is not fair. It is like I said earlier, it's like asking her to get on a spaceship and asking her to leave everyone and everything behind.
I won't use love to blackmail her. I want her to come because she wants to be with me and can live with this massive change as well. I can't compromise to be happy nor should she. She has that absolute right and I respect it.
But whichever life she chooses, it won't change our love.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 07, 2020, 06:12:23 pm
You don't deserve that pain, just like she doesn't deserve the pain either, but you've been pushed, squished, and you need to breathe. If your wife loves you, then she'll want you to live. As hard as it is to let go, she has to, even if it takes a little bit through the pain. It'll be ok.
Post by: EllenW on August 07, 2020, 06:25:10 pm
I won't use love to blackmail her. I want her to come because she wants to be with me and can live with this massive change as well. I can't compromise to be happy nor should she. She has that absolute right and I respect it.
But whichever life she chooses, it won't change our love.
Emma,
That is a wonderful way for you to approach this with your wife. I really hope you can work this out with her. But either way just remember that we are here for you.
Ellen
Post by: Emma1017 on August 08, 2020, 04:43:58 am
"You let the pain push you all this way, where the dysphoria just won't quit, it's trying to tell you, you're trying to tell you, it's enough, I want to be me already."
I have essentially reached the end of my ability to deny who and what I am. My brain simply won't accept trying to continue as a physical male. I need to make this change.
Ellen I hope my wife can find some peace with this reality. I am trying desperately to do so myself.
Post by: Confused1 on August 08, 2020, 10:50:39 pm
Thanks Danielle, as always, thanks for helping me clear my head. It needs a lot of cleaning... :D
Randim I absolutely loved this:
"Emma, The beatings you inflict on yourself should be reserved for the climax of Rocky movies."
I didn't know Rocky was transgender.... ;D
I am in the last round now which is what happened to me last night. I have decided, unless medical reasons prevent it, that I am transitioning. I have a GCS consultation at the end of September and that will be the last roadblock.
I will talk to my wife in the next few days and see what she decides...that is my true pain. :embarrassed:
Emma,
We could be getting surgery pretty close to the same time if consult dates means anything. I have a consult date a couple weeks after you do, and my therapist says I will get my second letter at my next session, in early September.
Still praying your wife comes around.
Hugs,
Confused1
Post by: Emma1017 on August 09, 2020, 09:02:47 am
Thanks Confused and I hope all goes well with you consultation and, of course, the surgery you waited life time for!
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on August 09, 2020, 09:12:02 am
Susan's' is to me a place of private sharing among true friends without any fear or mean criticism. I will never share this with outsiders.
Approaching the River Crossing
I am angry right now.
I am being forced to make a decision, to stay something I am physically but I am not mentally or be something I am not physically but I am mentally.
The bottom-line is I can change the physical much easier than I can change the mental. Science doesn't have the tools to see, identify or even understand how I can be wired female but a surgeon can make me look like one. So, logically, changing my physical gender presentation is the way to go, right?
But not so fast.
That may be logical but what about the 64 years of life and relationships that the world has known me by and the thousands of years of bigoted history that has rejected my base concept of being transgender?
According to most, I am, at a minimum, a gender aberration, at the worst, a social virus that should be eradicated.
Wow what I choices I have.
Internal peace and social rejection or social acceptance and internal hell.
I feel like two parallel trains rushing for the one single bridge crossing. The lever to select the train to cross that bridge is in my hands and I am frozen at the switch. Only one can cross. So which one?
According to Carl Jung: "The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
I have been told that it is important to by your "authentic self". Until four years ago I thought I was. I was so ignorant of who and what I was. Even with years of therapy and intense self-examination, I still have problems with accepting it all.
…but my life and time are limited.
Being your true authentic self means what you say in life aligns with that of your actions. … It is about being true to yourself through your thoughts, words, and actions and having these three areas match each other. For someone that is transgender also it means all of that plus changing your physical presentation and then taking on the world.
What a wonderful choice.
This forces me to accept a medical need that can't be denied and then display a massive amount of courage. So I have to either pull the switch to transition or be prepared to lay on the track and let the other train hit me.
I will take the chance that my authentic self is more valuable to me than a social facade to make the rest of the world happy. In the end, it is truly not my choice but it is my absolute need.
I hope the people I love will understand even if the world doesn't.
Post by: EllenW on August 09, 2020, 09:32:41 am
Internal peace and social rejection or social acceptance and internal hell.
Emma
I feel your pain and understand your concern. But I honestly do not think it is as back & white as you feel it is. The world is a very gray place, blended with thoughts of all colors. There are a number of us here on this site and out in the would that have found INTERNAL PEACE and SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE.
Take me for example, I am 66 and just celebrated my 39th wedding anniversary. Like you I did not start to transition until my 60s. I have transitioned socially, at work and with my family. I live in a small housing complex where half the people living there have know me for decades. They have no problem calling me Ellen and seeing me as just another women in the complex. I was most afraid of transitioning at work and that has turned out to be the easiest part. As to my wife, I worked very hard courting her as Ellen, just as I did 40 years ago. I firmly believe that has helped her accept me for who i am and to strength our love for each other.
You can do this and gain both INTERNAL PEACE and SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE.
With love
Ellen
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 09, 2020, 10:06:22 am
Wishing you comfort, peace of mind, and happiness...
I am unsure if this is possible, but if you do fully come out and you find that the pain of others or the loss of others is for you too much to bear (realizing your own pain of not fully transitioning),
could you revert back to where you are at right now? Could they then see your pain of not transitioning, but then at the same time see your great efforts and pain of not transitioning because of your love for them?
Maybe they would then be more accepting and maybe later you could fully transition. Yes, perhaps a totally unrealistic scenario, perhaps it is like a trial balloon, but perhaps it might be a route you could take? Maybe not, maybe there will be no turning back for you if you go forward.
Hugs,
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on August 09, 2020, 01:27:49 pm
I am a very determined person and I will make no apologies for my decision. I have so brutally torn my self apart for others, my decision comes after so much thought, caring and self-questioning, while I hate what I must do, I am doing it with an open heart.
I tried everything, so this is it.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 09, 2020, 04:52:08 pm
Chrissy I thought about that but once I make my decision I am absolutely not turning back. That path has too much pain.
I am a very determined person and I will make no apologies for my decision. I have so brutally torn my self apart for others, my decision comes after so much thought, caring and self-questioning, while I hate what I must do, I am doing it with an open heart.
I tried everything, so this is it.
Hugs,
Emma
Emma,
Then go for it when it is the right time for you and hope for the best, and if they are not with you at the beginning, maybe they will come around.
Hugs,
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on August 09, 2020, 09:39:20 pm
Chrissy this is the plan. I am on the edge of my final decision. It seems pretty remote that I won’t transition but the last battle isn’t over just yet.
I am amazingly stubborn but once past this last wall I am also amazingly committed.
Hugs
Post by: Dorit on August 10, 2020, 01:13:22 am
Emma
I feel your pain and understand your concern. But I honestly do not think it is as back & white as you feel it is. The world is a very gray place, blended with thoughts of all colors. There are a number of us here on this site and out in the would that have found INTERNAL PEACE and SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE.
Take me for example, I am 66 and just celebrated my 39th wedding anniversary. Like you I did not start to transition until my 60s. I have transitioned socially, at work and with my family. I live in a small housing complex where half the people living there have know me for decades. They have no problem calling me Ellen and seeing me as just another women in the complex. I was most afraid of transitioning at work and that has turned out to be the easiest part. As to my wife, I worked very hard courting her as Ellen, just as I did 40 years ago. I firmly believe that has helped her accept me for who i am and to strength our love for each other.
You can do this and gain both INTERNAL PEACE and SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE.
With love
Ellen
Emma dear, I would like to add my voice of agreement with what Ellen wrote. I realize that you are very emotional and tend to write in hyperbola, but the world is not as you describe it. I too am example that transition late in life can certainly have its challenges and rejections, but also has its joys and acceptance and even respect and admiration from others. "We're far from the shallow now." Yes, the deep water is scary, put it is where life is!
Post by: Emma1017 on August 10, 2020, 07:23:41 am
Ellen and Dorit I agree with you both and I have hope for my future.
I am just afraid to go down this path with high expectations. I am taking a pessimistic optimists view. By setting expectations low, I hope for many unexpected positive experiences. If I set my expectations too high, the pain will feel that much more painful. I really don't need more pain.
I really want to be where you both are a year from now but that is so far away. One step at a time until then.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: davina61 on August 10, 2020, 01:34:16 pm
Post by: Confused1 on August 10, 2020, 11:04:53 pm
The rules are changing. I just heard that on 3 airlines, United, Delta and JetBlue, they don't allow masks with the little exhale valve. If your N95s have it, you will have to buy some without the valve. Of course, they might change the rules again before you fly. I'm not too scared where I live, but I would absolutely wear an N95 on a plane.
Hugs,
Confused1
Post by: Emma1017 on August 11, 2020, 06:50:18 am
Thank you Confused for the heads up. The valve style protects you but exposes others to your exhale. I ordered the Honeywell N95 without the valve in case I need to fly. Thanks again.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 11, 2020, 08:23:50 am
I know I know I know just so stupid but I am still fighting my need to transition, so I am now pulling out all the stops on my self-attacks. I probably need to transition just to shut myself up. The surgery will end the argument. But I figure my attacks are a last-ditch effort to convince me not to transition.
Reading the stuff on the web shows there are so many people that have to say to many mean things. At the same time there are so many accepting and understanding people who fight back, unfortunately not enough of them are being elected to government.
I got weary of reading the semantically nonsense that I went on YouTube and watched make-up how to's. Helped to purge the mean muck out of my head.
Post by: EllenW on August 11, 2020, 09:39:17 am
I firmly believe that there are more good and accepting people out in the world then there mean people. Good and compassionate people do not go out and make millions of posts all over the Internet. IMO, only people that do not feel good about themselves go out and post men spirited comments that they no very little about. It is their way of coping.
I would suggest staying off the net (except this site :) )
Ellen
Post by: Devlyn on August 11, 2020, 01:32:33 pm
...
The surgery will end the argument....
I seriously hope you don't think that is true. If your head isn't in the right place, if you haven't reached self acceptance (and your words show that you clearly haven't), having a surgery will do little to bring you happiness. Surgery should be the last box you tick after all the other stuff is sorted.
This forum has lost friends who were post-op to suicide. Your body means little if your mind isn't happy.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 11, 2020, 02:45:03 pm
I am scheduling the consultations and will only proceed once I am confident in my need, want and desire. I am 90% certain I am. The last 10% is 64 years of socialization, testosterone and 44 years of a loving relationship. That last 10% is fighting hard.
I can promise you that, regardless of the outcome, I will never ever commit suicide. I will not waste my life. At the very least I owe it to my son who did everything he could to stay alive as he fought leukemia for 5 years.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on August 11, 2020, 06:40:45 pm
My Transgender Sweet Sixteen
We get to:
1) really know ourselves in a way few people do
2) find out who loves us no matter what
3) find out who our real friends are
4) get to meet new friends
5) have new social experiences
6) understand both sides of gender
7) see the world in way that few people experience
8 ) see sex in a different way
9) try on new clothes and fashions
10) use some bathroom some where
11) understand people better, with more empathy
12) finally have internal peace after a lifetime of battling
13) reinvent ourselves and the adventure of getting a fresh start
14) discover exciting physical and emotional changes
15) be accepted by others and just one of the girls or one of the boys
16) feel the sheer joy every day of just being the real you
[/i][/b]
Post by: Emma1017 on August 12, 2020, 06:43:07 am
Yesterday I read Julia Serano's DEBUNKING "TRANS WOMEN ARE NOT WOMEN" ARGUEMENTS that she wrote in 2017 in MEDIUM (https://medium.com/@juliaserano/debunking-trans-women-are-not-women-arguments-85fd5ab0e19c). It's not foolproof but close enough for me. It made me feel better and it purged the TERF poison out of me.
I wake up every day and drive to buy the paper. On the way I practice raising my voice and speaking at a higher pitch. Every day I think about my gender. Every day I am solving one more problem or reviewing my solutions to the various problems of my transitioning....
...and every day I try to convince myself I am not transitioning. What a ridiculous waste of time and energy! I am transgender, I am female, I am OK being a transwoman
....I actually like it.
So here's to the half full glass. It's what dreams are made of.
Cheers,
Emma
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 12, 2020, 09:56:07 am
There's always challenges around all this. A part of me often feels like giving up, but that's stupid, since it's not what I want XD Gotta keep looking for way forward.
Post by: EllenW on August 12, 2020, 10:11:02 am
I am so happy that you are so positive this morning. Just keep filling that glass until it is overflowing with being the WOMAN that you truly are.
Hugs
Ellen
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on August 12, 2020, 02:01:36 pm
So here's to the half full glass. It's what dreams are made of.
Emma, you've gone far further than I have (you're really on hormones for example), and I really hope that you've found that inner peace and accepted your trans nature.
It's just that experience with you suggests strongly to me that the issues are going to come back.
Do you focus too much on being trans, I wonder?... Just a thought. I don't know. I struggle to know how to help you.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 12, 2020, 02:29:34 pm
Ellen I love looking forward to a full glass!
Sarah I expect any future pain to be significantly less than what I just been through. My soul will be at peace.
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on August 12, 2020, 02:36:00 pm
Ellie once I commit I will have no problem with issues that may arise. I will at peace with my decision and will accept come what may. I accept who I am, the rest is life.
I don't understand how you are on hormones if you have not committed?
I will have to go through a 90-minute consultation with a psychologist or a psychiatrist to get a diagnosis that will eventually lead to hormones. I know this is the right path for me; my experience of life tells me that. I have taken so many steps already towards transition and I am happy that I have taken those steps, even though there are some things that I would rather were not the case. I accept that it is more difficult in the UK than in many other countries, of course...
Post by: Emma1017 on August 12, 2020, 03:00:29 pm
I have been doing everything in steps, always challenging my resolve. My four threads here are a testament of my painfully thorough process.
I need to take the final step.
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on August 12, 2020, 03:04:29 pm
It’s simple Ellie, I have a wife who is my soul mate. If not for her I would have transitioned two years ago. I needed absolute certainty that this what I needed before I hurt her so severely.
I appreciate that, but were you not asked that question?
I understand that I am going to be questioned about my family among other things, and it's not until this week that I could claim comfortably that nobody in my family has a problem with me transitioning.
The need for absolute certainty that you have, and the fact that you refuse to face the obvious truth, is harming your mental health, I believe.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 12, 2020, 03:22:29 pm
You noticed that Ellie. I absolutely agree. At this point after 2 1/2 years of therapy, I have been diagnosed as transgender by two psychiatrists, a psychologist and an endocrinologist. I have exhausted every other option so when I go for surgery I do so with absolute certainty that I have made the right decision.
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 12, 2020, 08:10:05 pm
I don't understand how you are on hormones if you have not committed?
I will have to go through a 90-minute consultation with a psychologist or a psychiatrist to get a diagnosis that will eventually lead to hormones. I know this is the right path for me; my experience of life tells me that. I have taken so many steps already towards transition and I am happy that I have taken those steps, even though there are some things that I would rather were not the case. I accept that it is more difficult in the UK than in many other countries, of course...
I'm on hormones and I don't feel committed at all. It was basically because I couldn't stand to not do anything, and it's easy enough to hide for a while. The next steps are the hardest, if I can even go there. I might delay it.
I'm glad that it sounds like both you and Emma are gonna take the steps.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 12, 2020, 09:49:26 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on August 13, 2020, 10:55:02 am
I have been watching a series of YouTubes by Dr. Z and if you ignore her Russian accent I found a lot of help with my gender dysphoria. This one really touched home for me right now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2XDw7lBksg
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on August 13, 2020, 12:46:59 pm
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 14, 2020, 08:29:03 am
Sarah honestly it has been three years of excruciatingly slow baby steps and lots of doubt with every step. Each painful step has been marked by my endless postings on these threads. It’s definitely not over but at least I know who I am. That is at least progress. :)
I understand that totally, since I'm in the same kind of boat. I'm used to dealing with things on my own, but definitely there's some things i could've and still could use some help on . The social component is just too hard for me at the time.
All we can do is make the steps we can. I do hope you remember to love yourself too :)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 14, 2020, 08:55:51 am
Sarah thank you for your thoughts. Fortunately, in spite of my postings here, my life is not a dismal dark dungeon of self-pity. I do laugh and I do appreciate the quality of my life. Gender dysphoria is a dominant thought but not the only one.
I read an interesting article that I reminded me of my "15 Second" Rule. I follow it absolutely. It states: "In the last 15 seconds of my life I don't want to say: "I should have done something that was within my capacity to do."" I use that to deal with any sense of guilt I may feel. If I am at fault, I fix it.
The article discussed Victor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. I read this years ago. Most people evaluate where they are now and where they want to be 3, 5, or 10 years into the future in setting goals. In contrast, Frankl relayed a story suggesting setting your priorities and goals by looking back over your life from your imagined deathbed.
This struck an obvious cord. I will adhere to my 15 Second Rule. I will transition.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on August 15, 2020, 11:30:37 am
For the next two weeks I am giving myself a gender holiday. My wife and I have had gentle trans and HRT conversations so the subject never totally disappears but I don't want to club her with my final decision to transition. I want these two weeks with some peace and I just want to enjoy the rest of this summer quarantine without feeling or inflicting pain.
The September appointments with the GCS surgeon for consultation and the two day electrolysis appointment in Chicago will rush the conversation soon enough.
Post by: Emma1017 on August 16, 2020, 09:08:08 am
Male Invincibility
Until I discovered I was transgender, I had 60 years of living with male privilege. For me it has been a two-edged sword. Arguably male privilege has its advantages, all well documented with extremely valid points made by so many writers. No need to be repetitive here (on the website Medium).
But for someone who has lived a lifetime suppressing their gender to meet all of the requirements of being male, the privileges have come with a very painful price tag, suppression of my soul. I was confined to a role and sure, the role had benefits, but it was still a role.
It wasn’t me.
For 60 years I wasn’t sure what I was but I was well trained to be a guy. I was invincible. I walked the streets at any time, day or night, and had no fear. I might get mugged for money but no one wanted to force sex on me. I had that privilege and I find now that, since I will probably change my gender, that privilege was enormously overlooked.
Strangely, with only a year and a half on HRT and totally presenting as male, I have had a very minor hint of a feeling of vulnerability. I feel it on the subway at night and sometimes during the day. It is an alien sensation that I have never felt before. It is unsettling and it will be a permanent part of the life I am choosing.
I will no longer be able to take my surrounding for granted. I won’t be able to comfortably have a late night drink on the way home alone. Dark streets are more threatening and groups of guys are more menacing. A guy walking behind me is a potential danger I can’t ignore.
And the lack of privilege doesn’t stop there. I have heard from other transwoman that even in their same profession, their opinion is suddenly less valid and sometimes totally ignored. Others have resorted to using their male voice when dealing bureaucratic difficulties on the telephone. They now feel totally isolated by politics and feel the contempt that religions hold for their gender.
I need to accept the fact that I am surrendering my male privilege card to just be me. I strongly believe that the trade is worth it. I have spent the last three years painfully proving it to myself.
My physical world will shrink a little but it will be replaced with one that I can breathe in. I am leaving behind a world of the emotionally color blind for a world in emotional Technicolor. I am opening my heart up in a way that has never seen the light of day before and my soul will finally be able to feel the peace and joy of being, simply me.
Look I know that this path will have a lot of perils and pain but after a lifetime of role playing it is exciting to finally play the role I was meant to play. It is the role of a lifetime. I finally get to be me.
I can’t wait.
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 16, 2020, 09:40:15 am
Anyway, that's a bit biased with how i've felt in the last while of my life. I didn't really exactly see it that way before, but I still would think that I'm wearing a mask most of the time, and that I wasnt really being myself naturally.
Anyway. It's good that we'd like to be ourselves ;)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 16, 2020, 12:55:34 pm
I always felt a disconnect throughout my life but I adapted. I do that pretty well. I have always had a protected inner core that few ever were allowed entry. I guess there was another, smaller core that even I was unaware of until three years ago. This learning experience has been brutally painful as these threads have shared. My hope is that others find some valuable in its telling.
I wish that I was still ignorant of Emma sometimes for all the joy her discovery has brought me. Speaking entirely for myself, the discovery has brought so much pain and has created so much despair in my quiet moments it becomes completely blinding to all the joy of self-realization and expression that others have expressed in finally being themselves, being authentic.
I am feeling a very lonely bleakness right now that I hope to conquer with the choices I will make. It is not a way to be or live a life.
Wishing you joy and happiness,
Emma
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 16, 2020, 02:33:46 pm
When someone mentions the pain being more there than the pleasures and the joy, I have to pull back because it just never sounds right XD I think it should definitely be a source of joy more than the pain, I'd like to believe that. It's just all the attachments, you know? The attachment to the protective gear, and others' attachment to use being like we 'should' be instead of who we are.
We are who we are. And we deserve to be happy. ;)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 16, 2020, 03:38:27 pm
and I agree: "We are who we are. And we deserve to be happy."
If the disease is gender in-congruence and the cure is transitioning how can I choose a lifetime of gender dysphoria?
I already know the answer. :)
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 16, 2020, 04:03:40 pm
Sarah I know it is: "It's just all the attachments, you know? The attachment to the protective gear, and others' attachment" but that attachment is my wife. It is a redundant theme of this thread.
and I agree: "We are who we are. And we deserve to be happy."
If the disease is gender in-congruence and the cure is transitioning how can I choose a lifetime of gender dysphoria?
I already know the answer. :)
Yes I think you have the answer.
As for a spouse. Of course there's attachment.. but a person isn't an attachment :P A person gets attached when they let their love go too far into 'need', into dependency. We're all learning to be ourselves and accept others for who they are. It may have gotten all the way to marriage, but someone is either happy or not happy after they find something out about their partner that they didn't know before. Relationships come and go, it's a harsh lesson that I've had to learn myself. When it doesn't work, it doesn't work. If it can, then good, but it's better to know when to hold them and when to fold them, you know? ;p But I haven't been in a long lasting one, so I'm not totally in the same boat, I can only speak from my own vantage point ;)
So what I'm saying is that, we can't let attachments stop us from being who we really are :)
Post by: Emma1017 on August 17, 2020, 09:29:17 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on August 18, 2020, 11:59:07 pm
(https://i.imgur.com/bCzFctj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/B0R1Rza.jpg)
I think I need to invest in some SPANX... ;D
Post by: davina61 on August 19, 2020, 02:30:55 am
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 19, 2020, 08:20:06 am
Post by: Jessica_Rose on August 19, 2020, 09:01:06 am
I completely agree with your post about 'Male Invincibility'. Females are more of a target, and transgender females even more so. We no longer have that cloak of invisibility, and we must be aware of our surroundings at all times. So far I have not been in a situation where I felt threatened, but we must be prepared to protect ourselves. It is odd to feel vulnerable now, unfortunately that is the price we must pay to allow our souls to escape the darkness. For me, it's worth it.
Post by: Pammie on August 19, 2020, 02:40:06 pm
So I had to go into Manhattan for blood test for my hormones yesterday and I sneaked in a last visit to Donna's before she leaves for California on Sunday.Gorgeous pics!! Xxx
(https://i.imgur.com/bCzFctj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/B0R1Rza.jpg)
I think I need to invest in some SPANX... ;D
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Stepheewt on August 19, 2020, 05:49:46 pm
I hope you find your freedom. I know you’re looking to retire in the next coming months. I know all too well the freedom now of living your truth. I’m not completely and totally there yet because of work but in every other aspect of my life I am. Other than having to hide it at work I have no taste that freedom and I won’t give it up.
It’s been great catching up your thread.
Hugs
Nicole
Post by: KimOct on August 19, 2020, 08:07:29 pm
I seriously hope you don't think that is true. If your head isn't in the right place, if you haven't reached self acceptance (and your words show that you clearly haven't), having a surgery will do little to bring you happiness. Surgery should be the last box you tick after all the other stuff is sorted.
This forum has lost friends who were post-op to suicide. Your body means little if your mind isn't happy.
I am a couple pages behind but catching up. But I had to stop and scream YES !!!!! This journey is between your ears - and I mean everyone - not just you Emma. That is why I preach about understanding the fear in order to overcome it. Many of you have read this stuff from me before but it is true.
Surgery is the icing on the cake and some of us eat our cake without icing. What Devlyn said is spot on.
Post by: KimOct on August 19, 2020, 08:17:50 pm
.
I wish that I was still ignorant of Emma sometimes for all the joy her discovery has brought me. Speaking entirely for myself, the discovery has brought so much pain and has created so much despair in my quiet moments it becomes completely blinding to all the joy of self-realization and expression that others have expressed in finally being themselves, being authentic.
I am feeling a very lonely bleakness right now that I hope to conquer with the choices I will make. It is not a way to be or live a life.
Emma do me and yourself a favor. Slowly read what you wrote above. Read it twice. Read the last sentence and ponder it for awhile.
IMO you do not HAVE to transition but I think it would be better if you did however you MUST forge a path forward. I know that you believe this is an all or nothing proposition. We have discussed that many times.
But it is you and you alone that is putting yourself in that box.
Emma I just want you to break out of this trap.
HUGS
Post by: KimOct on August 19, 2020, 08:23:15 pm
Also my social life has been quite busy which is good. I keep getting invited to things unexpectedly. On Saturday I was invited to a bonfire by some friends that have a house on 6 wooded acres. It was wonderful.
Yesterday my newest 'bestie' Krissa asked me to get together with her and her brother and sis in law. We are spending a lot of time together. She is in a long term relationship so nothing romantic - just friends but she is 36 and gorgeous so at least I get to look at her when we hang out. ;D
I shared a little of the details of my social life so as to make a point. None of these people are trans. All of them are cis and to my knowledge straight. But they like me.
I know you shared your story with your friend #### which is great. But I promise you that if you come out regardless of transition - complete or otherwise - you will be pleasantly surprised. Can I guarantee every single person will be cool? Of course I can't but I know it will be better than you think.
I actually have more friends now than I did 5 years ago. Because now women want to be friends with me too. And I live and work in a Republican county that is on the outskirts of the Twin Cities.
I just wanted to share that with you. I am going to catch up on your blog right now.
Hugs
Kim
Post by: Sarah-Red on August 19, 2020, 08:35:22 pm
I think most of us are either in transition or wanting to transition. So we can use some hope. I have a lot of doubts about how things would be if I fully (socially) transitioned, and I'm trying my best not to give up hope. I can say that I find some things very hard, just like Emma does in her own way. I hope it does get better for all of us, and we find our peace, or whatever it is we need. <3
Post by: Emma1017 on August 20, 2020, 07:01:00 am
Thank you Davina, Sarah, Jessica and Pammie for the wonderful compliments. They really help to internalize what I see and feel in the photos.
And Hello Stranger! So great to see you back Nicole. You look and seem so happy. That is so excellent!
And welcome back to my big Sis Kim. I missed being picked on ;D. This is so incredibly special "I actually have more friends now than I did 5 years ago. Because now women want to be friends with me too. And I live and work in a Republican county that is on the outskirts of the Twin Cities." You give hope and share your happiness in one sentence. Thank you :).
Kim just to clarify my thoughts, I am not afraid of the world. I am afraid of the pain that I will cause my wife. That "very lonely bleakness" is my heart talking late at night as I think everything through.
I am not afraid of giving up "things" in my life and I am not worried about my job now because I will work from home so I don't have the parallel world that Nicole has. But my wife has been the toughest part of my path. There is a vulnerability that I am so protective of and there is a pain that I will inflict that will give her few places heal. That is what tears me up.
Sarah never give up hope, ever! Its the best thing to keep you sane.
Hugs to all,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on August 22, 2020, 09:29:47 am
Going to get my hair cut as Emma on Monday and get advice how to grow my hair long. I am really excited to go. My hair has receded a bit but I will make adjustments when I go for FFS.
This train keeps rolling whether I am on it or in front of it. It just nudges me along :).
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 22, 2020, 10:35:53 am
Going to get my hair cut as Emma on Monday and get advice how to grow my hair long. I am really excited to go. My hair has receded a bit but I will make adjustments when I go for FFS.
This train keeps rolling whether I am on it or in front of it. It just nudges me along :).
That is good. Seems like you are taking positive steps.
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on August 22, 2020, 09:49:20 pm
Post by: davina61 on August 23, 2020, 02:19:54 am
Post by: Emma1017 on August 23, 2020, 08:17:14 am
Chrissy my goal is to keep as positive as I can, finally.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 23, 2020, 08:24:36 am
Davina you made me laugh. I realize that it has taken a ridiculous amount of time for me to get here. ;D
Chrissy my goal is to keep as positive as I can, finally.
:)
Chrissy
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on August 23, 2020, 08:47:56 am
I am so Emma and I love being me. There is a joy that only you all know. :). I know who I am.
YES!!! <3
Post by: EllenW on August 23, 2020, 10:21:22 am
I am so Emma and I love being me. There is a joy that only you all know. :). I know who I am.
Emma,
Could not be happier for you to reach this point of loving youself as yourself
:eusa_clap: :eusa_clap: :eusa_clap: :eusa_clap:
Ellen
Post by: Emma1017 on August 23, 2020, 04:57:27 pm
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: ChrissyRyan on August 23, 2020, 05:14:42 pm
Chrissy, Ellie and Ellen thank you as always for your support and best wishes.
Hugs,
Emma
Hugs back to you Emma! :)
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 02, 2020, 09:40:46 am
My therapist had me break it down into two parts. First share with her what was going on with me and ask her to share what she was dealing with and second, at some point when I am ready, that I am going to transition.
We had the first conversation on Monday. We shared, we talked, we hugged and we kissed. I saw in her eyes both love and understanding. I will worry about acceptance later. I told her flat out that I am transgender and I am absolutely sure of it and some of my social distancing was my anger at the narrowness of our friends and my perceived sense of rejection WHEN I come out. I said "when" a few times and she did not balk. She is very articulate and verbally aware so I know she picked up on it.
Yesterday I sent something to her I wrote for Medium a year ago that I updated and I am sharing it below. Thank you for the PMs and caring. It means a lot. I am still going for my GCS consultation at the end of September.
Hugs,
Emma
Over the last three years since my gender dysphoria exploded out of my soul after 62 years , I have come up with:
My Personal Top 10 Transgender Facts:
1. Gender is the what you were wired in utero and sex is the physical genitalia you were born with.
2. You are cisgender if your gender matches your sex. Transgender is when they do not match.
3. It is a biological condition that is cured medically not a mental disorder. Gender dysphoria is a symptom of gender suppression, like a red warning sign, it gets worse over time. Non-treatment can lead to worsening depression and emotional pain. It can even lead to suicide.
2. It is not a choice. For men born transgender it is hardwired before birth and is then buried under layers of male hormones, male socialization, gender programming and personal denial.
3. The problem is that gender dysphoria does not go away as you get older. It just gets stronger as those layers begin to wear away and the mental anguish it causes becomes unbearable.
4. The irony with gender dysphoria is that it appears to worsen in direct proportion to the effort to fight it.
5. Gender dysphoria makes the individual a social outcast. Family and friends generally lack the understanding to support, help or accept the reality of being transgender. In many instances they do the complete opposite and attack, criticize and shun but those that do understand will show you a heart that will make everyone else fade away.
6. Without an adequate outlet, gender dysphoria is a corrosive, emotional force with limited options. Ultimately, it is a choice of transitioning, lifelong pain or death.
7. As a baby boomer, your world was militantly either male or female. You spend years not understanding what’s wrong with you but you always have a sense shame, discomfort and distress.
8. On top of everything else, gender dysphoria places the entire weigh of guilt on your shoulders for something you didn’t choose.
9. You spend a lifetime in denial, making it impossible to explain it to your spouse when you finally understand. If you don’t tell you wife, you’re a sneak and possibly a liar. If you do tell you have selfishly destroyed her life unless her love is strong and she has the heart of a warrior.
10. When you finally understand your gender dysphoria, it comes at a time when transitioning will have the greatest personal cost and destroys all that you have accomplished in a lifetime. You have to recognize the opportunity for joy that transitioning offers as compensation for the cost of that change. You need to make the decision.
Do not give up hope. Find allies and be patient as you find your own answer.
Post by: Confused1 on September 02, 2020, 10:33:29 am
I needed to have "the" conversation with my wife and I refused to do it.
My therapist had me break it down into two parts. First share with her what was going on with me and ask her to share what she was dealing with and second, at some point when I am ready, that I am going to transition.
We had the first conversation on Monday. We shared, we talked, we hugged and we kissed. I saw in her eyes both love and understanding. I will worry about acceptance later. I told her flat out that I am transgender and I am absolutely sure of it and some of my social distancing was my anger at the narrowness of our friends and my perceived sense of rejection WHEN I come out. I said "when" a few times and she did not balk. She is very articulate and verbally aware so I know she picked up on it.
9. You spend a lifetime in denial, making it impossible to explain it to your spouse when you finally understand. If you don’t tell you wife, you’re a sneak and possibly a liar. If you do tell you have selfishly destroyed her life unless her love is strong and she has the heart of a warrior.
[/i][/size]
Emma,
I think you have finally had the discussion that needed to happen. I think you also now have the answer you need. I believe her love is strong. I believe you can move on without the fear that has been holding you back.
I had a good day today myself. I had to get a letter from a PHD and had an appointment by Telemedicine this morning. I was told I will be getting his letter very soon. Even though it is a rainy day outside, the sun is shining on me today. ;D My GCS consult is about 2 to 3 weeks after yours.
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 02, 2020, 11:25:15 am
I don't really have much on my mind to say, I'm just glad you're taking the steps you are, even if it's not always easy for some things. Maybe your wife is finally accepting it.
Go Emma!
Post by: Pammie on September 02, 2020, 01:54:03 pm
Emma,I’m so jealous of you guys stateside where you can get everything on your medical insurance - i’m looking at another 5 years before GCS!
I think you have finally had the discussion that needed to happen. I think you also now have the answer you need. I believe her love is strong. I believe you can move on without the fear that has been holding you back.
I had a good day today myself. I had to get a letter from a PHD and had an appointment by Telemedicine this morning. I was told I will be getting his letter very soon. Even though it is a rainy day outside, the sun is shining on me today. ;D My GCS consult is about 2 to 3 weeks after yours.
Hugs,
Mike
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Confused1 on September 02, 2020, 10:58:33 pm
I’m so jealous of you guys stateside where you can get everything on your medical insurance - i’m looking at another 5 years before GCS!
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I'm sorry Pammie,
I wasn't trying to rub it in. I have a physical medical issue along with dysphoria that is helping mine along. Even though I have the consult, I still don't know how long it will actually take to get GCS surgery. There is a backlog, but obviously nothing like yours.
I am on Medicare with a supplement I pay for. It has paid 100% of my medical bills including the radiation this year. I assume, but don't know yet, that it will pay 100% for this.
HUGS,
Mike
Post by: Allie Jayne on September 03, 2020, 12:12:00 am
I’m so jealous of you guys stateside where you can get everything on your medical insurance - i’m looking at another 5 years before GCS!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pammie, GCS on the public system here in Australia is technically possible, but practically, it rarely happens. The few surgeons who perform this operation here, work in the private system and charge way above the health system rates. So for those waiting for GCS on the public system here, it may never be done, and if it is, it would be by a surgeon with little experience. So realistically we have to do it privately, which costs around $20K out of pocket. This is also why many Aussie girls go to Thailand for their op. My shallow GCS is in 18 weeks, because I need it and luckily can afford it.
@Emma. You may not know this about me, but I never wanted to transition, and I am only doing this to survive. My dysphoria is so bad, that it can get life threatening. I need to do everything I can to reduce dysphoria, and this includes GCS. So I will be having that op because I know in my head I need it, but my heart isn't really in it. Both my psychs have supported my decision to have GCS. We are all so different and have individual needs. You will find your way.
Hugs,
Allie
Post by: Pammie on September 03, 2020, 09:37:30 am
I'm sorry Pammie,No need to apologise!
I wasn't trying to rub it in. I have a physical medical issue along with dysphoria that is helping mine along. Even though I have the consult, I still don't know how long it will actually take to get GCS surgery. There is a backlog, but obviously nothing like yours.
I am on Medicare with a supplement I pay for. It has paid 100% of my medical bills including the radiation this year. I assume, but don't know yet, that it will pay 100% for this.
HUGS,
Mike
im dead pleased for you and i’m not angrily jealous! I would like to go private but I just cannot afford it and have already spent twice my original budget just in therapy and hair removal and clothes! (I am soooooooo bad with clothes!!)
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Post by: Emma1017 on September 04, 2020, 11:33:16 am
My wife and I are having a tough time but the conversation is no longer angry. I have not said that I am definitively transitioning. My therapist said I said leave it alone for September and just keep talking and keep the subject alive. I need to make sure she vocalizes. Since she continue to refuse to see a therapist that makes a lot of sense.
Sarah thank you for your continued positive thoughts. It really helps to balance me out.
Pammie, Confused (Mike, whic name do you prefer" and Allie I had two thoughts as I read your posts. The first is how globally unfair health insurance and medical support for transgender individuals is. It is tragic. None of us should be forced to wait once we have been medically diagnosised. The second is the incredibly big heart you all have. We are so protective of each other. There is no such thing as mean jealousy here. You can be positive and jealous in a good way like we all are here. No one is ever mean or nasty and that just makes this site special. It offers such positive unconditional support!
Allie I hope you find your joy and passion after the surgery. You massively deserve it!
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Confused1 on September 04, 2020, 01:59:09 pm
My wife and I are having a tough time but the conversation is no longer angry. I have not said that I am definitively transitioning. My therapist said I said leave it alone for September and just keep talking and keep the subject alive. I need to make sure she vocalizes. Since she continue to refuse to see a therapist that makes a lot of sense.
Sarah thank you for your continued positive thoughts. It really helps to balance me out.
Pammie, Confused (Mike, whic name do you prefer" and Allie I had two thoughts as I read your posts. The first is how globally unfair health insurance and medical support for transgender individuals is. It is tragic. None of us should be forced to wait once we have been medically diagnosised. The second is the incredibly big heart you all have. We are so protective of each other. There is no such thing as mean jealousy here. You can be positive and jealous in a good way like we all are here. No one is ever mean or nasty and that just makes this site special. It offers such positive unconditional support!
Allie I hope you find your joy and passion after the surgery. You massively deserve it!
Hugs,
Emma
OOPS, did I say it out loud? :laugh: I guess I gave it away. It doesn't matter Emma. Several here already know my name. I was confused before I read your first thread. Not so much anymore!
As for your wife, I have periods where it is better than ever and I think it is finally over. Then something sets it off for a day or two. Still, the good spells are getting much longer. I think it will be the same for you Emma.
I second the last comment. You do deserve happiness, Allie!
Hugs,
Confused Mike?
Post by: Ellie_Arroway on September 04, 2020, 05:24:45 pm
No need to apologise!
I would like to go private but I just cannot afford it and have already spent twice my original budget just in therapy and hair removal and clothes! (I am soooooooo bad with clothes!!)
Tell me about it... I now have to think something along the lines of "But I already have 10 dresses (or so)! Why should I have another dress?"
It remains to be seen whether this approach will work consistently.
I'm looking at private for hormones and only for hormones. I'm probably going to go for the laser hair removal on the face because zapping with IPL seems to be having no effect on my face, and I've done it for a number of months now. (It's good for the body though.)
Post by: Pammie on September 05, 2020, 05:12:15 am
Tell me about it... I now have to think something along the lines of "But I already have 10 dresses (or so)! Why should I have another dress?"That approach is doomed to failure I fear! (Dresses I mean)
It remains to be seen whether this approach will work consistently.
I'm looking at private for hormones and only for hormones. I'm probably going to go for the laser hair removal on the face because zapping with IPL seems to be having no effect on my face, and I've done it for a number of months now. (It's good for the body though.)
Laser has worked well for me I must admit - now so broke that I have to sometimes NOT buy that dress !
only sometimes though! 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 05, 2020, 07:43:15 am
I think it's good to take time, both for yourself and your wife. And see how it feels along.
I'm looking at private for hormones and only for hormones. I'm probably going to go for the laser hair removal on the face because zapping with IPL seems to be having no effect on my face, and I've done it for a number of months now. (It's good for the body though.)
I can attest that professional laser works for the face, and it has significant results after each session. My cheeks are mostly cleared up now, it's mostly the mouth and chin area and the neck that has more to go. I can't say the same for the tria right now (on my body), but I'll keep trying over months. If for you ipl is working on your body, I might be tempted to ask around at which ipl device has shown good results. (at least in the future depending on results)
Post by: EllenW on September 05, 2020, 09:50:02 am
My wife and I are having a tough time but the conversation is no longer angry. I have not said that I am definitively transitioning. My therapist said I said leave it alone for September and just keep talking and keep the subject alive. I need to make sure she vocalizes. Since she continue to refuse to see a therapist that makes a lot of sense.
Emma,
You are in the same spot that I was in for a very time. Keep having those conversations going with love and not anger. I am a firm believer that love triumph's over anger. My thoughts and prayers to both of you
Ellen
Post by: Emma1017 on September 06, 2020, 08:28:42 am
Is our love worth all this pain? I think it is but if I am wrong?
I know there is no answer but time. Unfortunately this pain is measured in seconds.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 06, 2020, 08:33:56 am
Ellen and Confused it feels like this hurting period for her will be endless. I wonder if she would just be better off if I just left and let her hate me. At least she wouldn't be subject to the daily emotional grind that I am putting her through.
Is our love worth all this pain? I think it is but if I am wrong?
I know there is no answer but time. Unfortunately this pain is measured in seconds.
Keep the talking going, lovingly, when it seems to be one of the right times to discuss.
When not the time to talk about your gender, try to share the good times in every way that you have all these years with her.
Hugs,
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 06, 2020, 10:17:53 am
If I am destined to transition, despite all of my doubts, I am desperate to to do all I can to protect her from me as much as possible but I understand I am not the only one making choices. She is not a child and has the ability to make her own choices as well, so maybe the longer path is the better one.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 06, 2020, 10:40:10 am
Chrissy that is what I have been doing and I think you are absolutely right but I feel like I am just hurting her too much by going slowly.
If I am destined to transition, despite all of my doubts, I am desperate to to do all I can to protect her from me as much as possible but I understand I am not the only one making choices. She is not a child and has the ability to make her own choices as well, so maybe the longer path is the better one.
Hugs,
Emma
Emma,
I know you hope and desire that you two will always be together.
You would think that would be the case if it were not for this gender issue.
You hope that she would embrace your true gender. To go beyond a weak acceptance.
I am sure you have thought many times of the possible outcomes, including both you or her leaving the other. Neither of those possibilities are appealing, but you realize one may come about.
So there will be a point in time where one of you will make a decision as to what to do as this status quo likely cannot continue for many years. You are between that rock and a hard place.
You can see that a typical wife would want her lifelong partner to a man, not a woman, unless both are lesbians. You can see that she is in a difficult situation.
So what can any of us say to help you? We do you know. You are in a difficult situation and we wish you and your wife the best possible result.
Hugs,
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 06, 2020, 12:51:20 pm
Pathetic I know but I need exhaust my guilt at causing her so much pain to justify my need to transition.
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 06, 2020, 03:15:08 pm
Maybe you do need to feel and exhaust the guilt too instead, I dont know. I hope you find what works for you to live your truth.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 06, 2020, 05:09:52 pm
Chrissy that is why I stopped writing. I was getting boringly repetitious. I know that everyone here offers generous support but at the end of the day, my wife and I will need to make our own decisions, the rock or the hard place. Both offers their own pains. I just don’t think I can’t not transition. God knows I am still trying.
Pathetic I know but I need exhaust my guilt at causing her so much pain to justify my need to transition.
You keep writing as you need to, I am sure it can be of help. We are here listening.
Something that someone responds with may also be of help.
Chrissy
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 06, 2020, 05:25:24 pm
You keep writing as you need to, I am sure it can be of help. We are here listening.
Something that someone responds with may also be of help.
Chrissy
That's really good. :)
I'll have to second that because it just makes too much sense :D
Post by: Emma1017 on September 06, 2020, 05:41:15 pm
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 07, 2020, 07:18:31 am
You will survive and I hope, flourish.
:)
Chrissy
Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ARt9HV9T0w8
Post by: Emma1017 on September 07, 2020, 08:36:36 am
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on September 07, 2020, 09:36:50 am
It is just so painful
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 07, 2020, 10:07:47 am
I guess I should stop being what I am not. I am just so good at it and that is who everyone wants.
It is just so painful
Hang in here Emma. :)
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 07, 2020, 12:45:33 pm
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 07, 2020, 01:15:15 pm
You can only flail around so much. Yes there's pain, it hurts. But what are you going to do? Which pain are you going to go for, which happiness are you going to go for?
Post by: Emma1017 on September 07, 2020, 02:51:42 pm
Post by: Confused1 on September 07, 2020, 03:02:38 pm
I don't know if this will help you or not. You obviously love your wife every bit as much as I love mine. You are probably living with more pain in this than she has. She is an adult and she should be the one to decide when or if the "pain" is more than she can bear. All you really can do is be upfront and truthful with her. You have been and it is up to her.
My wife and I are close enough that when one of hurts, it hurts the other. It is unavoidable. Your wife probably wonders if she will feel like or appear to others as being a lesbian. Mine did. She may also be hurting for what she thinks she is doing to you by holding you back. Just a thought, but I don't know if you have thought of the last part.
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 07, 2020, 03:11:01 pm
Some are not.
This is a situation with some alternatives (other than not transitioning or you leaving) are not in your complete control, that is, they are at least partially determined by your wife’s actions.
I would continue to think of her point of view, her distress, and what quandary she is in.
She may be wondering what is better for you because she loves you. You already know what your ideal situation is.
I hope there is a good resolution.
Chrissy
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 07, 2020, 03:41:23 pm
Sarah I know that I have no real choice. I am just too stubborn and stupid. I know I will eventually be happy but it is still a path of broken emotional glass to get there.
It's good that you know what your choice is. It's your path, and there is the one of giving up as well, but then that would lead to unhappiness as well. What do you do when you know your path but that it's going to hurt? You prepare yourself for it, knowing that there's going to be hurt, but that there's a reason you're doing it.
Personally, I think it's much much better to know that you're doing it for a good reason. Don't base it on pain, on dysphoria, it's just there as a boundary, not supposed to be the main motivator. Why do you want to live your truth??
(I'm not trying to make light of the pain, just to look at the rest too is good sometimes)
Post by: Emma1017 on September 07, 2020, 05:52:59 pm
Each day I see more and more of the person in my avatar photo. I honestly like that so I guess there is no going back at this point...still such a very long way to go...sigh
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 07, 2020, 07:39:06 pm
Gender dysphoria really doesn’t give me a lot of room. The cure is obvious. I just wish it didn’t come at the cost of the happiness of someone I love.
Each day I see more and more of the person in my avatar photo. I honestly like that so I guess there is no going back at this point...still such a very long way to go...sigh
Keep your eyes on the prize :)
And, I don't know what to say else about her 'happiness', I'd be repeating what I said once, that someone can't base their happiness on someone else. Relationships at their best are about two happy people coming together for even more, not 'needing' someone for happiness, that's not right. And, I don't want to put a negative light here at all, but just to say, keeping you from your own happiness and bolstering her pain around it can actually be seen as emotional manipulation. Like I said, I'm not trying to paint that on her, but I'm just trying to say, it's not right if she relies on you and then you take on her pain as if it's your responsibility. I'm sure you'll both find better ways to look at it.
All you have to be is yourself, and offer what you can, not what you can't and that's been pushing you in a corner for so long. Be you, be Emma.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 07, 2020, 08:42:46 pm
We both need to stop emotionally drowning. Once that happens we might then be able to help each other. She needs to see that I need to transition to survive. She still thinks that HRT is the cure like I thought. It isn’t.
I need to be more firm with her and with myself that my need to transition is real and not a choice. It is a brutally hard line to cross.
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 07, 2020, 09:26:10 pm
That makes sense Emma. I think you know what matters good enough now. It's just about crossing that line.
I hope you both can get time to catch your breath and make the swim to shore together :)
Post by: Emma1017 on September 08, 2020, 06:49:44 am
The strength of this need to transition is so humbling. I really thought I could control it. I treated it like I was a drug addict or alcoholic. It is not the same thing. This is not a dependency, it is a physical need. Transitioning is essential to surviving.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 08, 2020, 05:32:54 pm
I share you hope as well Sarah.
The strength of this need to transition is so humbling. I really thought I could control it. I treated it like I was a drug addict or alcoholic. It is not the same thing. This is not a dependency, it is a physical need. Transitioning is essential to surviving.
That is likely true after you realize that the old self is no longer tolerable for everyday living without having a new beginning to take over for your true self. Until this tipping point, a slow transition but keeping your toes (or more) in your old self remains tolerable.
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 09, 2020, 07:16:11 am
Post by: KimOct on September 09, 2020, 08:14:37 pm
Ellen and Confused it feels like this hurting period for her will be endless. I wonder if she would just be better off if I just left and let her hate me. At least she wouldn't be subject to the daily emotional grind that I am putting her through.
Is our love worth all this pain? I think it is but if I am wrong?
I know there is no answer but time. Unfortunately this pain is measured in seconds.
Emma, I don't say the harsh things because I enjoy inflicting pain. Rather it is to shorten or reduce pain.
Much like a medical procedure that cuts out a wound or a disinfectant to kill off the infection. Oh great I just compared myself to a disinfectant. :o :D
But onto my point. I know you typed that in frustration but I think it is a valid point. We have talked endlessly about your approach and I know your reasons but........ the reason I have always advocated movement IN ANY DIRECTION is that the extended limbo you are putting both yourself and your wife through is no way to live. Not for you and not for her.
A few months ago you said that September was the 'Rubicon' one way or the other. ( I continue to argue it does not have to be such a binary choice ) but that is your decision.
Please for both of your sakes - your sanity and hers. Your quality of life and hers. Choose a path soon and act on it. I read back several pages and yes I know of your GCS appt. And yes you will need time to think but don't let a month turn into six months or a year. It is not fair to you or to her.
I will always support you if you choose and act on a path. You do not have to transition in order to have my support. However I will only support you if you act. Transition - don't transition but identify as trans - live as non binary. Yes I would support you in any of these paths. You don't have to prove yourself to me with the one exception of that you must do SOMETHING.
If you take a path you have my endless love and support whatever that path may be. If this is the same conversation a year from now..... I will tell you I love you but have to put my energy elsewhere.
Some people just fade away with no explanation but I owe you more than that. I am not casting you aside but I also will not contribute to an endless state of limbo.
If I made you mad that was not my purpose. My purpose is to push you. Not in a particular direction. Just to a course of action. You deserve better than this and so does your wife.
LOVE
Kim
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 07:46:02 am
The cliff is eroding under my feet, either I jump or I fall. That’s it.
Thanks for being a great friend.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 10:08:29 pm
Sorry to dump.
I am transitioning. There is no way out. I have tried so hard. I hate that I have failed but I know I tried with every fiber of my being. I truly tried.
It is a stacked deck. I hope it is worth the sacrifice and the massive pain I will create for my wife.
I have nothing left.
Forgive me for dragging you through this. You all deserve better.
I am done.
I should stop this thread. What is the point?
Everyone here has their own pain.
So sorry.
Post by: KimOct on September 10, 2020, 10:27:10 pm
For those reading Emma and I swapped PMs after my previous post. There are no bad feelings she took my comments as I intended them. I will leave the rest of the conversation private but I have no intention of going anywhere for the immediate future.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 10:46:32 pm
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 10, 2020, 10:49:24 pm
I'd wonder why you feel so dramatic, but I know these things can make someone emotional. You got this, you just gotta get over the extreme feelings that make it out to be a big deal. People are trans, we know that, you just gotta be true to yourself, though it's not always easy, and that's why it's good to have support and people to talk or write to and all that. It'll be ok hun.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 10:54:24 pm
Otherwise how could I possibly live with myself?
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 11:03:08 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 11:05:33 pm
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 10, 2020, 11:06:31 pm
I may lose everything but I have no choice. How so totally tragic. I can only hope it is worth it.
Otherwise how could I possibly live with myself?
They were never yours to begin with. We're all just people trying to make it in the world. Sometimes we spin around someone for a while, sometimes it lasts for a while.
I hope that's not too harsh, but I do think it's the truth. Even in the case that your wife would not want to stay, I know you'll stay close in some way. Ugh, I feel like I'm being so cold in saying that, but when it's time to move, it's time. Whatever that ends up meaning. You're who you are. People who accept you for all you are will be part of your life, and those who don't should move on. I can only say that because I'm at a distance, but your pain deserves to be heard too.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 11:07:14 pm
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 10, 2020, 11:08:34 pm
I truly wish I never started any of these threads.
You don't mean that. You know they were helpful, to you and others.
Take a moment to breathe Emma. Relax and calm your mind if you can. Don't let only the negative feelings have reign. There's good, you gotta remember that. And it's all part of trying to make it to through the journey..
Post by: Emma1017 on September 10, 2020, 11:22:52 pm
I just can’t keep crying like this
I AM transitioning. There is just no other way.
I am destroying lives. I just totally suck.
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 11, 2020, 12:09:13 am
Oh Sarah, Kim and everyone I am so tired of tearing myself apart and dragging you all through my personal hell. This has got to stop. If I am so so tired. you have got to be fed up.
I just can’t keep crying like this
I AM transitioning. There is just no other way.
I am destroying lives. I just totally suck.
I'm safe over here Emma, I'm not going through your hell, only you are. I have my own XD
Crying is ok once in a while, though I also know there's a lot of pain there. Let it out, and get to the other side if you can.
I'm glad you're transitioning. I think you should stop making yourself out to be so destructive though. Since when is being ourselves something bad on others? Why do you make others out to be so reliant on you not being you that you can't just .. let them live their own lives? They can even be there to support you if you let them. And if not, then it's their own path not yours. Live your life, others will adapt or move on.
And if someone says it's ok, and you're not destroying their lives, and they like to hear from you, try to think it might be true :)
Post by: davina61 on September 11, 2020, 03:24:05 am
Post by: AngelaJade on September 11, 2020, 04:16:14 am
Please know that many people here on this forum have been through many things in the huge transition journey.
We will always listen, we will always help where we can. Not all of us are always here online, but there are many.
We care and often, we have been there.
Never give up.
Once YOU choose to transition, you finally discover personal freedom. Trust me, I know and so do many others here.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 11, 2020, 07:57:07 am
I believe my tortuously painful path of the last three years has been one of discovery, understanding and finally acceptance that I am transgender. I then needed to decide what I needed. Finally I need to be willing to throw a 44 year loving relationship into the crucible and trust and hope that I will be happy with what comes out.
I am standing at the crucible right now. Last night was an emotional catharsis to have the courage to let go.
Thank you all,
Emma
Post by: Confused1 on September 11, 2020, 10:22:41 am
I truly hate myself.
I truly wish I never started any of these threads.
Emma,
I think I would have eventually figured it out, but your first thread is what I landed on to make the connection to who I am. Many others on here are going through similar things as you and it helps all of us to talk about them with each other to realize we are not alone. Vent all you need too, but I do agree with Kim trying to push you to act.
From reading everything you have said, I don't think your wife will leave, but the relationship will likely change. At the same time you need to stop blaming yourself. Dysphoria is real and can make the choices hard. We had a discussion in a PM a couple months back comparing my situation to yours. I am continuing toward GCS. I don't consider what you are going through to be any less painful than what I am experiencing.
Both of our wives are getting something they didn't sign on for. They are the SECOND victim in this, but neither one of us woke up one day and chose this. We only get to choose where we go with it, realizing any path we take will affect our wives. They don't prosper with us living in constant pain either.
I know it is often not the case, but I have talked with several who have had their marriage become stronger after this and I am praying that both of ours prosper as well.
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Emma1017 on September 12, 2020, 09:58:14 am
I am having such a massive amount of doubt and fear. I have never faced anything like it in my life. I have read and re-read so many helpful thoughts and experiences here but there is no one who can make this decision for me.
I feel that I am lacking the necessary courage to move forward and that doubt continues to fuel my weakness.
I am trying to find my strength but I don't know where I will find it. Quitting is so seductively easy.
I know that I am burning out friends with this endless blog of frustration and inaction. My path is just longer than others and there is no short cut.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 12, 2020, 10:11:10 am
You will figure it out and take the steps needed at the right time. :)
Chrissy
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 12, 2020, 10:26:34 am
I truly wish I never started any of these threads.
Emma,
I think they have been helping you. Am I wrong?
:)
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 12, 2020, 10:53:37 am
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 12, 2020, 11:43:20 am
I was gonna say maybe you're on your period, but maybe I shouldn't say that even to a trans woman XD
I doubt myself a lot too, too much. I will say that one thing that helped was calming down and thinking more along the lines of things will set into place as I'm ready. I'm tired of struggling because I don't seem to be moving along. But we can only go as we can, and I think the future is open, so I like that approach better than agonizing over everything like I've been doing too lol.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 12, 2020, 12:40:40 pm
Post by: Sephirah on September 12, 2020, 04:25:39 pm
Sarah I agree but my wife is the innocent victim. She deserves better and I am the cause. I am the “other woman” killing her husband and destroying her well deserved happiness.
No. No no no no no no no.
You are both innocent in this, Emma. You keep talking like this is something you're doing deliberately. Something malicious. I know you feel that way but that could not be further from the truth. This is hurting you as much as it is hurting your wife.
You need to stop thinking that way, okay? You did not ask for this. Emma, when people fall in love with each other... they do not just fall in love with someone's gender. If the world worked like that then people would just shack up with the first person they clapped eyes on who could give them children. It doesn't work that way.
Love is something more. It isn't just procreation. It's a connection you have with someone because of who they are. The deeper parts of someone that attract you to them. When you and your wife fell in love... Emma was there. Even if you didn't know it. Because it's a big part of who you are. Even if you didn't know it. Maybe not physically... but mentally, spiritually... the parts of a person which actually matter. Your wife fell in love with Emma, even if neither of you knew it. Because she is you and you are her. And you both always have been. No matter what has intervened in the meantime.
You are still the person she fell in love with. You still have the most important parts of yourself. Your love, your gentleness, your kindness, your warmth, your... empathy. In those aspects nothing has changed. Realising who you are does not mean changing who you are. It does not mean becoming someone else. It means becoming yourself in the way you can achieve so as to not be in personal pain. Your wife knew you before you knew you, Emma. Because... some parts of ourselves we just can't hide. Even when we don't know they're a part of us. :)
What your wife is feeling, and how she deals with this... sweetie... you did not cause this. You aren't deliberately going through this to try and hurt her, to cause her pain, hell... to cause you both pain. This is something you're going through because it's a very personal thing. Something you have to come to terms with. Just like any other medical condition is. It is not something you're perpetrating for the heck of it. And you both need to understand that in order to move forward.
Ditch the adversarial mindset. You are both the same people you were when you met. When you fell in love. You're just dealing with some stuff. I get this may be hard for your wife to adjust to, or accept... but that is NOT your fault.
...
Sorry. Just one last thing. As for regretting starting these threads... Emma, if you hadn't, I never would have gotten to know one of the strongest, kindest, warmest, sweetest people I've ever had the privilege to know. You've touched a lot of lives, missy, whether you know it or not. So don't ever regret wanting to put yourself out there, okay? Because you are a beautiful person, who deserves a voice. :)
*extra big hugs*
Post by: Pammie on September 12, 2020, 04:43:27 pm
No. No no no no no no no.I feel like i’m often coming from a different perspective but I think it’s a little simplistic to say that gender should not be important when you fall in love. Actually, 97% of the time gender is a given, an assumption and no less important for that. People have expectations and it’s naive to suggest otherwise. I totally agree it’s not Emma’s fault - there is no fault. But her wife can’t be blamed for struggling either. Just my view. Xx
You are both innocent in this, Emma. You keep talking like this is something you're doing deliberately. Something malicious. I know you feel that way but that could not be further from the truth. This is hurting you as much as it is hurting your wife.
You need to stop thinking that way, okay? You did not ask for this. Emma, when people fall in love with each other... they do not just fall in love with someone's gender. If the world worked like that then people would just shack up with the first person they clapped eyes on who could give them children. It doesn't work that way.
Love is something more. It isn't just procreation. It's a connection you have with someone because of who they are. The deeper parts of someone that attract you to them. When you and your wife fell in love... Emma was there. Even if you didn't know it. Because it's a big part of who you are. Even if you didn't know it. Maybe not physically... but mentally, spiritually... the parts of a person which actually matter. Your wife fell in love with Emma, even if neither of you knew it. Because she is you and you are her. And you both always have been. No matter what has intervened in the meantime.
You are still the person she fell in love with. You still have the most important parts of yourself. Your love, your gentleness, your kindness, your warmth, your... empathy. In those aspects nothing has changed. Realising who you are does not mean changing who you are. It does not mean becoming someone else. It means becoming yourself in the way you can achieve so as to not be in personal pain. Your wife knew you before you knew you, Emma. Because... some parts of ourselves we just can't hide. Even when we don't know they're a part of us. :)
What your wife is feeling, and how she deals with this... sweetie... you did not cause this. You aren't deliberately going through this to try and hurt her, to cause her pain, hell... to cause you both pain. This is something you're going through because it's a very personal thing. Something you have to come to terms with. Just like any other medical condition is. It is not something you're perpetrating for the heck of it. And you both need to understand that in order to move forward.
Ditch the adversarial mindset. You are both the same people you were when you met. When you fell in love. You're just dealing with some stuff. I get this may be hard for your wife to adjust to, or accept... but that is NOT your fault.
...
Sorry. Just one last thing. As for regretting starting these threads... Emma, if you hadn't, I never would have gotten to know one of the strongest, kindest, warmest, sweetest people I've ever had the privilege to know. You've touched a lot of lives, missy, whether you know it or not. So don't ever regret wanting to put yourself out there, okay? Because you are a beautiful person, who deserves a voice. :)
*extra big hugs*
Emma, you know you have my support and hopes for your success. I’m not sure I have come across a deeper love than yours for your wife. Xxx
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Post by: Sephirah on September 12, 2020, 05:17:55 pm
I feel like i’m often coming from a different perspective but I think it’s a little simplistic to say that gender should not be important when you fall in love. Actually, 97% of the time gender is a given, an assumption and no less important for that. People have expectations and it’s naive to suggest otherwise. I totally agree it’s not Emma’s fault - there is no fault. But her wife can’t be blamed for struggling either. Just my view. Xx
Emma, you know you have my support and hopes for your success. I’m not sure I have come across a deeper love than yours for your wife. Xxx
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I didn't say that, Pammie. I said gender shouldn't be the "only" consideration. If it were then any man or woman would fall in love with the first person of the opposite gender they saw in their lives. I am not saying it isn't important. I'm not saying it's not a part of things. What I'm saying is that it isn't the ONLY thing. And to beat yourself up because you think it IS the only thing... which Emma seems to be doing... is wrong.
Also I am not blaming anyone. If anything I am trying to make everyone see there IS no blame. It's a thing that happened, and people have to deal with it. Not blame either oneself or someone else for how they deal with it. Blame is an utterly futile exercise. It achieves nothing other than to make everyone feel worse. What matters is how you deal with it. How you move forward.
If I thought someone loved me only because of my gender. I would not love them back. That's just a fact. Maybe it's just me. :P
Post by: Pammie on September 12, 2020, 05:27:13 pm
I didn't say that, Pammie. I said gender shouldn't be the "only" consideration. If it were then any man or woman would fall in love with the first person of the opposite gender they saw in their lives. I am not saying it isn't important. I'm not saying it's not a part of things. What I'm saying is that it isn't the ONLY thing. And to beat yourself up because you think it IS the only thing... which Emma seems to be doing... is wrong.I didn’t think or say you were blaming anyone, I was trying to agree there is no blame but I certainly felt you were suggesting gender wasn’t an important assumption in a relationship so if I misunderstood I apologise.
Also I am not blaming anyone. If anything I am trying to make everyone see there IS no blame. It's a thing that happened, and people have to deal with it. Not blame either oneself or someone else for how they deal with it. Blame is an utterly futile exercise. It achieves nothing other than to make everyone feel worse. What matters is how you deal with it. How you move forward.
If I thought someone loved me only because of my gender. I would not love them back. That's just a fact. Maybe it's just me. :P
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Post by: EllenW on September 12, 2020, 05:33:12 pm
I know that I am burning out friends with this endless blog of frustration and inaction.
Emma,
Just look at all positive and supportive responses you get. You are NOT burning out your friends. We are all here for you as long as you need us.
Just hang in there.
Love
Ellen
Post by: Sephirah on September 12, 2020, 05:40:14 pm
I didn’t think or say you were blaming anyone, I was trying to agree there is no blame but I certainly felt you were suggesting gender wasn’t an important assumption in a relationship so if I misunderstood I apologise.
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No, I'm sure it is for a lot of people. But you use the right word there. "Assumption". Something you accept without thinking about it. And in most, maybe even the majority of relationships that assumption is there. Because a physical relationship is something you have to take into account. It's a huge part of why one person gets with another person. Because of biology, and evolutionary urges. However much the fluidity of sexuality is a thing nowadays, you have to accept the Darwinist assertions of Man + Woman = Child. And that's something we have at the very core of our being. The evolutionary urge to procreate. It's something that the vast majority of people act upon.
So, no, I'm not for one second saying it isn't important, for a lot of people.
What I'm trying to say is that whatever physical attraction is going on... we are all far, far more than the sum of our physiology. We are all far more than our ability to produce the next generation. And I personally believe that's why we fall in love with one person over any other person in the world we could fall in love with. I personally believe that a large part of it is our psychology, not just our physiology. It's the person we are attracted to more than their genitalia. After all, what separates one person from another if you've never seen their... um... human race extending apparatus? How do you know they are the person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Unless you just jump into bed with everyone you meet and take averages, lol.
My point was... trans people don't just suddenly pop into existence one day. We don't just suddenly become who we are. It was always there. And the people in our lives... they saw a part of that even when we didn't. Because it's who we are. :)
Post by: Pammie on September 12, 2020, 05:59:55 pm
No, I'm sure it is for a lot of people. But you use the right word there. "Assumption". Something you accept without thinking about it. And in most, maybe even the majority of relationships that assumption is there. Because a physical relationship is something you have to take into account. It's a huge part of why one person gets with another person. Because of biology, and evolutionary urges. However much the fluidity of sexuality is a thing nowadays, you have to accept the Darwinist assertions of Man + Woman = Child. And that's something we have at the very core of our being. The evolutionary urge to procreate. It's something that the vast majority of people act upon.Thanks Sephirah. As always you make a really deep and insightful contribution- sorry I misunderstood. Ur right I think that even when/if (in my case when) we aren’t consciously aware of our true self it is still a key part of us and more discernible to others.
So, no, I'm not for one second saying it isn't important, for a lot of people.
What I'm trying to say is that whatever physical attraction is going on... we are all far, far more than the sum of our physiology. We are all far more than our ability to produce the next generation. And I personally believe that's why we fall in love with one person over any other person in the world we could fall in love with. I personally believe that a large part of it is our psychology, not just our physiology. It's the person we are attracted to more than their genitalia. After all, what separates one person from another if you've never seen their... um... human race extending apparatus? How do you know they are the person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Unless you just jump into bed with everyone you meet and take averages, lol.
My point was... trans people don't just suddenly pop into existence one day. We don't just suddenly become who we are. It was always there. And the people in our lives... they saw a part of that even when we didn't. Because it's who we are. :)
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Post by: Sarah-Red on September 12, 2020, 06:19:23 pm
Probably deeper too.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 12, 2020, 11:29:29 pm
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 13, 2020, 06:53:39 am
You guys make me cry all the time. Thank you
Take each day one at time Emma.
Each day can bring you new insights, prospectives, motivations, decisions, and experiences.
Often I wonder what is going on with me, and why I am not going forward in my transition to the full time stage, and I go through a lot of emotions. I know you are too in your own way because of your specific situation. I have the deepest empathy for you Emma.
Hugs,
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 13, 2020, 10:32:31 am
Sephirah you are absolutely right: "Your wife fell in love with Emma, even if neither of you knew it." If nothing else I am a much better person after the experience of the last three years.
"As for regretting starting these threads... Emma, if you hadn't, I never would have gotten to know one of the strongest, kindest, warmest, sweetest people I've ever had the privilege to know." Sephirah that was an amazing lovely thing to say but how can you glean that from what I have written. For the last three, mine have been the words of a drowning person in an ocean filled with others just trying to survive. I'm just screaming my pain and fear louder but regardless, thank you.
"I’m not sure I have come across a deeper love than yours for your wife." Pammie I know that love like this is out there. My pain is that in my situation. I am placing that love into a painful crucible that will lead to unpredictable results. The thought of it makes me incredibly sad. Thank you for sharing your incredible heart.
"You are NOT burning out your friends." Ellen you won't allow me to burn bridges and you are so wonderful for not giving up on me not matter how much I try to give up on myself.
"We love someone's personality, in simple terms." Sarah you share the important stuff and help me filter out the self hate and the dark thoughts.
"Take each day one at time Emma." Chrissy we teach each other some many important lessons that we forget as we crawl through so much negativity and doubt.
Love to you all,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on September 13, 2020, 02:24:58 pm
The Lady or the Tiger
I had no idea three years ago that I was to start a journey that would slice, dice and dissect every aspect of my life and myself. It is the most painful process I have ever experienced. It may yet become the most exciting and soul fulfilling.
I went through an emotional acid bath of doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, frantic internet researches as well as brutal self-criticism and analysis to discover, without any doubt and against every effort to deny it, that I am transgender.
I went from a binary world of gender into one filled with technicolor variations.
As my journey continued to acceptance, the next thought was, what to do next. I had shared my news with a very select group of people. I was fighting continued self-denial and a fear of letting the “cat out of the bag.” I still was coming to grips with being transgender. I still was very uncomfortable.
I started the “soft” part of my transition, things I could try and do that didn’t require a permanent commitment like surgery or publicly coming out. I tried androgynous clothing. I started to increase my awareness of the feminine world. I experimented with a professional makeover. I fearfully tested the water. I needed to know what my transness was. I needed to find a way to ease the incredible pain gender dysphoria was causing. What did I need to do to be at peace internally?
I found these solutions offered some relief but they also increased my need to express my female gender. My gender dysphoria seemed to be insatiable in direct proportion to my increasingly desperate need to suppress my desire to fully transition.
I was between the fabled rock and a hard place.
So, I continued my journey. I went back multiple times for makeovers, not as a test, but for the pleasure it gave me to see me for the first time in the mirror. In the photos I took in those moments there was an undeniable joy in the smile, totally different than the photos as a guy all my life. These photos seem to reflect my soul…and it scared me.
But I couldn’t stop.
I went to an endocrinologist who confirmed my diagnoses of gender dysphoria and prescribed female hormones. I started hormone replacement therapy (HRT). I had passed a major milestone in transitioning and it made a difference. It felt right. The example I use to describe it is, it is as if I was running on the wrong gas without knowing it and now I am on the right gas and I could feel the difference.
It was amazing.
Now I knew that not only was I transgender but my body was absorbing the female hormones as if it had been waiting a lifetime for them.
So, after 18 months on HRT I have come to the most major crossroad to being transgender: Should I settle for feeling better on just the hormones or should I finally realize a lifelong dream that I had always thought was a fantasy?
I am now faced with the path of “hard” transition.
Why do I need to go for permanent surgical changes and live my life as a woman? Why isn’t simply knowing what has caused my gender dysphoria enough?
It is my decision and my decision alone and I am dealing with the greatest fear I have ever encountered.
Frank Stockton wrote a short story in which the accused person stepped out into an arena and was given the choice between two doors; one held a ferocious tiger, the second a beautiful woman. The destiny of the accused was in the hands of the accused.
For me, I know which door is which, so why would I choose the tiger?
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sephirah on September 13, 2020, 03:36:05 pm
Sephirah that was an amazing lovely thing to say but how can you glean that from what I have written. For the last three, mine have been the words of a drowning person in an ocean filled with others just trying to survive. I'm just screaming my pain and fear louder but regardless, thank you.
You're absolutely right. But it takes a special person to be dealing with so much and yet still have time for others. To go out of your way to want the best for them. To make them feel better. I'm not talking about here, sweetie. I'm talking about the things you've said to me privately. The times you've put everything you're dealing with aside to offer a shoulder to someone else. Namely me. Privately. Had I never started reading your journey, I would never have had the opportunity to get to know you, more privately. To be able to talk to you off the grid, as it were.
I stand by what I said, Emma. You are a truly beautiful person. And I'm not just talking about how you look (although I still maintain you have a smile that would stop traffic and you're utterly gorgeous). I'm talking about what's inside you. Everything you're going though... things that would break other people... but you still have it within you to be there for others. To be a source of kindness and strength. That is a very, very rare thing in this world. It's something precious. And something you need to see, and understand. However hard things might be... you have it inside you to deal with it, sweetie. You do. You have the depth of emotion... the compassion... the strength and gentleness of who you are.
You are never confrontational. You try to mediate... to be the mother. To diffuse situations that others would charge into headlong, sword raised. That isn't you. And if that isn't a testament to who you are then I don't know what is.
I always equate people to water. That's my element. It allows me to make sense of things. Emma, you feel like a glacial lake. Calm... serene on the surface, but deep. Powerful. And... timeless. You are someone who doesn't need to assert themselves. You are someone who people come to, to bathe in your calming waters and feel the gentle serenity you give off. But you're way more than that. You're someone who has depths no one... not even you... have ever fully explored. A latent power that I don't think even you are aware of.
Sometimes the glacier of the world around you breaks off a huge chunk and there's a tumultuous crescendo on your surface as you try to assimilate that... but deep down... you're still. Calm. Waiting.
Sorry, I know I am weird. I just get feelings from people, I dunno. I think you have a lot more inside you than even you realise, sweetie. And you show it in the things you say. How you are with other people. It's something that drew me to you. :)
Post by: Emma1017 on September 13, 2020, 04:31:40 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on September 13, 2020, 07:25:57 pm
It should be free to read. I hope you enjoy it.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 13, 2020, 07:33:10 pm
I wrote something to make me laugh. It is called The Transgender Play: a farce in two acts. https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-transgender-play-7e2a3eaee343
It should be free to read. I hope you enjoy it.
Emma,
Did you hear about the live theatre pun?
It was a play on words.
:)
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 13, 2020, 09:27:28 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on September 15, 2020, 06:55:55 am
My therapist and I were simply chatting during my session the other day and I said something that included "when I was a guy." Total conversation stopper. We just looked at each other and I couldn't stop laughing.
What a strange journey....
Post by: Emma1017 on September 15, 2020, 03:01:37 pm
Post by: Sephirah on September 15, 2020, 03:39:20 pm
With all that I know, why do I want to pick the door with the tiger?
Because tigers are beautiful.
I mean come on. How is this not the most beautiful creature on the planet?
(https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YB6aQqKZBVjtt3PuDSkJKe.jpg)
Post by: Pammie on September 15, 2020, 03:40:55 pm
Because tigers are beautiful.From a greater distance preferably!
I mean come on. How is this not the most beautiful creature on the planet?
(https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YB6aQqKZBVjtt3PuDSkJKe.jpg)
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Post by: Sephirah on September 15, 2020, 03:54:43 pm
From a greater distance preferably!
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LOL! I petted a tiger once, as a kid. They're very... fluffy. :D
Post by: Pammie on September 15, 2020, 04:58:15 pm
LOL! I petted a tiger once, as a kid. They're very... fluffy. :DMm i’m going to take your word for that. Looks very very scary to me
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Post by: davina61 on September 16, 2020, 02:34:27 am
(bit profound for first thing on a morning !!but hope you get the analogy )
Post by: Emma1017 on September 16, 2020, 07:58:09 am
Post by: Pammie on September 16, 2020, 08:15:55 am
I prefer koala bears myself...Me too though i’m highly suspicious of their propensity for dropping out of trees onto peoples heads! I’m convinced the little suckers are guilty of this!
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Post by: Emma1017 on September 17, 2020, 04:52:34 pm
Our conversation was like walking a bull through a china shop. Things were said carefully by both of us to not break something that was breakable. I still need to decide the tiger or the lady once an for all but at least she knows everything. She has not asked to see the photos. That still gives her plausible deniability.
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 17, 2020, 08:33:46 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on September 17, 2020, 09:00:23 pm
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 17, 2020, 09:11:06 pm
Was that goodbye Sarah?
No. It sounded like that? I'm still going to be around. Sometimes I feel like this site isn't too much help for me, but I still check once in a while. I'll still post, but I still wish for things to go well moving forward.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 17, 2020, 09:16:12 pm
I can never sit still.
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 17, 2020, 09:50:22 pm
Post by: davina61 on September 18, 2020, 03:07:46 am
Post by: Emma1017 on September 18, 2020, 06:54:34 am
Davina it may be time to share a photo of Emma. Not sure and perpetually fearful. :)
Post by: Emma1017 on September 18, 2020, 10:07:12 am
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 18, 2020, 12:42:17 pm
Sarah I'm sorry I missed your earlier post: "I feel like this site isn't too much help for me." I truly hope you at least feel the companionship that this site provides. Even now I feel tremendous loneliness because there are so few outlets to just talk about what you are going through.
Not really, I feel like there's a lot of distance with people on this site. Don't really feel part of it or like there's anything meaningful for me here. I just stay a little around in case.
Oh yeah Emma has locked the tigers door and the tiger has left the building....😊
Good :)
Post by: Emma1017 on September 18, 2020, 01:04:21 pm
What's missing and in case of what?
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 18, 2020, 02:27:47 pm
"Don't really feel part of it or like there's anything meaningful for me here. I just stay a little around in case."
What's missing and in case of what?
Connection, engagement, care, understanding.
Staying in case something comes up or if I can manage to take more steps since there's people around who know more than I do.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 20, 2020, 01:07:09 pm
Thinking female and speaking male
Think of it like born in one language and raised in another.
What language do you think in? I think in female but I talk male. I needed to in order to survive and be accepted.
Whenever I spoke female I got odd looks. With women I was thought to be a sensitive male but I had to watch my limits. Don’t want them thinking I am gay or be labeled that “weird guy”.
Among guys there was absolutely no chance. Speak 100% male all the time or get verbally mauled, permanently labeled and become eternally an outcast.
I spent my life speaking male all the time, with passion and conviction.
I hated it.
I felt I have been always holding back a big part of me. There was no words in male speak. There was no chance to female speak. No one would understand, so even why try?
I got so good at male speak that those around me thought male was my native language. At times I thought so too. I kept my female thoughts to myself. I realized sharing my female thoughts couldn’t be translated effectively so I just kept them to myself.
No one else wanted hear them anyway.
So I kept my silence and I kept the peace. I was happy until, suddenly, I wasn’t. Out of the blue I wanted to speak my own language. I wanted to hear my voice out loud. I wanted others to hear it and understand it was my voice, finally, from my lips.
The first time in my life that I spoke 100% female was in therapy at 61 years of age. It just spilled out and I never even knew it was happening. Even my therapist finally heard the difference and the change even snuck up on her.
I am getting too tired holding back and, like a breaching dam, I need to say what was in my heart and in my soul, unfiltered by the needs of others.
So here I am writing my native language. Hearing the joy of each word, the flow of my thoughts held silent for so long, waiting for others to read.
I am a female in a male wrapper who needs to be heard…finally.
And, someday, finally, they will hear……
me.
Post by: Confused1 on September 20, 2020, 02:40:56 pm
I wrote another churn for Medium and thought I would victimize you all with it🙂 :
Thinking female and speaking male
Think of it like born in one language and raised in another.
What language do you think in? I think in female but I talk male. I needed to in order to survive and be accepted.
Whenever I spoke female I got odd looks. With women I was thought to be a sensitive male but I had to watch my limits. Don’t want them thinking I am gay or be labeled that “weird guy”.
Among guys there was absolutely no chance. Speak 100% male all the time or get verbally mauled, permanently labeled and become eternally an outcast.
I spent my life speaking male all the time, with passion and conviction.
I hated it.
I felt I have been always holding back a big part of me. There was no words in male speak. There was no chance to female speak. No one would understand, so even why try?
I got so good at male speak that those around me thought male was my native language. At times I thought so too. I kept my female thoughts to myself. I realized sharing my female thoughts couldn’t be translated effectively so I just kept them to myself.
No one else wanted hear them anyway.
So I kept my silence and I kept the peace. I was happy until, suddenly, I wasn’t. Out of the blue I wanted to speak my own language. I wanted to hear my voice out loud. I wanted others to hear it and understand it was my voice, finally, from my lips.
The first time in my life that I spoke 100% female was in therapy at 61 years of age. It just spilled out and I never even knew it was happening. Even my therapist finally heard the difference and the change even snuck up on her.
I am getting too tired holding back and, like a breaching dam, I need to say what was in my heart and in my soul, unfiltered by the needs of others.
So here I am writing my native language. Hearing the joy of each word, the flow of my thoughts held silent for so long, waiting for others to read.
I am a female in a male wrapper who needs to be heard…finally.
And, someday, finally, they will hear……
me.
Emma,
You definitely have a way with words and what you write resonates with many of us. I can definitely see myself with this one. You also look beautiful as always.
Mike
Post by: Pammie on September 20, 2020, 04:38:16 pm
I wrote another churn for Medium and thought I would victimize you all with itAs always eloquent and emotionally persuasive - i’m fascinated what you see the main differences in language terms are between Male “language” and female “language” - i’m assuming you are not referring to pitch,inflection or emphasis but on actual content? Xx:
Thinking female and speaking male
Think of it like born in one language and raised in another.
What language do you think in? I think in female but I talk male. I needed to in order to survive and be accepted.
Whenever I spoke female I got odd looks. With women I was thought to be a sensitive male but I had to watch my limits. Don’t want them thinking I am gay or be labeled that “weird guy”.
Among guys there was absolutely no chance. Speak 100% male all the time or get verbally mauled, permanently labeled and become eternally an outcast.
I spent my life speaking male all the time, with passion and conviction.
I hated it.
I felt I have been always holding back a big part of me. There was no words in male speak. There was no chance to female speak. No one would understand, so even why try?
I got so good at male speak that those around me thought male was my native language. At times I thought so too. I kept my female thoughts to myself. I realized sharing my female thoughts couldn’t be translated effectively so I just kept them to myself.
No one else wanted hear them anyway.
So I kept my silence and I kept the peace. I was happy until, suddenly, I wasn’t. Out of the blue I wanted to speak my own language. I wanted to hear my voice out loud. I wanted others to hear it and understand it was my voice, finally, from my lips.
The first time in my life that I spoke 100% female was in therapy at 61 years of age. It just spilled out and I never even knew it was happening. Even my therapist finally heard the difference and the change even snuck up on her.
I am getting too tired holding back and, like a breaching dam, I need to say what was in my heart and in my soul, unfiltered by the needs of others.
So here I am writing my native language. Hearing the joy of each word, the flow of my thoughts held silent for so long, waiting for others to read.
I am a female in a male wrapper who needs to be heard…finally.
And, someday, finally, they will hear……
me.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Alice on September 20, 2020, 05:58:13 pm
That was lovely. Thank you for those words.
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on September 20, 2020, 09:15:00 pm
The more I read, the more I am outraged at the brutal unfairness in the way we treat ourselves and are treated by a sadly ignorant society. The more we all share, the more that we strip away that ignorance. It feels well worth it.
The world needs more open minds and open hearts.
Separately Pammie, I was talking about language and the different ways that, in general, each gender uses it, not voice or intonation. I found in social situations, married couples divided into genders and I always got stuck talking “guy” stuff. I always felt like it wasn’t my native language.
Post by: Dorit on September 21, 2020, 12:35:33 am
Separately Pammie, I was talking about language and the different ways that, in general, each gender uses it, not voice or intonation. I found in social situations, married couples divided into genders and I always got stuck talking “guy” stuff. I always felt like it wasn’t my native language.
Yes, this I believe is part of what it means to be transgender. We want to relate as the women we are and be accepted as such in social situations. I always got along well with women, had girlfriends that I connected with socially. I too did not like the "guy" talk and prefer "women" talk. I believe one reason my marriage was so good is that we related as best girlfriends to each other. Transition for me completely solved the problem of being in the wrong social group.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 21, 2020, 06:55:41 am
I am trying to be positive. I finally had a full disclosure conversation with my wife last week and I really can't have GCS surgery until the end of 2021 anyway....I keep focusing on those points but I am massively sad and disappointed. I will survive but this whole process is so adversarial. Others have it far worse, so I shouldn't complain but come on, the appointment was tomorrow!
I would be more philosophical if I was 45 or 55 but I turn 65 next month. I constantly question my need to transition at this point of my life.
...as if I have a choice.
Sorry just a "poor me" moment. I'll put my big girl panties on in few minutes.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 21, 2020, 03:38:47 pm
Chrissy
Post by: EllenW on September 21, 2020, 08:55:57 pm
Could you change the consult to a telehealth visit? I had my first consult today that way and it went very well
Stay strong
Ellen
Post by: Confused1 on September 21, 2020, 11:07:25 pm
Like Ellen, my consult next month will be by ZOOM. It might be worth asking.
My other therapists visits were in person, but my PHD Therapist was by telehealth.
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Emma1017 on September 22, 2020, 06:44:08 am
Chrissy, Ellen and Mike thanks for your thoughts and ideas. I sent an email this morning asking for a better date. I will follow up to see if a ZOOM consultation could be an alternative.
I could have lied and gone to the appointment but I just couldn't. It is was frustratingly close. It was upsetting and it really made me very sad. This whole process is so unnecessarily difficult. No wonder we are such a tight community.
Thanks again,
Emma
Post by: Alice on September 22, 2020, 05:20:14 pm
I am glad you are exploring options. Hang in there, I am sure it will all work out.
Hugs
Alice
Post by: Emma1017 on September 22, 2020, 06:42:13 pm
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Oldandcreaky on September 22, 2020, 08:53:56 pm
I consider the old rules to be prudent, that one had to successfully live as female for a year to be considered for surgery. I always thought of the year as a trial for the house you'd inhabit for the rest of your life.
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 22, 2020, 09:57:25 pm
You don't have to wait for GCS to live in the female role. If you've had the conversation with your wife, start living as a woman right now.
I consider the old rules to be prudent, that one had to successfully live as female for a year to be considered for surgery. I always thought of the year as a trial for the house you'd inhabit for the rest of your life.
It's still a rule in Canada. Which is unfortunate, because I can't live that role in society with how I feel for now. (social anxiety included)
Getting the operation would actually help me with that, so I don't agree with the rule :/
Sometimes it is what it is, and you just gotta do your best and hope for the best in the future. Nothing's lost Emma, it'll just take a little more time.
Post by: davina61 on September 23, 2020, 03:55:38 am
Stateside thing happen so much quicker and more choice. It will come dear in its own good time, I find things happen for me when they are meant to happen so things fall into place . Go with the flow but dont forget to paddle upstream when needed XXXXX
Post by: Emma1017 on September 23, 2020, 07:23:19 am
There are thousands of ways to transition and thousands of ways to get there. We each are forced by circumstances to walk our own path, each is very specific and very personal.
I technically started to transition at 61 years of age. It has been essentially a battle between my sense of selflessness and my sense of selfishness need. My 44 year loving relationship with my wife and my dedication to protect her from my needs, created an epic battle that I have painfully shared here in four separate, excruciatingly long (sorry all) posts.
I am a very determined person so this emotional fist fight was against equal contenders but one was getting stronger as the other weakened. Gender dysphonia grew exponentially the more I fought it and gender dysphonia was actually telling me that I need to cure my very real medical ailment. I am transgender and I need to transition to be ok.
I recognize that I can’t live with the pain regardless of the brutal pain that I have and will expose my wife to. Fortunately, circumstances have given us both time to process this reality. She is still here and I hope she stays as I continue with the cure.
O&C I think there are many people who need to slow down and make sure that they truly know and want this irreversible change. I don’t need to practice for a year, I am female, I just need to work on my skills and I am looking forward to it.
Sarah it is so frustrating when you absolutely know your reality and the medical bureaucracy and other realities force you to go so painfully slow. I feel so bad for where you are and I truly hope that you can get where you need to be. You deserve it.
Davina the Wise, you are so right. Whether it is destiny or a rationalization of reality, it will all happen in time. It just requires more patience than I have at times. Fortunately, I have started to stop fighting upstream. It is exhausting!
When I shared the “Lady or the Tiger” with my wife last week I added this post script:
“PS: One last thought, if we separate or divorce, we will have to deal with everyone’s stupidity separately.
if we stay together we can deal with their stupidity together....plus I can make you laugh.”
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sephirah on September 23, 2020, 02:39:30 pm
I was exposed to the Covid virus last week and have been told to quarantine for two weeks...My GCS consultation was tomorrow. I couldn't lie. I couldn't expose others. I was forced to reschedule. The next appointment is June, 2021...........
This virus is no joke, Emma. It kills people. The entire world has changed into a place none of us recognise anymore. What you did was the absolute right thing. In the UK, it's the young people who are getting blamed for the rise in cases. Because they apparently don't care, because they don't think they can die from it. So it doesn't affect them. No matter how many other people are at risk because they may pass it on. It's a case of "I'm okay, Jack, so screw you." I don't know how true this is, but I know what I've seen.
Emma... you're doing the right thing. And this is what you have to feel good about.
The fact that you've been told to self-isolate is a good thing, if what I'm hearing about how bad it is over there is accurate. You can't take this lightly. Something the higher echelons of power seem to be doing with reckless abandon.
Sweetie, you will get through this, and you will get to where you want to be. The world has changed now, in many ways for the worse. We just have to hang on, and ride this crazy apocalypse-train to where it ends. 2020 will likely go down in history as the year Mother Nature finally had enough and decided to cleanse herself.
Hang in there, okay?
Love you. X
Post by: Pammie on September 23, 2020, 02:45:42 pm
This virus is no joke, Emma. It kills people. The entire world has changed into a place none of us recognise anymore. What you did was the absolute right thing. In the UK, it's the young people who are getting blamed for the rise in cases. Because they apparently don't care, because they don't think they can die from it. So it doesn't affect them. No matter how many other people are at risk because they may pass it on. It's a case of "I'm okay, Jack, so screw you." I don't know how true this is, but I know what I've seen.With all due respect that is rather OTT. Of course she must self isolate when told but it’s not exactly apocalypse here in the UK. I still know nobody who has had the virus, the rates of infection are very very low and the mortality rate also very very low. Yes it can kill but lots of things can - including flu.
Emma... you're doing the right thing. And this is what you have to feel good about.
The fact that you've been told to self-isolate is a good thing, if what I'm hearing about how bad it is over there is accurate. You can't take this lightly. Something the higher echelons of power seem to be doing with reckless abandon.
Sweetie, you will get through this, and you will get to where you want to be. The world has changed now, in many ways for the worse. We just have to hang on, and ride this crazy apocalypse-train to where it ends. 2020 will likely go down in history as the year Mother Nature finally had enough and decided to cleanse herself.
Hang in there, okay?
Love you. X
I’m concerned personally about the costs of lockdown - just look at the low level of cancer referrals for instance.
We are building up a hidden mountain of sadness.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on September 23, 2020, 02:59:36 pm
So far no symptoms for me.
They say a great test for the virus is to take a glass of red wine, smell it, then taste. If it smells and taste like wine, repeat often to ensure results. I am trying different varieties to make sure I am doing it right ;D.
I will share the results.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 23, 2020, 03:13:06 pm
Unfortunately I live in New York City and my Mother died of the virus in New Jersey last March. The real truth about the virus globally has become the fodder of politicians and the media. I have numerous friends in various ER units here who will confirm the danger of the virus while at the same time I have friends in other businesses that don't see the extreme danger of the virus and want to get back to work. I feel the worst of for the parents and their children.
I agree that we need to find acceptable risks in order to function as a society and that difficult decisions will need to be made. I just wish the world had better leaders to make them. In the mean time we all need make our own intelligent decisions. We will get past this.
I am more worried about dying as a man.......... ;D
Post by: Sephirah on September 23, 2020, 03:47:56 pm
With all due respect that is rather OTT. Of course she must self isolate when told but it’s not exactly apocalypse here in the UK. I still know nobody who has had the virus, the rates of infection are very very low and the mortality rate also very very low. Yes it can kill but lots of things can - including flu.
I’m concerned personally about the costs of lockdown - just look at the low level of cancer referrals for instance.
We are building up a hidden mountain of sadness.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No, I wasn't talking just about just the virus, Pammie. I was talking about everything that's being going on in the world this year. The floods in China, the fires in Ukraine, California and Australia... it's like this year seems to be one thing on top of another. I said the world has changed now. And it has. Looking at everything that's happened this year, it would be easy to think of it as something apocalyptic.
I know you think a lot of this is over the top, and I respect that even if I don't necessarily agree with it. But this year has been something out of the ordinary in terms of world events that put people in harms way. You're taking my post out of context. I put things in different paragraphs for a reason. :) What I said, specifically, was
The world has changed now, in many ways for the worse. We just have to hang on, and ride this crazy apocalypse-train to where it ends. 2020 will likely go down in history as the year Mother Nature finally had enough and decided to cleanse herself.
That doesn't mention the virus, and it isn't just about that. Sweetie, stop looking for things that aren't there, okay? :)
Unfortunately I live in New York City and my Mother died of the virus in New Jersey last March. The real truth about the virus globally has become the fodder of politicians and the media. I have numerous friends in various ER units here who will confirm the danger of the virus while at the same time I have friends in other businesses that don't see the extreme danger of the virus and want to get back to work. I feel the worst of for the parents and their children.
I agree that we need to find acceptable risks in order to function as a society and that difficult decisions will need to be made. I just wish the world had better leaders to make them. In the mean time we all need make our own intelligent decisions. We will get past this.
I am more worried about dying as a man.......... ;D
Emma, I am so sorry for your loss. Sincerely. You're right... it's turned into something to be wielded as a weapon and that is the ultimate sadness. You would think that something like this would bring people together, not divide them. What does it take for people to all get on the same page?
Also... you were never a man, sweetie. So stop that! :P And you ain't going anywhere, missy. *huggles*
Post by: Pammie on September 23, 2020, 03:59:35 pm
No, I wasn't talking just about just the virus, Pammie. I was talking about everything that's being going on in the world this year. The floods in China, the fires in Ukraine, California and Australia... it's like this year seems to be one thing on top of another. I said the world has changed now. And it has. Looking at everything that's happened this year, it would be easy to think of it as something apocalyptic.My apologies Sephirah, I did think you were mainly talking about the virus and I take your points. It has been a tough year globally but I guess I tend to underplay because none of that gets within a million miles of the utter personal catastrophe of losing my little girl last year.
I know you think a lot of this is over the top, and I respect that even if I don't necessarily agree with it. But this year has been something out of the ordinary in terms of world events that put people in harms way. You're taking my post out of context. I put things in different paragraphs for a reason. :) What I said, specifically, was
That doesn't mention the virus, and it isn't just about that. Sweetie, stop looking for things that aren't there, okay? :)
Emma, I am so sorry for your loss. Sincerely. You're right... it's turned into something to be wielded as a weapon and that is the ultimate sadness. You would think that something like this would bring people together, not divide them. What does it take for people to all get on the same page?
Also... you were never a man, sweetie. So stop that! :P And you ain't going anywhere, missy. *huggles*
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Sephirah on September 23, 2020, 04:13:17 pm
My apologies Sephirah, I did think you were mainly talking about the virus and I take your points. It has been a tough year globally but I guess I tend to underplay because none of that gets within a million miles of the utter personal catastrophe of losing my little girl last year.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pammie, I get it. I really do. I get why you're hurting, sweetie. And I get why you feel the way you do. I am so, so, so sorry for the loss of Siobhan. I wish I could take that away from you. I wish with all my heart I could make it so she was still here. I am sorry too. I can be flippant sometimes, and forget the pain of people who lose people. People close to them.
I guess it's how I cope with stuff, you know? You're right... when you lose someone who is your whole world... the actual world is but a pale shadow. I've been there. Nothing can ever seem to be as bad. Sweetie, she will always be with you. You haven't lost her. You can never lose her while ever you keep her in your heart. Hang on to that, okay?
I love you too, Pammie. We all deal with things in our own way. Doesn't make it wrong. Just makes it so we look at the world through our own individual prism. With the light of perception scattered in different ways.
*extra big hugs*
Post by: Emma1017 on September 23, 2020, 04:44:16 pm
And I love 💕 how we all play nice together!
Hugs to all,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on September 24, 2020, 09:02:00 am
Post by: Pammie on September 24, 2020, 10:27:07 am
Pammie, I get it. I really do. I get why you're hurting, sweetie. And I get why you feel the way you do. I am so, so, so sorry for the loss of Siobhan. I wish I could take that away from you. I wish with all my heart I could make it so she was still here. I am sorry too. I can be flippant sometimes, and forget the pain of people who lose people. People close to them.Sephirah, u r a truly wonderful, insightful and caring woman. Thank you hunny and hugs right back xxxxl
I guess it's how I cope with stuff, you know? You're right... when you lose someone who is your whole world... the actual world is but a pale shadow. I've been there. Nothing can ever seem to be as bad. Sweetie, she will always be with you. You haven't lost her. You can never lose her while ever you keep her in your heart. Hang on to that, okay?
I love you too, Pammie. We all deal with things in our own way. Doesn't make it wrong. Just makes it so we look at the world through our own individual prism. With the light of perception scattered in different ways.
*extra big hugs*
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 24, 2020, 11:13:48 am
Sarah it is so frustrating when you absolutely know your reality and the medical bureaucracy and other realities force you to go so painfully slow. I feel so bad for where you are and I truly hope that you can get where you need to be. You deserve it.
Thanks, I appreciate it, it means something.
Honestly the worst was last year when I kept running into the wall and feeling like I need to get over it. I'm more tame right now because struggling isn't helping me. If I need time, then that's what I need. There's things I have trouble processing and I try not to think about it and keep open, because I want to believe instead of hopeless. This is a hard life and lots of people have it tough for different reasons, I'm trying to change my way of thinking so I can appreciate more than suffer over things. At the same time we have to be true to how we feel, sometimes there's pain to let through.
Someone asked me how I chose my name. My two favorite girls names I liked when my wife was expecting was Nora and Emma. I chose Emma. I chose as my middle name Elizabeth because two of my ancestors where named Elizabeth and I loved the connection. It was really that simple😊
I've always liked the name Emma. Too many people I know started using the name tho XD. Sarah was still the winner for me, but I decided on another name. At this point I've been called Sarah so much online though that it feels like my name as well, but I'll be going with Sylvia. It doesn't matter which one someone uses for now though, it just points back at me XD
I'm glad if you feel good about your name.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 24, 2020, 11:45:28 am
The interesting thing about transitioning is that you get to start over again, including the name you want. I have always hated the name I was given at birth🙄.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on September 24, 2020, 03:37:09 pm
https://youtu.be/S8Xazo6ea6M
Their story is such an echo of everyone’s experiences. Definitely makes it hard to refute our existence.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 25, 2020, 08:00:42 am
I know there are so many stories so I want to be precise that this is my own here. I had no clue that I was transgender until I started therapy 30 months ago. Until that moment I absolutely believed that I was the man my wife married. My gender was buried under incredibly deep layers of ignorance and testosterone.
My wife said at dinner last night: "Does anyone really know someone." Obviously alluding to my recent revelation that I was transgender. I felt a pang of guilt.
Last last night I thought about what she said. When I have heard those words it made me feel like I was guilty of being a liar and manipulator, when in fact I was absolutely innocent. I have like many of us, used the "cancer" example that goes like this:
"I wish I had cancer (or It's just like cancer) so people would understand
that this is not my choice but a medical need."
I combined the two thoughts:
“When I married and contracted a life-changing disease 45 years
later, am I guilty of deceit at the time of that wedding?”
My answer is simple, no. I know that if I was aware of my condition and the solution, I would never had married and I would have transitioned then.
Post by: Jessica_Rose on September 25, 2020, 02:53:12 pm
Transitioning later in life is much more difficult than people realize. We have decades of history, friendships, and emotional baggage we must deal with. Even though in many ways we do get a second chance at life, we don't exactly start off with a clean slate. I don't think any of us can be considered deceptive for who we were decades ago, when we didn't know who we were.
Love always -- Jessica Rose
Post by: Confused1 on September 25, 2020, 03:29:54 pm
At a young age I knew I had thoughts no one else seemed to have and I didn't dare tell anyone. Seems like a great many of us thought we were the only one. I experienced something pretty traumatic at a very young age and mostly blamed it on that.
When I first heard the term transgender, it sure wasn't described like anything I experienced. I found the truth here.
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Emma1017 on September 25, 2020, 03:51:17 pm
A lot of what I have written here I turned a series for Medium. I connected the 28 later ones to the first one I wrote at the bottom of it and can be accessed in the hyper link below:
https://medium.com/@hallb1710/the-transgender-pain-29b6b8f304ab?source=emailShare-e1fba16216ae-1601059465
Please be aware they give you some free access but they will try to charge you. Let me know which ones you want I will post them here. Additionally almost all of them are scattered throughout my postings here. Good luck the threads are painfully long. Mike I think you are the only one who read them all. You have my deepest apologies. :)
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 25, 2020, 04:05:53 pm
Post by: EllenW on September 25, 2020, 06:58:04 pm
I know that if I was aware of my condition and the solution, I would never had married and I would have transitioned then.
Emma,
Thanks you for your thoughts on this. For me, the situation was different. Both of us thought if we got married my feelings about being a women would go away. We were very naive about how strong my gender dysphonia is
Ellen
Post by: Confused1 on September 25, 2020, 11:05:27 pm
Jessica and Mike it is amazingly cruel and painful the discovery process we had to go through to learn our truth. My threads and so many others on this site document the anguish.
A lot of what I have written here I turned a series for Medium. I connected the 28 later ones to the first one I wrote at the bottom of it and can be accessed in the hyper link below:
https://medium.com/@hallb1710/the-transgender-pain-29b6b8f304ab?source=emailShare-e1fba16216ae-1601059465
Please be aware they give you some free access but they will try to charge you. Let me know which ones you want I will post them here. Additionally almost all of them are scattered throughout my postings here. Good luck the threads are painfully long. Mike I think you are the only one who read them all. You have my deepest apologies. :)
Hugs,
Emma
Hi Emma,
The discovery process was definitely cruel in the world we grew up in and still is for many. Definitely no need to apologize. I willingly subjected myself to the "torture" of reading them all. I have sometimes had thoughts similar to Kim about your journey, but I have learned much that has changed my life this year from you and several others, some of whom have visited your threads at one time or another.
As you know I am a strong Christian as well as transgender, and that I drug my Pastor kicking and screaming to a new understanding of what transgender means, along with an understanding of what churches have done to many of us. His preaching has changed substantially for the better.
I had some trouble with my wife for awhile, but for my daughters it was a non event. I am non binary and you know my "transition" will be different than yours, so it is easier for me to get accepted. I don't know if you have shared the video I sent you back in July with your wife, but it helped me greatly with a couple of members at my church. I don't think your worst fears will become reality, but I really believe the video could help.
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Emma1017 on September 26, 2020, 02:41:35 am
Ellen the power of gender dysphoria constantly humbles me.
Sarah the variations of solutions for each of us is unique. That makes it harder because we are forced to forge our own paths. Stay strong.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on September 26, 2020, 11:41:00 am
As people were helping me find my place amidst unbelievable personal pain, I have consistently felt a very binary sense of self. The range in the middle just didn't feel right to me.
All my life I have felt a sensation of something missing, of feeling incomplete. As with everything that is part of your life long experience, at some point you almost forget that sensation is there. The rest of life has a remarkable way of diverting your attention to other things like eating, breathing, family, school, work, love, marriage, children, mortgage, health, death and the occasional glass of wine or or cold beer.
For 61 years, my life has been no different...and then it was. I was "happily" cisgender and then I suddenly, wasn't.
That sensation of feeling incomplete was successfully numbed by life. Suddenly, a painful awareness of deep emotional agony grew and never left me, ever. My attempts to ignore failed. My attempts to control it failed. My attempts to deny it failed. It continued to grow over time.
I asked myself over and over again, why won't it stop, what was I missing?
Three years later the simple answer is, the need to be me. My solution is binary. I need to feel complete.
Thank you for being there,
Emma
Post by: Northern Star Girl on September 26, 2020, 11:56:55 am
Dear Emma:
Thank you for sharing and posting your heartfelt words regarding your transition "adventure" and your feelings regarding your writings here on your Blog/Journal thread.
Your followers (including myself) are always eager to read what you have to say and we are always trying to be supportive with our comments and replies....
Wishing you well and wishing you success as you continue toward your goals in your transition journey...
Please keep sharing and posting!!!!
HUGS and more HUGS,
Danielle
Post by: Emma1017 on September 26, 2020, 01:11:10 pm
Massive hug,
Emma
Post by: Sephirah on September 26, 2020, 02:51:55 pm
My wife said at dinner last night: "Does anyone really know someone." Obviously alluding to my recent revelation that I was transgender. I felt a pang of guilt.
Last last night I thought about what she said. When I have heard those words it made me feel like I was guilty of being a liar and manipulator, when in fact I was absolutely innocent. I have like many of us, used the "cancer" example that goes like this:
"I wish I had cancer (or It's just like cancer) so people would understand
that this is not my choice but a medical need."
I combined the two thoughts:
“When I married and contracted a life-changing disease 45 years
later, am I guilty of deceit at the time of that wedding?”
My answer is simple, no. I know that if I was aware of my condition and the solution, I would never had married and I would have transitioned then.
This is an interesting question and something that should be considered, without connotation.
I would venture that no, no one really knows anyone. Because no one really knows themselves. Our lives aren't fixed and immutable. Literally everything around us, including us, is... well it's essentially best guess on the information we have available. When that information changes, our understanding changes. This is life. It's fluid, for the most part.
So no... I don't think anyone really knows anyone, or anything. And that shouldn't be seen as a bad thing. Certainly not something to make one feel guilty or like they've done something wrong. I don't think anyone can know anyone. The depths of the human mind are as much a mystery now as they always have been. We have theories, estimations, hypotheses and observations. But sometimes all that gets thrown out the window when something happens which no one can predict. Like someone waking up one day being able to speak a different language with no idea how. People who experience smells as colours, and sounds as smells.
More to the point I'm not sure it's a great idea to try and think we do know everything about someone. Life is something you only learn the rules to after you stop playing the game. Before that... well... we're all taking the same crazy wonderful journey of self-discovery.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, the definition of Deceit is:
An act of keeping the truth hidden, especially to get an advantage.
If you believe something to be your truth, then you are hiding nothing. It's that simple. No one can be held accountable for the things they aren't aware of, simply because they aren't aware of them. So you have nothing to feel bad about whatsoever, Emma. And you shouldn't be emotionally guilt tripped into feeling that way because someone else wants you to.
*big hugs*
Post by: Emma1017 on September 26, 2020, 03:08:36 pm
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: ChrissyRyan on September 26, 2020, 03:17:22 pm
I agree Sephirah. My conscience is absolutely clear. I have just about purged myself of fear, guilt and shame. I am really feeling good about myself. All that is left is the sadness of the change and for the pain it is causing.
Hugs,
Emma
We do care about you Emma.
Thanks for continuing to share out with us.
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on September 26, 2020, 03:32:33 pm
Post by: Pammie on September 26, 2020, 04:01:39 pm
I agree with Chrissy, I too feel engaged and invested in your story and continue to hope for a happy ending xx
We do care about you Emma.
Thanks for continuing to share out with us.
Chrissy
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 26, 2020, 04:16:42 pm
Post by: Sephirah on September 26, 2020, 05:23:20 pm
I can't do it. I don't want to do it. Only a very few people know my story. The things I've been through. And I keep it that way through choice. I can't wear my heart on my sleeve like you can. To be open about how I'm feeling... to be open to people's opinions on how I'm feeling. I just can't do it. I don't want to do it. I am a very private person by nature.
Which makes what you, and others here do... something special. Something which should never be underestimated. The hardest thing we can do in this life is speak when we want to stay silent. Be free when everything around us tells us that chains are the best way forward.
You have my utmost respect and admiration for continuing to share your hearts, your souls, and your journeys. And you inspire more people than you probably realise.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 26, 2020, 10:09:08 pm
Sephirah when I started this three years ago I promised to be 100% honest and I have kept that promise. My sharing is not courageous, it is my need. I am taking selfish advantage of you and everyone else here to dump my anger, pain and bitterness. I am sorry for abusing great people.
I wish I could a better source of happiness than I can offer here. Everyone deserves better than I can deliver. I keep writing but why.... I get so dark. What is wrong with me?
Post by: Sarah-Red on September 26, 2020, 10:34:08 pm
My wife and I had a great evening turn bitter and I feel very hurt and angry. I am taking advantage of our friendship to selfishly say I’m hurting. No blame just hurt.
Sephirah when I started this three years ago I promised to be 100% honest and I have kept that promise. My sharing is not courageous, it is my need. I am taking selfish advantage of you and everyone else here to dump my anger, pain and bitterness. I am sorry for abusing great people.
I wish I could a better source of happiness than I can offer here. Everyone deserves better than I can deliver. I keep writing but why.... I get so dark. What is wrong with me?
Stop it Emma. Friends who listen to someone's feelings aren't being taken advantage of. Everyone deserves to have their feelings heard. People don't always get to be heard, so definitely don't push it away ;)
I know you're hurting though. Sorry it was a rough night. Things will settle and it'll make more sense when it's not hurting as much.
I think that I see it as a need in a way too, to be heard. It's worth appreciating when it can happen, and no one is forced into it. We listen because or when we care. Because we want to.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 27, 2020, 08:21:50 am
I never had these dark moods until I started to transition, at first against my will and now with some sense of agreement.
I think it is aggressive nature of what we go through with it’s deeply painful attacks that only we feel, inside. Writing here helps but I always feel like I am unfairly sharing too much.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: EllenW on September 27, 2020, 03:24:56 pm
My wife and I had a great evening turn bitter and I feel very hurt and angry. I am taking advantage of our friendship to selfishly say I’m hurting. No blame just hurt.
Sephirah when I started this three years ago I promised to be 100% honest and I have kept that promise. My sharing is not courageous, it is my need. I am taking selfish advantage of you and everyone else here to dump my anger, pain and bitterness. I am sorry for abusing great people.
I wish I could a better source of happiness than I can offer here. Everyone deserves better than I can deliver. I keep writing but why.... I get so dark. What is wrong with me?
Emma,
Please remember that there is nothing wrong with you. Everyone on this plant is a unique person, no one is wrong or better than the other, just different.
As to your wife just keep the communication open and I believe that she will come to understand that you are the same loving person that she married over 4 decades ago. I have been married for almost as long as you have and yes some of our conversations have to bitter. Their are times that I feel hurt and angry. So has she. Also, it also not always about gender dysphonia. Any couple that has been together as long as you two have will have these moments. It is your love for each other that will get you through this time, just like it did in the past.
As for all of use reading your posts. You are not abusing us. We are all on this site to help each other.
Hugs and love
Ellen
Post by: KimOct on September 28, 2020, 12:05:25 am
Please don't apologize - those that read do so out of choice. I am here less frequently but I don't have to be here at all. My visits are because I want to check on you. And the same is true for everyone else.
Post by: Emma1017 on September 28, 2020, 06:33:45 am
I am glad that you still stop by.
I separate my thread between sharing what I am learning and the deep emotions that I am encountering for the first time over the last three years. It is so alien to me but I think I am getting better.
I can't help feeling like I am dumping. I have never been so needy and so vocal about it in my life. I am still getting climatized that it is ok...but hey I am getting there like with everything else.
I hope you are well,
Emma
Post by: KimOct on September 28, 2020, 08:30:31 am
rather...... I am saying you must get on with your life. Whatever direction that takes you.
Hugs to you my pain in the butt sister. :D
Post by: Emma1017 on September 29, 2020, 06:55:48 am
Kim, I disagree with you. I started transitioning the moment I accepted that I was transgender. Doing that was a monumental accomplishment. I had decades of denial to chip away at. I then had to test my need against my love for my wife, another monumental task. My transition has been further hampered by my career commitment to my son and a pandemic. If not for my love of both my son and my wife, I would have transitioned years ago. I have never been afraid for myself. It has always been a fear of deeply hurting others.
I am hoping that this slow down has, in fact, been helpful to both of them. I now know I will not lose them but I have to accept the relationship will change. They will define it for themselves but they will at least know I love them and I am doing this out of necessity to ease the pain. I hope that my joy and happiness, that I will share generously (with quite a few laughs along the way), will be enough for them.
A big hug back at you,
Emma
Post by: Confused1 on September 29, 2020, 11:57:54 am
I am hoping that this slow down has, in fact, been helpful to both of them. I now know I will not lose them but I have to accept the relationship will change. They will define it for themselves but they will at least know I love them and I am doing this out of necessity to ease the pain. I hope that my joy and happiness, that I will share generously (with quite a few laughs along the way), will be enough for them.
Emma
Emma, This jumped off the page to me. You can move on with your life, as Kim suggested. Have you had any luck getting a tele-consult?
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: KimOct on September 29, 2020, 07:28:52 pm
The next most important yet again, IMO, is living the best life you can. Not necessarily making it all about you but yes trying to be happy and of course making the world and the people in it a better place.
I do not preach transition - if anyone has the wrong impression. I preach living authentically. That can be accomplished without transition. There are fully transitioned people - there are NB - there are gender queer and even living as your assigned at birth gender if you feel different is OK - but again IMO do it while acknowledging who you are - at least to those close to you.
OK that's more than enough from me for awhile. :D
Post by: Emma1017 on September 30, 2020, 06:41:12 am
Thank you Kim for all that you have said and done. It has helped me a great deal.
A big hug,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on September 30, 2020, 06:44:01 am
The Transgender Storm Inside
My primary goal writing on MEDIUM has been to verbalize what I am personally going through because I am transgender and wanted to share with others this incredibly unique journey. Either you are a fellow traveler who needs to know you are not alone or you are just interested in understanding the trip.
I am suffering from an incongruence between my gender, how my brain is wired, and my sex, how I was physically born.
I never truly understood mental anguish until it hit me three years ago with my discovery that I was transgender. I am frustrated with trying to find a way to convey this incredible pain that gender dysphoria has inflicted on me to anyone else. I want others to realize that this is not made up nor can it be dismissed as a mental illness. It is very physical, very powerful and it is very real. Gender dysphoria is a blaring alarm that something is seriously wrong.
I know with absolute certainty that I am suffering from gender dysphoria. So does every medical professional that has diagnosed me over the last three years.
It’s just the rest of the world that just refuses to accept that it is real.
For those trying to understand, think of battling day and night, the pain, the exhaustion, the endless turmoil. Think of it bottled inside you, day after day, night after night, for days, weeks, months, years, minute by painful minute, hidden from plain sight behind your eyes, inside your head.
What would you do to end the pain without taking your life to do it? What desperate acts of courage and personal selfishness would you be willing to take to survive and end that pain?
Could you take those steps?
A lifetime of continued pain and emotional agony is just not a viable option. There is an alternative. You must transition to survive. You just need to choose how much you need to transition.
So, in order to survive, you need to finally accept that selfish acts are required. They are needed if you are to have a chance to have any life left in you to repair the damage this massive internal battle has caused with those you love and the life you once lived. These changes are necessary in order to have any hope left over to live in any sort of peace and, just by chance, have some happiness left over in you to share with others.
It is so much to ask of someone.
For those living with this I say: Stay strong. Keep your hope alive. Breath.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 01, 2020, 06:55:20 am
Sephirah you inspired: "So, in order to survive, you need to finally accept that selfish acts are required."
Everything else I learned from you all.
Thank you,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on October 01, 2020, 10:02:50 pm
Post by: Jessica_Rose on October 02, 2020, 06:51:37 am
I saw a t-shirt several weeks ago that you may like. It said: 'May contain wine'. Although it may not help, it certainly doesn't hurt!
Love always -- Jessica Rose
Post by: Emma1017 on October 02, 2020, 06:55:02 am
Jessica I love the t-shirt. Still no signs of the virus and I want to confirm that I have been nowhere near the President... ;D
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Confused1 on October 02, 2020, 08:29:57 am
I got my GCS consultation rescheduled from June to January and no signs of the virus. The consumption of wine seems to be working.
That is Fantastic news Emma. I'm so happy for you!
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Northern Star Girl on October 02, 2020, 01:04:40 pm
Dear Emma:
I am so very happy for you regarding you GCS consultation appointment.
Thank you for keeping us all up to date with the “adventures” of your journey.
We are all rooting for your happiness and success.
Hugs,
Danielle
Post by: Emma1017 on October 03, 2020, 09:20:27 am
I had a session with my therapist and for the first time I didn't get upset. She even noticed when I criticized myself, I did it with a smile and a sense of humor. A turning point?
I feel like I have lost my fear of transitioning and, can I say this, enjoying the ride.... :)
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on October 03, 2020, 09:29:13 am
Yikes:
(https://i.imgur.com/tTMOico.jpg)
I wish I still had the hair.... ;D
Post by: Sephirah on October 03, 2020, 01:55:08 pm
OK you all must be friends because I just ran across my 1973 prom photo with my Mom that I found in her papers.
Yikes:
(https://i.imgur.com/tTMOico.jpg)
I wish I still had the hair.... ;D
Yup, you still had a smile that could stop traffic. Even if there was a whiff of the Saturday Night Fever. Did you listen to The Bee Gees?
Totally not jealous at all. :P ;)
Just stopping buy to offer you a big hug, sweetie. And to say that selfish doesn't have to be a bad word. You're right... as people we need to concentrate on what WE need. Even if those around us consider it bad, or wrong. Because in doing so, they're usually doing the same thing. As people we deserve the same level of attention and respect as everyone else.
This is something trans people often get bullied out of us. Made to feel worthless, like we're not good for anything. Made to feel like we have to put ourselves last on a very long list of "people who we have to give a damn about more than ourselves."
That's wrong. It's the wrong way of feeling and the wrong way of thinking. It disempowers you. Selfish doesn't have to be a bad thing. It means caring for yourself. Wanting what you want, and needing what you need. Everyone else gets that right, why shouldn't we?
Be safe, sweetie. I saw what place you're in, and I hope with all my heart that's where it stays.
Love you. X
L
Post by: Emma1017 on October 04, 2020, 10:07:18 am
The sense of selfishness is my Achilles Heel. It is so counter to who I am so to come to grips with transitioning knowing the hurt and pain I am causing has been the fundamental theme of my countless posts here. It is the power of my gender dysphoria and the irrepressible joy I feel every time I see and feel me, that moves me forward with each, seemingly small baby step to everyone reading this tread. To me, each is massive, frightening and filled with doubt but I keep making them.
I hope my pace is allowing my wife to at least understand this all better even if she never accepts.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on October 05, 2020, 08:15:18 am
Getting into Gender Character
Hiding from the world when you are transgender requires constantly getting into character. It’s what an actor does on the stage, except I have to do it all the time. I have become a method actor in the extreme.
Classical actors know they are playing a part, and once the camera stops rolling, they step out of character. For method actors, the world becomes their stage and more often than not they stay in character day and night, whether or not they are being filmed.
Well, it’s exhausting.
When you are transgender and you haven’t come out, you overlay your gender character over your gender reality in order to survive. You started when you were a child. Over time the character dominates your reality. You forget who you are and, at some point, you become the character. You lose yourself in the role life is forcing you to play and your reality never comes up for air.
You finally hit critical mass when your brain, responding to the grueling fatigue of constant acting, says “ENOUGH!” and hits the alarm button.
That’s when your gender dysphoria kicks in. As time passes and you try to continue in character, the alarm bell gets progressively louder and louder until it is screaming 24 hours a day, every day, all day.
Yet you stay in character…why?
Like old clothes that are comfortable, they have memories attached, they are an old friend. You throw them away and then pull them out of the trash, again and again. They are your safety blanket.
At some point you need to let go but you continue to hold to your role because you are afraid that world won’t accept the “you” behind the role. No one knows that you’re in character and you are really good at the role but, like being a child actor on a long-running sitcom, both you and the role are getting old. It no longer works. With gender dysphoria screaming in your ear, it is time to take off the costume and stop the acting. You need to simply move on and enjoy being yourself, who you really are. It is time to step off the stage and finally step out of character.
You need walk out into your world as you.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 07, 2020, 07:05:17 am
Transwoman and the Patriarchy
I was born biologically male.
From my earliest recollections, I felt an internal female sense of self but that was buried under strict male socialization and programing plus heavy doses of natural testosterone. I was forced to add my own deep wall of denial in order to survive a lifelong repression of my gender.
I suffer from gender dysphoria, a medical symptom caused by a gender incongruence, the conflict between my physical sex and my mental gender. I have been clinically diagnosed with this condition by multiple doctors: medical, psychological and psychiatric. I am satisfied that they are reliable professional authorities. My own desperate and exhaustive independent research agrees with their diagnosis.
The accepted name for someone who is gender incongruent is that they are transgender. Further, to differentiate my condition from those that are cisgender female, someone whose sex and gender match, I can be defined as transfemale or simply as a transwoman.
I will not waste time on defining what is a “woman”. I am simply satisfied that I am a transwoman.
Let’s assume that I am not subjecting myself to years of painful psychological analysis, public and family rejection, significant hormonal chemistry changes, painful facial electrolysis, major facial surgery, gender reassignment surgery and social gender reprograming, just so I can abuse a woman in the bathroom.
I even don’t care where I go just as long as I can use a bathroom safely.
I am sharing all this to be able to say that I am also a victim of a patriarchal society.
The sociologist Sylvia Walby defines patriarchy as "a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women". Social stratification along gender lines, in which power is predominantly held by men, has been observed in most societies.
Yes, I have had the benefits of my male privilege but it came with a cost. I have been forced to suppress who I am in order to survive in a world that rejects what I am. I am willing to discard my male membership to finally be free to be me but it comes at a deep cost. I must be willing to accept all the drawbacks that women suffer in a patriarchal society plus a lot more.
Rejection of transwomen is globally universal. We are hated by religions, we are hated by governments, we are hated by society, we are hated by both sexes and we are even hated by gays and lesbians. Clearly there are exceptions in each group and I will even argue the majority in each group are at least tolerant but at the end of the day, those that hate are the more active even though they are the minority. They become vocally abusive and physically violent. Simply look at the murder percentages of transwomen and particularly transwomen of color. They speak for themselves. Just try to use a woman bathroom in various states. We can’t even decide if transwomen are “woman” enough to compete in female sports (one solution would be to have a third category and allow anyone to compete in every sport regardless of sex or gender.)
I also hate the criticism by some women that my gender expression is too “feminine”. Of course, I want to present as a woman, it’s what I am and I am massively challenged to try and transform my testosterone-soaked, post-pubescent male body into any acceptable semblance of a woman.
Why should I conform to your sense of female gender expression? I have had waited a life time to shake off the male “uniform” that society forced me to wear and I should put on yours? Additionally, I need more work to socially pass if I have any hope of surviving the real world. I don’t want to be publicly ridiculed and insulted. I don’t want to be beaten up, raped or murdered. I just want to live my life.
So, to all those that don’t accept that I am a “true” woman, that’s fine, you have your right to your opinion, don’t ever tell me that transwomen are not victims of a patriarchal society. The tragic transgender employment and bloody murder and suicide statistics don’t support your claim.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 07, 2020, 04:27:39 pm
Have I offended anyone with my writing?
Post by: CaelaNotKayla on October 07, 2020, 05:00:33 pm
Have I offended anyone with my writing?
@Emma1017
Emma-
I think your words are very well spoken, and really get at the heart of what we have to deal with on a daily basis. While you may have offended "The Man" and his patriarchal buddies in their velvet-lined smoking jackets, you surely haven't offended me!
Hugs!
Caela
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 07, 2020, 05:23:47 pm
I don't think I'll ever pass, I don't see how I could, maybe more with some surgeries which I can't afford but even then I dunno. Having to be ok and accept that I can't is hard, though I'm making slow progress to value what I can do. But not passing means I'll always look in between, not fully as a woman. In that case, why do I even need to try? Why not just feel like myself and not care what I look like? I feel like I still want to look like a woman, so trying to find a way to do that and still feel comfortable is hard.
As for the patriarchy, I can see it and the brunt of it isn't just against trans women, but anyone assigned male at birth who has a feminine side too. If femininity in men was more accepted and valued then we wouldn't have had such a harsh environment where we suppressed and conditioned so many negative feelings around being like that. And as trans women well it's pretty bad. We did have a kind of privilege, but yes it's at the cost of hiding very important parts of ourselves, or take the brunt of people's stares or unacceptance, or whatever. Not everyone is unaccepting though, and hopefully it continues to change..
Post by: Dorit on October 08, 2020, 02:44:42 am
I wrote this for Medium this morning. I read something that made me angry:
Transwoman and the Patriarchy
Rejection of transwomen is globally universal. We are hated by religions, we are hated by governments, we are hated by society, we are hated by both sexes and we are even hated by gays and lesbians. Clearly there are exceptions in each group and I will even argue the majority in each group are at least tolerant but at the end of the day, those that hate are the more active even though they are the minority. They become vocally abusive and physically violent. Simply look at the murder percentages of transwomen and particularly transwomen of color. They speak for themselves. Just try to use a woman bathroom in various states. We can’t even decide if transwomen are “woman” enough to compete in female sports (one solution would be to have a third category and allow anyone to compete in every sport regardless of sex or gender.)
I also hate the criticism by some women that my gender expression is too “feminine”. Of course, I want to present as a woman, it’s what I am and I am massively challenged to try and transform my testosterone-soaked, post-pubescent male body into any acceptable semblance of a woman.
Why should I conform to your sense of female gender expression? I have had waited a life time to shake off the male “uniform” that society forced me to wear and I should put on yours? Additionally, I need more work to socially pass if I have any hope of surviving the real world. I don’t want to be publicly ridiculed and insulted. I don’t want to be beaten up, raped or murdered. I just want to live my life.
Emma, from my own experience this is highly exaggerated negatively. I live open in my country Israel and have state supported transition, as other many other Western countries. I have traveled in the US quite a bit, actually had my GCS in Philadelphia. While I too read in the media about the sort of experiences you wrote about, I have never personally experienced this or the other transwoman friends I know both in Israel and the US.
I think it might be of benefit to yourself if you tried to understand why you are so negative and exaggerating the problems of being an openly transgender woman. Yes, there are haters, and as a Jew I know all about that, but it does not stop me from being Jewish.
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 08, 2020, 09:36:48 am
Emma, from my own experience this is highly exaggerated negatively. I live open in my country Israel and have state supported transition, as other many other Western countries. I have traveled in the US quite a bit, actually had my GCS in Philadelphia. While I too read in the media about the sort of experiences you wrote about, I have never personally experienced this or the other transwoman friends I know both in Israel and the US.
I think it might be of benefit to yourself if you tried to understand why you are so negative and exaggerating the problems of being an openly transgender woman. Yes, there are haters, and as a Jew I know all about that, but it does not stop me from being Jewish.
I saw it as an emotional expression focusing on those negatives, not her believing what she wrote there. Emma can tell me if I'm wrong though.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 08, 2020, 09:45:53 am
Caela thank you for responding. The last post was a reaction to things I was dealing with on MEDIUM and I shared here to see what people I respect thought.
Sarah you are just an intelligent, caring person who is entitled to find your own peace and happiness. We all live in a lonely, private hell. Vocalizing here helps to calm the flame and remove some of the pain. When the pain is difficult to bear, so many here are willing to be there for you. PM me any time.
Dorit I love your reality way more than the world that I envision. I look forward, someday, to laugh with you about my unsubstantiated fears. I can’t wait.
Unfortunately, because of my profession and my nature, I am very much aware of global media and I am required to analyze, assess and then act on information on a daily basis. I am battle-hardened. These news outlets rarely share the warmth, caring and mature understanding that you have shared with me. Until I experience it first hand, my perceptions will be overshadowed by these news sources and will amplify my fears.
The patriarchal essay was written aggressively because I was responding to what others wrote on Medium. I have been told that I am a "moral pit-bull". I am aggressive against bullies, lies and meanness. The world that I have grown up in, the transgender world that I have learned and now live in, and my own current hyper-sensitivity have made me both angry and fearful. A combination that I truly hope dissipates over time.
Dorit thank you for constantly calling me out for the fear and anger that I magnify inside me. I will focus on the caring warm that truly exists.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 08, 2020, 10:08:18 am
Anyway. It's a bit hypocritical of me to say this because of my social anxiety, but you have to ignore those that don't have good sense, and aren't able to be respectful or understanding, there's a lot more good and accepting people in the world.
Post by: davina61 on October 08, 2020, 12:49:57 pm
Just be you dear and ignore the rest.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 08, 2020, 02:01:22 pm
And on that note, something positive. My wife and I were talking last night about how narrow some of our friends have gotten and I pointed out it has gotten worse over the last three years. She then said "that was about the time you found out you were transgender." That was the first time she used that word and we used it in the rest of our conversation with absolute comfort.
A break through?
Post by: Dorit on October 09, 2020, 01:51:33 am
Post by: Emma1017 on October 09, 2020, 06:48:17 am
It's funny but until two months ago, compliments about my looks as Emma upset me. My therapist said they were my trigger words. I just didn't want to admit that I can be the woman I feel inside. It really upset me.
But now I appreciate the confidence that compliments give me...but I have a long way to go to wear that confidence outside.
Warmly,
Emma
Post by: EllenW on October 09, 2020, 10:16:10 am
My wife and I were talking last night about how narrow some of our friends have gotten and I pointed out it has gotten worse over the last three years. She then said "that was about the time you found out you were transgender." That was the first time she used that word and we used it in the rest of our conversation with absolute comfort.
A break through?
Emma,
Yes, it is not only a breakthrough but a major milestone on your transition. I remember very well when my wife first used that word and acknowledged that is who I am. It allowed me to fully become Ellen.
I could not be happier for your
Ellen
Post by: Emma1017 on October 09, 2020, 10:23:25 am
Thank you,
Emma
Post by: KimOct on October 09, 2020, 11:22:24 am
I feel like I have lost my fear of transitioning and, can I say this, enjoying the ride.... :)
Hugs,
Emma
Hi Emma, I have never doubted for a second that a significant part of the pace of your journey is related to your wife. I fully acknowledge that.
However I also believe that fear of the rejection and possible judgment by others has played a more significant role than you wanted to acknowledge.
I hope the quote above is becoming true.
Hugs
Post by: Emma1017 on October 09, 2020, 12:48:00 pm
Each step I needed to prove to myself it was real. I have had huge doubts and explosive emotional outburst documented here but friends never entered into any of my fears. I have slowed my transition for two reasons, my hope that my wife will stay and helping my son inherit my practice.
Beyond that, I am totally past my deep fears about transitioning. Do I have other fears, sure, but I accept them as part of my life. I am eager to present more as me. I was supposed to do a makeover and go shopping yesterday with the stylist, Donna, who was in this week but she developed a cough and runny nose, so she had to cancel last minute. She will be back at the end of the month.
My goal now is to talk further with my wife and see where we go.
I continue to hope.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on October 10, 2020, 01:01:33 pm
Let me explain.
I have been on HRT for about two years. In that time my chest, I guess officially my breasts, have grown 4 1/2 inches greater than my band. That officially means I have a D cup. I worried earlier this year how was I going to hide them, particularly in the summer. I need to be stealthily male for another few months.
Well I just got through the summer, beach and all with absolutely no comments from friends that have no problem speaking their mind. To be fair I always wore a t-shirt but no one noticed.
I have chalked it up to "who looks at a guys chest?"
Yesterday I was driving home from a meeting. It was classic NYC rush hour traffic, regardless of the pandemic. I am a native New Yorker which means I tolerate no idiots. In a typical moment of stupid drivers and no patience, I saw a guy try to use the bike lane to squeeze past everyone. As he got close to my rear right bumper I squeezed the bike lane. He was still able to get up to my passenger window. In a another classic NYC road rage move, he rolled down his window and started to curse at me.
Of course, I obliged him. I rolled down my window and we exchanged language only Brooklyn guys can do. Obviously I can't share them here but as our light turned green he yelled his final shot at me "Nice Breasts!".
It took me a second to register what he said and that he was talking to me. I looked down and realized that the chest seat belt stretched across between my breasts, clearly defining them against the belt. I laughed out loud for the next block and smiled ear-to-ear all the way home.
He didn't realize that he truly made my day!
Someone finally noticed.
Post by: davina61 on October 10, 2020, 01:27:58 pm
Post by: Pammie on October 10, 2020, 02:03:56 pm
In the theme of the more humorous moments in my transition, I think I was technically, sexually verbally abused yesterday.I’m struggling with the idea you could possibly hide a “D” cup!!! With just a t shirt!!! Surely not?
Let me explain.
I have been on HRT for about two years. In that time my chest, I guess officially my breasts, have grown 4 1/2 inches greater than my band. That officially means I have a D cup. I worried earlier this year how was I going to hide them, particularly in the summer. I need to be stealthily male for another few months.
Well I just got through the summer, beach and all with absolutely no comments from friends that have no problem speaking their mind. To be fair I always wore a t-shirt but no one noticed.
I have chalked it up to "who looks at a guys chest?"
Yesterday I was driving home from a meeting. It was classic NYC rush hour traffic, regardless of the pandemic. I am a native New Yorker which means I tolerate no idiots. In a typical moment of stupid drivers and no patience, I saw a guy try to use the bike lane to squeeze past everyone. As he got close to my rear right bumper I squeezed the bike lane. He was still able to get up to my passenger window. In a another classic NYC road rage move, he rolled down his window and started to curse at me.
Of course, I obliged him. I rolled down my window and we exchanged language only Brooklyn guys can do. Obviously I can't share them here but as our light turned green he yelled his final shot at me.
It took me a second to register what he said and that he was talking to me. I looked down and realized that the chest seat belt stretched across between my breasts, clearly defining them against the belt. I laughed out loud for the next block and smiled ear-to-ear all the way home.
He didn't realize that he truly made my day!
Someone finally noticed.
I only have a “B” cup but no bra and a t shirt and the girls are very obvious!
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Post by: Emma1017 on October 10, 2020, 02:16:21 pm
I on the other hand look like a guy. No one looks at a guys chest. If they do they figure I am overweight, I work out or I am taking steroids. They might think I have a hormonal imbalance. They are never going to assume I am on female hormones.
What guy would ever do that? ;D
Post by: Pammie on October 10, 2020, 02:41:40 pm
Pammie you are an attractive woman and your excellent choice of clothes display the attributes of your gender.Well hun I would think “D” cup boobs would be some chest!
I on the other hand look like a guy. No one looks at a guys chest. If they do they figure I am overweight, I work out or I am taking steroids. They might think I have a hormonal imbalance. They are never going to assume I am on female hormones.
What guy would ever do that? ;D
Still, people are very stereotypical in their thinking so I get your point
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Post by: Emma1017 on October 10, 2020, 02:52:09 pm
Post by: Pammie on October 10, 2020, 02:53:21 pm
Pammie I have measure them a dozen times and check the numbers on a bunch of sites. My numbers are band= 40 inches and breasts 44 1/2 inches. I am six foot tall so they may not be as pronounced on a larger body. I don't have a big gut but the shirts hang loose. I never tuck in the shirts ever.I bet you don’t!
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Post by: EllenW on October 10, 2020, 02:59:06 pm
I have been on HRT for about two years. In that time my chest, I guess officially my breasts, have grown 4 1/2 inches greater than my band. That officially means I have a D cup.
Ok Emma, I am now officially jealous. Like you I have been on HRT for two years and only up to a "B" cup.
Ellen
Post by: Pammie on October 10, 2020, 03:02:04 pm
Ok Emma, I am now officially jealous. Like you I have been on HRT for two years and only up to a "B" cup.I’ve been on HRT over 3 years and have a “B” cup too but i’m really pleased - more than any other area I think this is totally YMMV
Ellen
I would imagine a “D” cup whilst presenting Male is one hell of a challenge!
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Post by: Emma1017 on October 10, 2020, 03:17:09 pm
Its funny, my endocrinologist, noting my chest size, said that obviously my body has been waiting all these years for the right stuff. ;D
Thankfully we are entering sweater weather. I can hide better. ;)
Post by: Pammie on October 10, 2020, 03:21:49 pm
You both are tremendously lucky to be light years ahead of me. I am truly jealous of you both.That’s such a good thing to hear from your endo!
Its funny, my endocrinologist, noting my chest size, said that obviously my body has been waiting all these years for the right stuff. ;D
Thankfully we are entering sweater weather. I can hide better. ;)
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Post by: davina61 on October 10, 2020, 03:26:00 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on October 10, 2020, 04:02:19 pm
...wait...
Davina what is a lockup? In the States that's a jail.....
Post by: Pammie on October 10, 2020, 05:10:11 pm
Fortunately I still have an obvious beard, dress like a guy, talk like a guy and my hair is still guy length.It’s a garage
...wait...
Davina what is a lockup? In the States that's a jail.....
Somewhere to store things.
Emma, physical props (beard, clothes) to help you pretend ur not Emma but we know better
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Post by: davina61 on October 11, 2020, 03:34:39 am
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 11, 2020, 08:29:51 am
Post by: Emma1017 on October 11, 2020, 09:42:30 am
Yes I have gone out in public as Emma. I have shopped in Sephora for makeup and DSW for shoes. I recognize that I have a long way to go but I am shyly determined but am eager to push my limits. I have always done so in the past with other challenges. This is obviously the greatest challenge but, I hope, with the greatest rewards. Forget Mt. Everest.
Pammie and Davina leave my façade alone ;D but it is getting thinner.
Davina so glad your not in a cold jail. Wow a hot rod, so cool in a warm way!
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 11, 2020, 09:54:59 am
I ask because socialization matters. Socialization tweaks us, again and again and again.
I do believe you have a woman's brain, but I also believe that you lack a woman's experiences, both good and bad, which will challenge you, as you're transitioning so late in life. It takes many interactions to get up to speed, to be sufficiently tweaked that you're just another woman walking through the world. There's that old line about not being born a woman, but made into a woman, but it's not either/or. It's both.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 11, 2020, 10:23:49 am
Post by: ChrissyRyan on October 11, 2020, 10:26:20 am
You go, girl! :)
I am rooting for you!
Chrissy
Post by: Pammie on October 11, 2020, 10:36:44 am
Emma,Seconded! Always #TeamEmma xxx
You go, girl! :)
I am rooting for you!
Chrissy
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Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 11, 2020, 11:16:48 am
O&C I can’t wait to work on presenting. I am excited by the challenge. I have waited a lifetime.
"Presenting" isn't the descriptor I'd use, but rather "adapting." "Presenting" implies agency. Control. Autonomy. When you step into a new role, you will have less control than you appear to assume.
So, you've yet to walk through the world as a woman without an escort?
Post by: Emma1017 on October 11, 2020, 11:33:07 am
Post by: Emma1017 on October 11, 2020, 01:31:37 pm
2020 Honor Roll of Extraordinary People
Every group that needs to fight for their civil rights has extraordinary people who do heroic things for no other reason than it is the right thing to do. I happened to run across an obituary today in the New York Times and decided to down load it. When I googled “NYT Transgender obit” I was shocked to discover that in 2020 the transgender community lost four remarkable people.
I am noting their names and quotes that meant a lot to me and you can google their names to read them if you choose. I think these exceptional people are worth a moment of our time to read their obituaries in full.
As I battle with my own transgender challenges, fears and doubts, they have provided me with the special inspiration I need to overcome the seeming monumental obstacles in my life.
My “mountains” are mere mole hills in comparison.
They are my heroines.
Lorena Borjas, Transgender Immigrant Activist, Dies at 59
“Ms. Borjas, an indefatigable activist who drew on her own experiences as an immigrant transgender woman to help others, died on Monday at a hospital in Brooklyn. She was 59.
“If one of the girls got arrested for doing sex work, she would answer the phone at 3 in the morning and at 8 in the morning she would be in court with a lawyer and with the money to bail you out,” Ms. Gentili said.
Ms. Borjas’s efforts ranged from the broad-focused, like starting nonprofits and organizing protests, to the very personal; Ms. Gentili said she handed out condoms to sex workers on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. She added that Ms. Borjas was interested in breaking the arrest-jail-deportation cycle.
In 2011 Ms. Borjas and Mr. Strangio founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund to help transgender people embroiled in that cycle. Mr. Strangio said the organization had put up bail for more than 50 people over the years and raised more than $45,000 to cover different costs.
“But this is just a fraction of what Lorena herself did,” Mr. Strangio wrote in an email. “She probably helped over 100 trans people obtain immigration status or other legal support.”
Soraya Santiago Solla, Transgender Trailblazer, Dies at 72
“She was the first in Puerto Rico to change a gender designation on a birth certificate and the first there to reveal that she’d had sex-reassignment surgery.
“I don’t permit anyone here in Puerto Rico or anywhere to tell me that I am transsexual,” Ms. Santiago, a beautician, said in “Mala Mala,” a 2014 documentary film about the transgender community in Puerto Rico. “If I have my papers, recognized as female, why the hell do they have to say I am transsexual? What is that? Sometimes I don’t even know what that is, and nor am I interested.”
“My throat has gotten dry from trying to explain that the only difference between a woman and me, is that one comes straight from the factory and mine was made by hand in the United States of America,” she wrote in her book, “Hand Made: Gender Dysphoria, Soraya,”.
“ She was featured in the documentary “Mala Mala,” which was directed by Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles and had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in 2014.”
Overlooked No More: Roberta Cowell, Trans Trailblazer, Pilot and Auto Racer
Cowell is the first woman known to undergo sex reassignment surgery in Britain. But after a splash in the 1950s, she withdrew from public life and died in obscurity.
“Since May 18th, 1951, I have been Roberta Cowell, female,” she pronounced in her autobiography, “Roberta Cowell’s Story,”. “I have become woman physically, psychologically, glandularly and legally.”
“People, she wrote, would speculate openly on her gender. “I preferred to steer clear of children and elderly ladies; they were too observant or at least too outspoken in their remarks.”
“Cowell’s name has been summoned as a trailblazer in the years since her death, her transition having preceded by decades the public discourse over gender identity and L.G.B.T.Q. rights.”
Aimee Stephens, Plaintiff in Transgender Case, Dies at 59
Ms. Stephens was fired from her job after she announced that she would live as a woman. Her complaint is now before the Supreme Court.
Ms. Stephens, a former funeral director in suburban Detroit, was fired from her job in 2013 after she announced to her colleagues in a letter that she would begin living as a woman.
“What I must tell you is very difficult for me and is taking all the courage I can muster,” she wrote. “I have felt imprisoned in a body that does not match my mind, and this has caused me great despair and loneliness.”
The letter continued: “I will return to work as my true self, Aimee Australia Stephens, in appropriate business attire. I hope we can continue my work at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes doing what I always have, which is my best!”
Two weeks after receiving the letter, the funeral homes’ owner, Thomas Rost, fired Ms. Stephens.
Ms. Stephens traveled to Washington for the Supreme Court hearing on the case in October. She said at the time that she was overwhelmed by the number of people demonstrating on her behalf.
“To hear them outside of the courthouse steps chanting my name, telling me that they loved me, that has a big effect on you,” she said in a video published by the A.C.L.U. “The more I’ve seen the support, it gives me the strength to get up another day, to go on fighting another day and give that same hope to all the rest.”
I decided today to stop and simply say “Thank You.”
Post by: EllenW on October 11, 2020, 02:00:55 pm
Thank you for your "2020 Honor Roll of Extraordinary People"
Ellen
Post by: Pammie on October 11, 2020, 02:09:51 pm
I wrote this today for Medium and thought it was worth sharing here:Well done and really informative?
2020 Honor Roll of Extraordinary People
Every group that needs to fight for their civil rights has extraordinary people who do heroic things for no other reason than it is the right thing to do. I happened to run across an obituary today in the New York Times and decided to down load it. When I googled “NYT Transgender obit” I was shocked to discover that in 2020 the transgender community lost four remarkable people.
I am noting their names and quotes that meant a lot to me and you can google their names to read them if you choose. I think these exceptional people are worth a moment of our time to read their obituaries in full.
As I battle with my own transgender challenges, fears and doubts, they have provided me with the special inspiration I need to overcome the seeming monumental obstacles in my life.
My “mountains” are mere mole hills in comparison.
They are my heroines.
Lorena Borjas, Transgender Immigrant Activist, Dies at 59
“Ms. Borjas, an indefatigable activist who drew on her own experiences as an immigrant transgender woman to help others, died on Monday at a hospital in Brooklyn. She was 59.
“If one of the girls got arrested for doing sex work, she would answer the phone at 3 in the morning and at 8 in the morning she would be in court with a lawyer and with the money to bail you out,” Ms. Gentili said.
Ms. Borjas’s efforts ranged from the broad-focused, like starting nonprofits and organizing protests, to the very personal; Ms. Gentili said she handed out condoms to sex workers on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. She added that Ms. Borjas was interested in breaking the arrest-jail-deportation cycle.
In 2011 Ms. Borjas and Mr. Strangio founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund to help transgender people embroiled in that cycle. Mr. Strangio said the organization had put up bail for more than 50 people over the years and raised more than $45,000 to cover different costs.
“But this is just a fraction of what Lorena herself did,” Mr. Strangio wrote in an email. “She probably helped over 100 trans people obtain immigration status or other legal support.”
Soraya Santiago Solla, Transgender Trailblazer, Dies at 72
“She was the first in Puerto Rico to change a gender designation on a birth certificate and the first there to reveal that she’d had sex-reassignment surgery.
“I don’t permit anyone here in Puerto Rico or anywhere to tell me that I am transsexual,” Ms. Santiago, a beautician, said in “Mala Mala,” a 2014 documentary film about the transgender community in Puerto Rico. “If I have my papers, recognized as female, why the hell do they have to say I am transsexual? What is that? Sometimes I don’t even know what that is, and nor am I interested.”
“My throat has gotten dry from trying to explain that the only difference between a woman and me, is that one comes straight from the factory and mine was made by hand in the United States of America,” she wrote in her book, “Hand Made: Gender Dysphoria, Soraya,”.
“ She was featured in the documentary “Mala Mala,” which was directed by Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles and had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in 2014.”
Overlooked No More: Roberta Cowell, Trans Trailblazer, Pilot and Auto Racer
Cowell is the first woman known to undergo sex reassignment surgery in Britain. But after a splash in the 1950s, she withdrew from public life and died in obscurity.
“Since May 18th, 1951, I have been Roberta Cowell, female,” she pronounced in her autobiography, “Roberta Cowell’s Story,”. “I have become woman physically, psychologically, glandularly and legally.”
“People, she wrote, would speculate openly on her gender. “I preferred to steer clear of children and elderly ladies; they were too observant or at least too outspoken in their remarks.”
“Cowell’s name has been summoned as a trailblazer in the years since her death, her transition having preceded by decades the public discourse over gender identity and L.G.B.T.Q. rights.”
Aimee Stephens, Plaintiff in Transgender Case, Dies at 59
Ms. Stephens was fired from her job after she announced that she would live as a woman. Her complaint is now before the Supreme Court.
Ms. Stephens, a former funeral director in suburban Detroit, was fired from her job in 2013 after she announced to her colleagues in a letter that she would begin living as a woman.
“What I must tell you is very difficult for me and is taking all the courage I can muster,” she wrote. “I have felt imprisoned in a body that does not match my mind, and this has caused me great despair and loneliness.”
The letter continued: “I will return to work as my true self, Aimee Australia Stephens, in appropriate business attire. I hope we can continue my work at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes doing what I always have, which is my best!”
Two weeks after receiving the letter, the funeral homes’ owner, Thomas Rost, fired Ms. Stephens.
Ms. Stephens traveled to Washington for the Supreme Court hearing on the case in October. She said at the time that she was overwhelmed by the number of people demonstrating on her behalf.
“To hear them outside of the courthouse steps chanting my name, telling me that they loved me, that has a big effect on you,” she said in a video published by the A.C.L.U. “The more I’ve seen the support, it gives me the strength to get up another day, to go on fighting another day and give that same hope to all the rest.”
I decided today to stop and simply say “Thank You.”
I forget sometimes that the freedoms i take for granted were often hard won by individuals!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on October 11, 2020, 06:48:54 pm
There is one more step left to my total commitment and it is irreversible. Is my acceptance, my failure? One stupid question after another.
It won’t end until I take that step. I will never have any peace until I do.
Sorry just more of my emotional self attacks.
Post by: EllenW on October 11, 2020, 09:50:10 pm
Please remember that this is not your fault. We all have to move at on our on pace. My pace has taken over 10 years. First just wearing women's top and then expendaning my style so that people stated seeing me more as a women then a man. I have transitioned in every way but GCS which I will have around the New Year.
So please do not be so hard on yourself as you take the steps you need to feel complete
Ellen
Post by: Emma1017 on October 11, 2020, 10:28:36 pm
GCS in few months, how exciting!
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 11, 2020, 10:31:42 pm
I understand emotions being a bitch sometimes tho.
This morning I felt like I had a good moment where I was wondering about my identity, and when I thought about my body and its parts, I just couldn't see myself with male parts anymore making sense, and it was like something clicked and like ahhhh yupp, I'm meant to be a girl, and that felt good because it was like a confirmation or a reassurance. But then a little bit later, I felt like my emotions were back struggling and being stupid about it all, like bringing in the old conditioning and being like but ya know it still makes sense that you're a guy, because look how you feel with the conditioning and how people see you, and.. well anyway, some things are dumb, and it'd be so much easier if we could just be one with ourselves and stand by what we know. Probably good when we can. But I know sometimes it takes more to get through.
Still, stand with what you know, and what makes sense in your heart for yourself. It's not a failure, to be more commited to transitioning, it's a success. Be proud if you can, because it's obviously hard for you to actually do something you need to for yourself. Even if you didn't need to, you still deserve it, because it's you, it's in your heart. But as it turns out you need to, and the dysphoria and everything else has been telling you that.
So, get on with what makes sense. ;)
Post by: Emma1017 on October 12, 2020, 06:35:44 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtkST5-ZFHw
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: ChrissyRyan on October 12, 2020, 07:00:08 am
I was thinking of you and NYC too.
When you do go out, do you notice far fewer people as compared to pre-Covid-19?
Is there a lot of stores still really boarded up?
Is NYC dying with people really moving out as I read via the news reports?
Is this a good time to buy a place in NYC (if prices are noticeably lower now) if one intends to stay there for a long while? I heard that prices in suburbs for houses are way up.
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on October 12, 2020, 07:48:47 am
So here are my answers:
1. When you do go out, do you notice far fewer people as compared to pre-Covid-19? Yes but it is far from a
ghost town. Four weeks ago I went to my office on 52 Street and Fifth Avenue and walked down to City Hall. Some stores closed but a surprising number open. Hotels had guest (assume people driving not flying for vacation.) Restaurants and bars have street patios which is pretty cool. Only the very wealthy have vacation homes to run to. Most New Yorkers do not.
2. Is there a lot of stores still really boarded up? Sadly some. The pandemic created an economic recession and many did not have the financial reserves to ride it out. When this resolves itself new owners will step in.
3. Is NYC dying with people really moving out as I read via the news reports? Wow what a load of garbage! The media thinks that Manhattan is New York. NYC is made up of five boroughs. Manhattan is just one and most who live there came from out of town. Brooklyn, if taken alone, would be the 4th largest city in the US and we're still here.
4. Is this a good time to buy a place in NYC (if prices are noticeably lower now) if one intends to stay there for a long while? The answer is yes but in Manhattan. Demand for the other borough is still high. The value of my house has risen. Rents have dropped the most. Manhattan has turnover because transplants come for a few years and then go home to raise a family. If you are thinking Manhattan. Pick a particular neighborhood like the Flatiron District and track particular properties. The big buildout were closer to each river. Those are the best deals because they are the furthest away from Fifth Avenue. If the pandemic continues it will get cheaper but once the market has any sense its ending the market will snap back with bargain hunters.
5. I heard that prices in suburbs for houses are way up. Absolutely. See above. People need space to feel safe and raise their family. Some that have gone upstate NY are in for a shock if we have a cold, snowy winter. There isn't a doorman to shovel the walk in front of their house like their Manhattan apartment.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on October 12, 2020, 08:00:13 am
Based on your recent post comment of, “I am so sad tonight because I wish I could stop transitioning,” I thought that you could use a break.
Chrissy
Chrissy thank you for changing the subject. Great timing. Although it feels like it, transitioning is the only thing in our lives, although it seems to dominate us.
So here are my answers:
1. When you do go out, do you notice far fewer people as compared to pre-Covid-19? Yes but it is far from a
ghost town. Four weeks ago I went to my office on 52 Street and Fifth Avenue and walked down to City Hall. Some stores closed but a surprising number open. Hotels had guest (assume people driving not flying for vacation.) Restaurants and bars have street patios which is pretty cool. Only the very wealthy have vacation homes to run to. Most New Yorkers do not.
2. Is there a lot of stores still really boarded up? Sadly some. The pandemic created an economic recession and many did not have the financial reserves to ride it out. When this resolves itself new owners will step in.
3. Is NYC dying with people really moving out as I read via the news reports? Wow what a load of garbage! The media thinks that Manhattan is New York. NYC is made up of five boroughs. Manhattan is just one and most who live there came from out of town. Brooklyn, if taken alone, would be the 4th largest city in the US and we're still here.
4. Is this a good time to buy a place in NYC (if prices are noticeably lower now) if one intends to stay there for a long while? The answer is yes but in Manhattan. Demand for the other borough is still high. The value of my house has risen. Rents have dropped the most. Manhattan has turnover because transplants come for a few years and then go home to raise a family. If you are thinking Manhattan. Pick a particular neighborhood like the Flatiron District and track particular properties. The big buildout were closer to each river. Those are the best deals because they are the furthest away from Fifth Avenue. If the pandemic continues it will get cheaper but once the market has any sense its ending the market will snap back with bargain hunters.
5. I heard that prices in suburbs for houses are way up. Absolutely. See above. People need space to feel safe and raise their family. Some that have gone upstate NY are in for a shock if we have a cold, snowy winter. There isn't a doorman to shovel the walk in front of their house like their Manhattan apartment.
Post by: ChrissyRyan on October 12, 2020, 08:17:34 am
Chrissy thank you for changing the subject. Great timing. Although it feels like it, transitioning is the only thing in our lives, although it seems to dominate us.
So here are my answers:
1. When you do go out, do you notice far fewer people as compared to pre-Covid-19? Yes but it is far from a
ghost town. Four weeks ago I went to my office on 52 Street and Fifth Avenue and walked down to City Hall. Some stores closed but a surprising number open. Hotels had guest (assume people driving not flying for vacation.) Restaurants and bars have street patios which is pretty cool. Only the very wealthy have vacation homes to run to. Most New Yorkers do not.
2. Is there a lot of stores still really boarded up? Sadly some. The pandemic created an economic recession and many did not have the financial reserves to ride it out. When this resolves itself new owners will step in.
3. Is NYC dying with people really moving out as I read via the news reports? Wow what a load of garbage! The media thinks that Manhattan is New York. NYC is made up of five boroughs. Manhattan is just one and most who live there came from out of town. Brooklyn, if taken alone, would be the 4th largest city in the US and we're still here.
4. Is this a good time to buy a place in NYC (if prices are noticeably lower now) if one intends to stay there for a long while? The answer is yes but in Manhattan. Demand for the other borough is still high. The value of my house has risen. Rents have dropped the most. Manhattan has turnover because transplants come for a few years and then go home to raise a family. If you are thinking Manhattan. Pick a particular neighborhood like the Flatiron District and track particular properties. The big buildout were closer to each river. Those are the best deals because they are the furthest away from Fifth Avenue. If the pandemic continues it will get cheaper but once the market has any sense its ending the market will snap back with bargain hunters.
5. I heard that prices in suburbs for houses are way up. Absolutely. See above. People need space to feel safe and raise their family. Some that have gone upstate NY are in for a shock if we have a cold, snowy winter. There isn't a doorman to shovel the walk in front of their house like their Manhattan apartment.
There are some nice areas there. Just west and south of Grand Army Plaza are some cool looking brownstones. But so little yards they have! Maybe there are courtyards or backyards on the rear sides of the properties. Cannot see those when strolling down the streets. Looks like street parking is tight all over though. I saw few garages for houses at street level. Likely would see no deer in the backyard! :)
Radio City seemed to be a great place for concerts.
Chrissy
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 12, 2020, 10:44:17 am
I don't think I could be as happy in a huge city though. I like space and trees and air :)
Post by: Emma1017 on October 12, 2020, 11:07:24 am
The area around Grand Army Plaza is in Brooklyn. Brownstones always have a small backyard and no parking. It's brutal anywhere in NYC to have a car and not have a driveway. I lived in a brownstone and paid a lot of parking tickets. We now have a driveway. We bought the house at 20% of the current value in 1996. It had decades of neglect but it has been fun to fix up...although my next house maybe a RV ;D.
People always equate land as space. They forget the coast and the vast bays, rivers and oceans in New York City. I have been surfing and scuba diving since I was a teenager in NYC. I am 15 minutes to Gateway National Park which has a huge beach and it is connected to Brooklyn and Manhattan by ferry.
NYC is not for everybody. Vacations were created to that we can all go someplace for fun but it is just not home.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 12, 2020, 07:32:22 pm
And here are some quotes:
"Men don’t think seriously about becoming women and taking estrogen. If you think about transitioning all the time, you’re probably trans.
It’s so messed up that LGBTQ people have to come out. The only reason we do is because heterosexual cisgender society pushes us into invisible subcultures, then feigns shock when we wander out of the underground.
No matter what you look like, your gender is real."
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 12, 2020, 09:53:51 pm
Does that count? ;p
Post by: Emma1017 on October 13, 2020, 07:05:22 am
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 13, 2020, 09:41:37 am
Sarah it always counts. I think we all share that common dream, everyday and probably every minute. :)
Yeah :)
Post by: Confused1 on October 13, 2020, 03:22:15 pm
I know I couldn't figure out why I thought of Zero depth vaginoplasty every day for over a year once I came across it. I was just searching for a fix for a medical problem. Then I came to Emma's thread and understood why. I just had the cart before the horse! :laugh:
I had my consult today Emma. It went pretty well. The only concern of the surgeon was my radiation and how it might affect my healing. They are going to conference about it and get back with me. I totally explained my case and why I was there. The surgeon actually asked me if I had a medical background because of what I knew. I guess 2 1/2 years of research paid off. Without any help from my doctors, I am pretty sure I know what is wrong inside of me. I am supposed to have an in person consult soon to discuss what they can do.
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Emma1017 on October 13, 2020, 04:27:33 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on October 14, 2020, 05:33:08 pm
Why Do I Need to Transition?
Discovering late in life that I am transgender has created an endless series of questions that I never would have thought of five years ago when I believed, innocently, that I was a typical cisgender male. I was torn between the very rational reasons not to transition, and an internal, inexplicable need to transition.
What am I seeking to derive from transition?
Why can’t I find contentment in who I am now?
Why do I need to go through such a drastic change to feel content and at peace?
At the time, I didn’t understand how transition could be anything more than just physical. My mind was defining my world by sex not gender.
While my confusion and unhappiness grew, I realized I would find no answers by only thinking. To find answers, I needed to try something different than I was already doing. I decided to move forward without reconciling it all. I hoped that as I moved through the various elements of transitioning, it would provide me with answers and I could make decisions that would give me peace.
Through the course of my transition I naturally learned that it is much more than just a physical process. There are more significant psychological and social changes that occur. Changes that, at least for me, brought a majority of the positive effects.
I started to understand gender, my gender.
It became clearer as I started HRT. It seemed to sharpen the blurred edges of my thought of who I am and helped me redefine many experiences in my lifetime that I had dismissed in order to exist and survive as a “cisgender” male. I learned, felt and finally understood I wasn’t. I started to accept it.
The realization of my gender was, to grossly understate it, absolutely shocking to me. The knowledge that I was a female gender in a biologically male body has been for me the most profound experience of my life. My head exploded initially with confusion, doubt and fear. What did this mean to me and to the family, friends and world around me?
It caused me to panic. It caused me to reject the facts. It caused me endless rounds of anger and frustration at the unfairness of it all.
I asked: “Why me?”
Eventually, the answer for me became: “It is what it is and it’s not going way. Now deal with it.”
So, I did. I continued with HRT and asked myself every day: “When will it be enough? Why can’t I be content with this new knowledge of who I am? How would changing my body bring happiness?”
So now I am two years of HRT and on the verge of taking steps to physically align my body with my gender and I still ask over and over again: “Why do I need to transition?”
The only answer I come up with is, I need to be me. I felt it inside. I need to be me against the world that raised me, the wishes of family and friends who can’t understand and accept that need. I had to accept that this it is what I needed to be at peace and have any hope for real joy and happiness in my life.
It is, very simply, my truth.
Post by: sandrauk on October 14, 2020, 07:07:03 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on October 15, 2020, 06:28:38 am
I agree Sandra. I am starting to feel this Zen-like acceptance. After endless questioning, sometimes the only reason is an inner knowledge that you must take this path.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Alice on October 15, 2020, 05:02:53 pm
I agree Sandra. I am starting to feel this Zen-like acceptance. After endless questioning, sometimes the only reason is an inner knowledge that you must take this path.
Hugs,
Emma
That is gold and exactly how I felt.
Alice
Post by: EllenW on October 15, 2020, 07:53:07 pm
I agree Sandra. I am starting to feel this Zen-like acceptance. After endless questioning, sometimes the only reason is an inner knowledge that you must take this path.
Hugs,
Emma
Emma
I am so happy you have reached this Zen feeling
:eusa_clap: :eusa_dance: :icon_bunch:
Ellen
Post by: davina61 on October 16, 2020, 03:23:01 am
Post by: Pammie on October 16, 2020, 04:25:28 am
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on October 16, 2020, 02:25:55 pm
Warm hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on October 16, 2020, 04:52:45 pm
So tomorrow is my birthday. I turn 65 and it really doesn't bother me. There's a great outdoor farmers market near by and a large wine store that are all on my birthday list and I am looking forward to a nice dinner with my wife and my son later on.
I am putting aside my transition fears, the election and the virus for the weekend and just will be happy doing fun stuff and being with the people I love.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. We all deserve it.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Pammie on October 16, 2020, 04:59:35 pm
I had a video therapy session today and I wore a women's V-neck blouse for the first time. My therapist noticed that my face looked very feminine but she couldn't figure out why. I confessed that I had a very subtle lipstick on that I had bought months ago and never used plus some light makeup. It was the first time I wore any makeup in front of someone else that I applied myself and I felt great. I actually blushed at her compliments.Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones. You so deserve it! And congratulations on today, that’s another important step - successful too! Xxx
So tomorrow is my birthday. I turn 65 and it really doesn't bother me. There's a great outdoor farmers market near by and a large wine store that are all on my birthday list and I am looking forward to a nice dinner with my wife and my son later on.
I am putting aside my transition fears, the election and the virus for the weekend and just will be happy doing fun stuff and being with the people I love.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. We all deserve it.
Hugs,
Emma
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Northern Star Girl on October 16, 2020, 07:51:42 pm
Dear Emma:
Thank you for your "Birthday Alert"
I notice that you do not have your birthday listed on your Forum Profile Information page so I would not have been aware of it when I post my daily Members Birthday postings, so now I will give you your very own Birthday Greeting from the Forums.
***NOTE: Members do not have to post the year if they are concerned about privacy issues... just month and day will do. I never show the ages of the members that I post birthday greetings to in my Birthday posts.
HUGS,
Danielle
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Emma, I am wishing you
....a very :icon_flower: :icon_flower: Happy Birthday :icon_flower: :icon_flower:
I hope that your special day includes time with family and friends...
... with Candles and CAKE.
***NOTE: On your October 17th birthday be certain to enjoy your special day [/b][/size][/color] :)
HUGS and best wishes on your special day and birthday.
Danielle
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j1nFHokRHDU/UGAGwMtVPKI/AAAAAAAABcc/9qGbj2cwd4g/s1600/birthday-smiley-face.jpg)
Post by: ChrissyRyan on October 16, 2020, 08:14:46 pm
I had a video therapy session today and I wore a women's V-neck blouse for the first time. My therapist noticed that my face looked very feminine but she couldn't figure out why. I confessed that I had a very subtle lipstick on that I had bought months ago and never used plus some light makeup. It was the first time I wore any makeup in front of someone else that I applied myself and I felt great. I actually blushed at her compliments.
So tomorrow is my birthday. I turn 65 and it really doesn't bother me. There's a great outdoor farmers market near by and a large wine store that are all on my birthday list and I am looking forward to a nice dinner with my wife and my son later on.
I am putting aside my transition fears, the election and the virus for the weekend and just will be happy doing fun stuff and being with the people I love.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. We all deserve it.
Hugs,
Emma
Happy birthday to you on Saturday!
Chrissy
Post by: Dorit on October 17, 2020, 01:39:03 am
So tomorrow is my birthday. I turn 65 and it really doesn't bother me. There's a great outdoor farmers market near by and a large wine store that are all on my birthday list and I am looking forward to a nice dinner with my wife and my son later on.
I am putting aside my transition fears, the election and the virus for the weekend and just will be happy doing fun stuff and being with the people I love.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. We all deserve it.
Hugs,
Emma
Emma dear, Happy Birthday! You birthday celebration sound ideal. :-*
Post by: davina61 on October 17, 2020, 03:00:00 am
Post by: Emma1017 on October 17, 2020, 09:13:25 am
Thanks everyone. Having a birthday sure beats the alternative ;D. This next year should be very interesting!
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: EllenW on October 17, 2020, 10:18:02 am
Happy Bithday and may all your dreams and wishes come to you on abundance.🎂
Ellen
Post by: Confused1 on October 17, 2020, 10:57:29 am
Hugs,
Mike
Post by: Pammie on October 17, 2020, 12:29:16 pm
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on October 18, 2020, 01:46:53 am
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Emma1017 on October 19, 2020, 11:39:15 am
If this is getting redundant or boring please let me know. I don't need to boost my ego and I like to believe that they have some value to others.
Freedom
I have been torturing myself every day, for what feels like every minute, for months with just one question:
“Why do I need to physically transition?”
Rational thought would answer:
“You have come to your deep spiritual truth, that you are a
transgender female. Why do you need to make such superficial changes?”
I know that this simple, rational acceptance would be the perfect solution for my family, friends and my world in general…but it doesn’t seem to be my solution. I have dissected my motivation, challenged my heart and finally looked into my soul.
This is not about rational thought. It is about my inner truth. The one that resonates deep within me. The one that I know is truly mine and only mine.
Strangely, as I came to this conclusion, out of nowhere a scene from BRAVEHEART came to mind and I heard Mel Gibson voice screaming in my head:
“Freedom!”
It suddenly became a very simple concept as I applied it to myself. I need the freedom to express who I am without restraint any longer. I have spent my entire life walling up crucial parts of me: my soul, my heart and my true gender. Like the tip of an iceberg, I could only show as small portion of myself, only what was acceptable to those around me.
I was forced to restrain my gender from birth. The psychological force needed to suppress my gender and build these massive walls of denial, came from the society I grew up in, the flood of testosterone in my body and my desperate need to just fit in.
It took 60 years of emotional erosion to wear away the psychological prison walls that that kept these parts of me repressed and locked away for so long. The walls were very thick.
Now that I am finally released from that prison, why would I want to stay in my prison clothes and hang around the prison?
I want to be free to be me, as I see and feel me, not just the parts that others only want see. I want the total me, the repressed me, the honest me without restraint any longer, to see all of “me” looking back at me in the mirror.
I think I have earned the right to be finally be free.
To finally be all of me.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 21, 2020, 02:52:32 pm
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 21, 2020, 08:53:11 pm
Post by: Emma1017 on October 21, 2020, 09:13:29 pm
Post by: CaelaNotKayla on October 21, 2020, 10:15:29 pm
Emma-
I had a strikingly similar conversation with my therapist today, and her advice to me was to trust myself. I had my answer- I just needed to trust my feelings.
Be strong, and trust in yourself!
Hugs!
Caela
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 21, 2020, 10:28:22 pm
Sarah I just want to cry right now. I am so frustrated, so angry and just so tired.
I'm sorry to hear Emma. It's a real roller coaster isn't it?
The best I learned is that feelings pass, and it's easier to see clearly when they do. So holding out or doing something else can be good. Venting is an option too XD
You'll get through this, and I understand some of it is hard. Take the time you need, but I know it'll be ok.
Post by: Dorit on October 22, 2020, 02:17:32 am
Post by: Pammie on October 22, 2020, 05:12:59 am
Sarah I just want to cry right now. I am so frustrated, so angry and just so tired.It must be so hard to be at this place for such a longtime - so stressful. The other side of this decision will be calmer water! U got this hun xxx
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Emma1017 on October 22, 2020, 06:44:42 am
I am in the last few miles of this brutal marathon and I fear sometimes that I won't make it. So many things are in the way. I truly am emotionally exhausted. I have to finish this but each steps feels like I am running with leg weights.
Thanks for being patient with me and my occasional whining. I am so tired of hearing it myself...
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 22, 2020, 12:45:41 pm
Your work is not some definitive pronouncement of what you're going to do: Rather, your task is trying life as a woman. Do some road trips. Spend weekends or weeks as a woman, alone or with a friend. You don't have enough data to decide to be or not to be.
I know you think you do, but you don't. Walking from Donna's apartment to your therapist's and going shopping in two stores is next to nothing. A woman's life is different than a man's life. The difference isn't makeup and dresses. It's about being treated differently because of the assumptions that people make when they see you as male or female.
I strongly urge you to work out a way to let Emma live beyond Donna's apartment so you can gather sufficient data to decide.
Post by: Jessica_Rose on October 22, 2020, 12:57:14 pm
There are endless reasons not to transition, but there is one reason to move forward which may outweigh everything -- the unbridled joy of being yourself. It isn't easy, it isn't simple, it isn't painless, and it may come at a very high cost. Most of us have discovered that you usually get what you pay for, the greater the cost (in all its forms), the greater the reward. You have dipped your toes into the pool and discovered the water is welcoming, now it's time to jump in and swim a few laps. Whenever you decide to move forward, or even if you just continue to hover in place, we will be here to help.
Love always -- Jessica Rose
Post by: Sephirah on October 22, 2020, 03:21:27 pm
*megahuggles*
So a new year for me and another Medium transitioning churn or as my therapist says, I am "processing". A never-ending process I feel.
If this is getting redundant or boring please let me know. I don't need to boost my ego and I like to believe that they have some value to others.
Freedom
I have been torturing myself every day, for what feels like every minute, for months with just one question:
“Why do I need to physically transition?”
Rational thought would answer:
“You have come to your deep spiritual truth, that you are a
transgender female. Why do you need to make such superficial changes?”
I know that this simple, rational acceptance would be the perfect solution for my family, friends and my world in general…but it doesn’t seem to be my solution. I have dissected my motivation, challenged my heart and finally looked into my soul.
This is not about rational thought. It is about my inner truth. The one that resonates deep within me. The one that I know is truly mine and only mine.
Strangely, as I came to this conclusion, out of nowhere a scene from BRAVEHEART came to mind and I heard Mel Gibson voice screaming in my head:
“Freedom!”
It suddenly became a very simple concept as I applied it to myself. I need the freedom to express who I am without restraint any longer. I have spent my entire life walling up crucial parts of me: my soul, my heart and my true gender. Like the tip of an iceberg, I could only show as small portion of myself, only what was acceptable to those around me.
I was forced to restrain my gender from birth. The psychological force needed to suppress my gender and build these massive walls of denial, came from the society I grew up in, the flood of testosterone in my body and my desperate need to just fit in.
It took 60 years of emotional erosion to wear away the psychological prison walls that that kept these parts of me repressed and locked away for so long. The walls were very thick.
Now that I am finally released from that prison, why would I want to stay in my prison clothes and hang around the prison?
I want to be free to be me, as I see and feel me, not just the parts that others only want see. I want the total me, the repressed me, the honest me without restraint any longer, to see all of “me” looking back at me in the mirror.
I think I have earned the right to be finally be free.
To finally be all of me.
Institutionalisation is a thing. For the mind as much as the body. You spend so long subjected to a set of rules that you get used to them, even depend on them. It's a scary thing to be in a position to be able to make your own decisions without anyone telling you what you can, can't, should or shouldn't be doing. It's a very scary thing to let go of the thing which has provided you security for so long. To let go, and wonder if you'll fly or fall. To be your own person. It's a form of Stockholm Syndrome.
Knowing the door to the cell is open doesn't mean it's as simple as being able to walk through it. When you have spent a lifetime seeing the outside world through a window with bars on it, it can be terrifying to come to terms with the fact that it might actually be endless. Some things can feel too big, you know? I get it. And I get your hesitation.
Take as long as you need, Emma. When I first left the Navy, it took me an awful long time to adjust. To realise I could do things without being ordered to, or needing to ask permission to. To realise that I was able to be me and no one could say anything about it. That I could live my life free from a set of rules imposed by the structure around me. This isn't a whole lot different. But part of me longed for that structure. To not have to think for myself. It's the weirdest thing. Part of me longed for the ability to be on autopilot. To be able to just say "I was following orders" rather than "Yeah, this is on me. This is my responsibility."
It is hard, to come to terms with freedom when you haven't had it. Harder for some than others. But not impossible. And not something you shouldn't strive for. As long as it takes.
*extra hugs*
Post by: Emma1017 on October 22, 2020, 07:08:04 pm
I am trying to moderate the pain and the anger I feel. I am so sick of gender dysphoria. I am so fed up with juggling the pain, the anger and the guilt of inflicting pain on my wife. I really just want to be left alone and I just can’t leave me alone. I feel the anger the most.
I don’t deserve this.
I have never asked for anything for me my entire life. My karma obviously sucks. I must have been a depraved criminal in my previous life to deserve this because there is nothing in this life that does.
You all have read all of my most personal thoughts and emotions on a level that I have never exposed anyone to before yet I am no closer to my peace than three years ago. All I have done is just rubbed my soul raw.
What good has it done me? I see a light at the end of a tunnel but that tunnel just gets longer and longer every day. I am 65 years old and I still need to prove that I need to be female, that I need to see her in my mirror. If I transitioned tomorrow would I regret it on Saturday? If I never transition will I regret it on my death bed?
There just is no peace.
How much time do I need to prove that I am Emma? Is Emma just a fantasy wish? Is she just an emotional tease or is Emma truly me? If I am Emma then why do I need to practice to prove its me? I should just go and live her because she is me. How much more proof do I need?
I am just so fed up, truly soul-wearily fed up. This just doesn’t want to leave me alone and I am tired of trying to prove to myself enough to satisfy others that I am Emma.
I am, but I really don’t care anymore.
Maybe you are right Sephirah, maybe I have been “institutionalized”. I don’t care what the gender parole board thinks anymore. My prison cell defines my world.
God I am so angry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGo5rXUAH2o
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 22, 2020, 08:31:53 pm
Quote
If I am Emma then why do I need to practice to prove its me?
I didn't imply this. I merely observe that you have been ricocheting from one decision to another and you are exhausted by this. What you're doing hasn't worked for you.
Again, if you can't decide, gather more data. Spend some time in the female role. If it's ever so right for you, you will move permanently into that role. If it doesn't deliver all you've imagined, you can stay with your wife, remaining in the male role.
To be pragmatic, you are 65 and therefore decades behind the socialization of other women in your peer group. Heck, you're way behind women who are 25.
This axiom is apt: "Woman is not born fully formed; she is gradually shaped by her upbringing."
Post by: Dorit on October 23, 2020, 02:02:57 am
I didn't imply this. I merely observe that you have been ricocheting from one decision to another and you are exhausted by this. What you're doing hasn't worked for you.
Again, if you can't decide, gather more data. Spend some time in the female role. If it's ever so right for you, you will move permanently into that role. If it doesn't deliver all you've imagined, you can stay with your wife, remaining in the male role.
To be pragmatic, you are 65 and therefore decades behind the socialization of other women in your peer group. Heck, you're way behind women who are 25.
This axiom is apt: "Woman is not born fully formed; she is gradually shaped by her upbringing."
I believe there is a lot of wisdom here and good advice. Take a trip to another city and spend some time as Emma. I don't think she means a weekend makeover. Take a month. I speak from experience, Years ago I did this for over a month on a trip to California. When I came home I knew I could not go back to living outwardly as a man, and went full speed ahead in transition. Emma dear, at our age we cannot waste too much time in indecision. There are not that many years left, but still enough.
Post by: davina61 on October 23, 2020, 03:53:45 am
I agree that you need some full time to see whats what then you will know what its like (FREEDOM!)
Post by: Emma1017 on October 23, 2020, 06:45:11 am
Once being transgender resonated, I start a very slow, deliberate process of transitioning for two reasons, the love of my wife and the enormity of the change. It created a level of fear and doubt that I have never encountered. Months ago, I completed what I call the “soft transition”, meaning that everything was reversible. The only steady, slow moving, permanent change was the growth of my breasts. Two years on HRT has made them hard to ignore.
Additional facts are the pandemic and the fact that my son has chosen to join and ultimately take over my practice. For my son I need to stay involved until at least the end of 2022. The pandemic has given me the freedom of not wearing a suit every day. The pandemic has forced me to cancel and reschedule various consultations and procedures multiple times.
Why didn’t I discover I was transgender earlier? After pondering that over and over I believe I actively buried it and my life helped. I was the “rock” for my family. As people got sick, some with cancer and others had other tragedies, I was always the “go to” person. I was always there. Maybe I felt their need was always greater than mine. My “quirk wasn’t a big deal. I really was clueless what my condition was but I felt I had it under control, until I didn’t.
Suddenly at age 61, all of my obligations either were solved or left my life. I had done my job but I forgot someone, ignored in the process of living, me.
So here I am and I am struggling.
O&C, Dorit and Davina you all offer very practical advice. O&C I don’t agree. My female socialization is not measured against anyone else except what I personally achieve and how I meet my needs. They are my own standards. Dorit I hear the ticking to that clock every day and I wonder did I wait too long. Davina I think I have the single-mindedness that you have, “Put up or shut up.”
I need to move on. I clearly want to transition but this last bit of the jungle is strangling me.
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 23, 2020, 07:14:39 am
More shared essays from Medium?
Change your avatar, again and again?
Tell us you're becoming Emma, followed by telling us you can't do it, followed by telling us you're becoming Emma, followed....?
You remind me of a car that's stuck in the mud and you sit in the seat and press the accelerator and press the accelerator and sometimes you say, "It's going to go!" and other times you say, "Why won't it move?"
I'm simply suggesting you get out of the damn car and try something new because a car that's seriously stuck in the mud isn't going anywhere until you exit it and try A. If A doesn't work, you try B. If B, doesn't work, you try C. A visit to Maine with your wife could have been A. A road trip by yourself could be B. Heck, I'd be happy to see you dress yourself and apply your own makeup and simply spend a day on the streets of New York. Dine al fresco. Walk some parks. That could be your A.
Here's another analogy: If you're going to buy a house, you don't do a drive-by and say, "That's where I want to live the rest of my life."
You tour it.
You ask questions.
You hire a home inspector.
You go for a second look.
You check out the neighborhood.
Walking from Donna's to your therapist is a drive-by and you wonder why you can't decide if you should live in this new house.
Post by: Jessica_Rose on October 23, 2020, 07:27:49 am
"All my life I've tried to make everybody happy,
while I just hurt and hide,
waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide"
while I just hurt and hide,
waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide"
As you mentioned, you have done your job, you have made everybody happy all your life, now it's your turn to find happiness. It may sound a bit cold and callous, but those you have helped along the way should celebrate with you and help you through your journey, those who turn their backs were never really your friends. None of us are getting any younger, and we deserve to live the rest of our lives the way we want. As a famous mariner once said, 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!'
Love always -- Jessica Rose
Post by: Emma1017 on October 23, 2020, 08:02:25 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-fkSYDtUY
Your post reflects my own anger and frustration. I have been stuck in this "mud" for way too long with the tires spinning endlessly and going nowhere. Time to call the tow truck.
Jessica after the tow truck I will take the machete out of car trunk ("boot" to you that are British) :).
I need to get back to living. Even Red got out of Shawshank.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: AngelaJade on October 23, 2020, 09:30:50 am
Happy belated Birthday.. sorry I missed it, I’ve been a bit busy..
I read your post from back on the 20th and immediately thought of a book I read a while ago..
I thought you and others may find something from it.
It’s available on kindle and other mediums..
YES, YOU ARE TRANS ENOUGH
MY TRANSITION FROM SELF-LOATHING TO SELF-LOVE
By: MIA VIOLET
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 23, 2020, 11:23:53 am
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 23, 2020, 12:12:12 pm
That's my opinion, and I stand by it. And I know it's tough on you, but the sooner you submit to your will, the sooner it'll let you relax more and learn to simply be there for others, not sacrifice yourself for them, you know?
I believe in you, and I know you'll find your way, it's just a rough start because of everything you all put into 'expectations', instead of flowing with the heart. I hope that makes sense. Carry on, and believe in yourself girl. :)
Post by: Emma1017 on October 23, 2020, 12:53:28 pm
Sarah I think that this week was the last gasp of my male battle against my female gender. I am transitioning. I will do all I can to preserve our relationship but I know that moving forward will create less harm for me and my relationship than if I try and suck it up for the rest of my life. I don't want to do that and I truly can't.
i am with you Jessica: 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!'
Again thank you all for your thoughts.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 23, 2020, 03:10:23 pm
Still natural to have ups and downs and struggles. It's ok to feel how you do. *hug*. and we always just do our best to get through it.
Post by: Emma1017 on October 25, 2020, 12:59:44 pm
There is no point to me constantly saying the same things over and over again and having emotional temper tantrums.
I am transgender. My late-life gender dysphoria is not going away and I am not going to get "better".
I need to take steps to cure my gender dysphoria and not whine about being forced to cure it.
Thanks all for being there for me.
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: ChrissyRyan on October 25, 2020, 01:56:07 pm
You are beautiful inside and outside.
Write when you feel up to it.
We are here supporting you.
Hugs,
Chrissy
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 25, 2020, 02:41:35 pm
Think of these two-plus years as your own autumn and savor the bittersweet, shortening days as husband, father, and neighbor within your community. Enjoy the days with your son and the evenings with your wife. Take a long break from doubt and vacillating. Breathe. Be grateful.
Post by: Pammie on October 25, 2020, 02:47:41 pm
I am going to stop writing for a while.My dearest Emma, I think your posts are both cathartic and necessary. Yes, you chronicle your conflicts and your journey buffered by the winds of circumstance but we are all invested and we feel and know your pain. Please post whenever you need to express your pain, happiness, decision or indecision - #teamEmma xxx
There is no point to me constantly saying the same things over and over again and having emotional temper tantrums.
I am transgender. My late-life gender dysphoria is not going away and I am not going to get "better".
I need to take steps to cure my gender dysphoria and not whine about being forced to cure it.
Thanks all for being there for me.
Hugs,
Emma
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Post by: Alice on October 25, 2020, 05:35:39 pm
I am going to stop writing for a while.
There is no point to me constantly saying the same things over and over again and having emotional temper tantrums.
I am transgender. My late-life gender dysphoria is not going away and I am not going to get "better".
I need to take steps to cure my gender dysphoria and not whine about being forced to cure it.
Thanks all for being there for me.
Hugs,
Emma
Emma,
I was thinking about all you have written over the last week when I was in your position. I remember a friend here at susan's told me that transition is "a leap of faith". In my pondering I did not find any other way.
I hope you find peace in the end. That is what we are all after.
Alice
Post by: CaelaNotKayla on October 25, 2020, 08:54:07 pm
I am going to stop writing for a while.
There is no point to me constantly saying the same things over and over again and having emotional temper tantrums.
I am transgender. My late-life gender dysphoria is not going away and I am not going to get "better".
I need to take steps to cure my gender dysphoria and not whine about being forced to cure it.
Thanks all for being there for me.
Hugs,
Emma
Emma-
Hang in there girl!- We'll be here for support when you need it!
Hugs!
Caela
Post by: KimOct on October 26, 2020, 11:50:25 pm
Your son needed a year of oversight last spring. He now needs two more years? What will you do with those two more years?
More shared essays from Medium?
Change your avatar, again and again?
Tell us you're becoming Emma, followed by telling us you can't do it, followed by telling us you're becoming Emma, followed....?
You remind me of a car that's stuck in the mud and you sit in the seat and press the accelerator and press the accelerator and sometimes you say, "It's going to go!" and other times you say, "Why won't it move?"
I'm simply suggesting you get out of the damn car and try something new because a car that's seriously stuck in the mud isn't going anywhere until you exit it and try A. If A doesn't work, you try B. If B, doesn't work, you try C. A visit to Maine with your wife could have been A. A road trip by yourself could be B. Heck, I'd be happy to see you dress yourself and apply your own makeup and simply spend a day on the streets of New York. Dine al fresco. Walk some parks. That could be your A.
Here's another analogy: If you're going to buy a house, you don't do a drive-by and say, "That's where I want to live the rest of my life."
You tour it.
You ask questions.
You hire a home inspector.
You go for a second look.
You check out the neighborhood.
Walking from Donna's to your therapist is a drive-by and you wonder why you can't decide if you should live in this new house.
Emma - It looks like O&C has taken my place which is good. I care about you and always will but participating on your threads for the last 2 plus years has been exhausting. I am not trying to be mean.
I like you and care about you which is why I was so involved. But it has hurt me. So much energy without any evolution.
As I have said before - transition is not for everyone. Being honest with yourself is. And you have been honest with yourself and your wife.
I remember earlier this year you said that September was your do or die date. Today is 10/26. I think you can participate in your business for two more years but that does not have to determine how you live your life.
If you said tomorrow that you identify as transgender but choose not to transition I would read your expressions of frustration for many years. We all need support for when we hurt.
But the continuing I'm almost there - I'm almost there is sapping my energy.
This is not goodbye. I cannot help myself regarding checking in on you. I care too much. But I have been putting my energy elsewhere. It just hurts me too much to see you continuing to endlessly grind your wheels.
I do love you and will check in from time to time if I am welcome but I will leave it to O&C to provide the tough love.
HUGS
Kim
Post by: Emma1017 on October 27, 2020, 08:17:52 am
I understand your exhaustion with my personal transgender hell and I agree, it has carried on way too long. That is why I decided to stop writing here. Throughout all of my threads there have been two reasons to post, to help me and to help others by sharing.
Unfortunately for those following my threads it has been an endless cycle of frustration. "When is she going to transition? When is she going to make a decision?" At the end of the day, this is my transition, emotional frustration and all, but I know that I can no longer drag you all on this journey. Many have shared their opinions and I respect them. They have been immensely helpful for me to understand who and what I am as well as what I need to do.
...but I need to resolve this on my own now. I don't want to debate the decisions and directions I take at this point. I
will abuse my therapist who gets paid to put up with my spiral of frustration.
Kim you know I appreciate the love and care you have shown me and I am sorry that, like an adult child living in the basement of a parents house, I have over-stayed my welcome with you. I hope, in the future, I can earn your friendship back on a more stable plane.
Thank you all for being there for me and helping me up every time I fell. I promise I will come back once the last part of my path is clearer and I can share something worth sharing.
Sincerely and with hugs,
Emma
Post by: Oldandcreaky on October 27, 2020, 08:35:40 am
Post by: Sarah-Red on October 27, 2020, 12:32:36 pm
If you want to take a break from writing here for you, then that's completely fine, you can do what feels best to you. But you know you can come back whenever you want.
Good luck to you and until next time <3
Post by: AngelaJade on October 28, 2020, 03:14:28 am
Please never give up believing in yourself..
I’ve only been around this forum for a few years, however I know that you couldn’t overstay your welcome (or more appropriately over post your welcome). Some of us have taken a break from posting for a while and we mostly we come back to share our life stories.
We have all gone through challenges, trauma and heartache. Someone will always listen, someone will always care and someone will always give you light.
No one here is alone.. I’m thankful for that..
Ang xx
Post by: ChrissyRyan on October 31, 2020, 06:13:35 pm
Hugs and peace,
Chrissy
Post by: Emma1017 on November 01, 2020, 01:47:36 am
Post by: Alice on November 01, 2020, 02:46:56 am
I had one failed attempt to transition. I know it can be a painful experience. Somehow we all pull through.
Alice
Post by: Pammie on November 01, 2020, 03:24:57 am
I get it. I am not the perfect transition but I am trying so hard. I am so hurting right now...Oh my poor Emma. You have been so brave in exposing your heart and soul to us - I so want you to come through this and find your happy place xxxx
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Post by: EllenW on November 01, 2020, 09:36:37 am
I get it. I am not the perfect transition but I am trying so hard. I am so hurting right now...
Emma,
There is no "perfect" transition, we all have our own path to walk. Just remember that you are not alone and we are here to help and support you as you follow your path to your true self.
Ellen
Post by: Pammie on November 01, 2020, 09:59:29 am
Emma,Well said Ellen! Great point! Xx
There is no "perfect" transition, we all have our own path to walk. Just remember that you are not alone and we are here to help and support you as you follow your path to your true self.
Ellen
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Post by: Oldandcreaky on November 01, 2020, 11:54:05 am
I get it. I am not the perfect transition but I am trying so hard. I am so hurting right now...
Hurting is no way to waste your life. In 30 years or thereabouts, you'll be worms' meat. You've made the choice to train your son for another 2+ years. You've shared your amazing evenings with your wife. Enjoy training your son. Enjoy your lovely evenings with your wife. Shelve your gender struggle for 2+ years. Be happy with what you have now. Your perseveration will make worms' meat of you sooner rather than later, for stress truly kills.
Post by: Pammie on November 01, 2020, 11:59:41 am
Hurting is no way to waste your life. In 30 years or thereabouts, you'll be worms' meat. You've made the choice to train your son for another 2+ years. You've shared your amazing evenings with your wife. Enjoy training your son. Enjoy your lovely evenings with your wife. Shelve your gender struggle for 2+ years. Be happy with what you have now. Your perseveration will make worms' meat of you sooner rather than later, for stress truly kills.O&C I can’t decide if ur everyone’s favourite but slightly scary Aunt or the far too clever big sister I never had!
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Post by: Oldandcreaky on November 01, 2020, 01:04:33 pm
O&C I can’t decide if ur everyone’s favourite but slightly scary Aunt or the far too clever big sister I never had!
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I truly think Brits are the brightest people in the world. I used to work at Harvard, which gathers brilliant people from all over the world, but those Oxford fellows were a quip quicker and ten whits wittier than everyone else. Your comment reminds me of the best of Britain.
Post by: Pammie on November 01, 2020, 01:10:49 pm
I truly think Brits are the brightest people in the world. I used to work at Harvard, which gathers brilliant people from all over the world, but those Oxford fellows were a quip quicker and ten whits wittier than everyone else. Your comment reminds me of the best of Britain.That’s far too generous but thank you!
Don’t forget us Brits voted for Boris and Brexit - I fear we are down to 50% of our whits
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Post by: Oldandcreaky on November 01, 2020, 02:19:19 pm
That’s far too generous but thank you!
Don’t forget us Brits voted for Boris and Brexit - I fear we are down to 50% of our whits
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I'm not just a fan of Brits; I'm also a fan of self-deprecation, so I'm your fan times two now.
Post by: Pammie on November 01, 2020, 02:21:46 pm
I'm not just a fan of Brits; I'm also a fan of self-deprecation, so I'm your fan times two now.Awwww shucks
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Post by: Emma1017 on November 01, 2020, 03:50:08 pm
O&C you even had me go and look up “perseverative” which I have learned is a collective term in psychology for continuous thinking about negative events in the past or in the future (e.g. worry, rumination and brooding, but also mind wandering about negative topics).
I totally agree and I think it was well chosen in this context.
I even like the suggestion that I will, sometime in the far distant future, be part of the natural composting cycle of the earth. Alternatively, I am not a fan of cremation but I do like a good Viking burial in a burning boat.
Fortunately, I only need to be around for my son until the end of 2021. I will be working from home and I don’t need to do Zoom meetings. During that time, I intend to continue to transition and hopefully begin 2022 with GCS surgery.
The pain I alluded to last night was a combination of my transgender frustration with an extremely active sciatic pain in both legs that I have had for over a week and a large dosage of bourbon on the rocks. I was grossly over-served…but it was a lovely evening with my wife and our dog, Duffy.
I also think some of that pain is also due to extreme virus and election fatigue and frustration. My job requires an excessive absorption and exposure to the media coverage of both.
My experience with transitioning, to the exasperation to all those who have read my thread, has been littered with my endless self-doubt and fear of inflicting pain. My perseveration has been the end result which was why I decided to stop writing.
Last night’s comment was a moment of weakness and a sense of drunken self-pity. At least it was a short moment and a quick entry.
On a lighter note, I get start facial electrolysis again next week.
Oh what fun things we transwomen get to do…. ;D
Hugs,
Emma
Post by: Oldandcreaky on November 01, 2020, 09:54:10 pm
I think of your life in Brooklyn and it sounds swell. Anyone who can buy Brooklyn pizza has reasons to smile. Walking and talking with your neighbors is just more toppings on those pizzas and a dog named Duffy, well, that's yet another reason to smile.
BTW, when you wheel me to the overlook, you'll find my bony, old hands on your fine, strong hands, stroking your fingers, but ready to Visegrip you in a nano-second if you can't resist the old heave-ho.
As we plummet, my final words will be, "But I wanted more Brooklyn pizza!"
Post by: Pammie on November 02, 2020, 02:41:56 am
Sadly, Emma, "perseverate" is an esoteric word with ubiquitous applications. Simply put, we all do it.O&C you do make me laugh
I think of your life in Brooklyn and it sounds swell. Anyone who can buy Brooklyn pizza has reasons to smile. Walking and talking with your neighbors is just more toppings on those pizzas and a dog named Duffy, well, that's yet another reason to smile.
BTW, when you wheel me to the overlook, you'll find my bony, old hands on your fine, strong hands, stroking your fingers, but ready to Visegrip you in a nano-second if you can't resist the old heave-ho.
As we plummet, my final words will be, "But I wanted more Brooklyn pizza!"
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Post by: Emma1017 on November 02, 2020, 06:47:17 am
Pammie stop encouraging O&C. This thread is all about my transgender angst. What will I be able to talk about once I transition??? ;D ;D ;D
To all of you that continue to just be there for me I just to say a very heart-felt “Thank You!”. Your words constantly raise my spirits and my hope.
Warmest regards and a massive hug,
Emma
Post by: Paige on November 02, 2020, 11:01:12 am
What you're doing is probably one of the hardest things a person can do in life. If there was more acceptance this would be a lot easier. This isn't your fault and I worry when you dump on yourself.
There's definitely worse procrastinators out there. I'm a good example. I've known since I was 5 years old. I've tried to find the courage to transition and get away from this constant pain. I'm 58 now. I've been on a low dose of E for six years now. My wife is not accepting at all and if I do progress that will bring our 33 year marriage to an end.
These aren't easy decisions and everyone has different circumstances.
Hugs,
Paige :)
Post by: Sephirah on November 02, 2020, 04:25:27 pm
I get it. I am not the perfect transition but I am trying so hard. I am so hurting right now...
You don't have to be perfect, Emma. You just have to be you. None of us know who that is, other than you.
I just got your PM and no... I don't think they are. Not entirely.
Everyone is different. What works for one person doesn't work for another person. We all have our unique psychological makeup, like a fingerprint. What one person can do, another person cannot. For whatever reason. What for one person is easy could be for another, cripplingly difficult. You are no one else other than you. And you know who that is better than anyone else here. You have to take life at your own pace, otherwise you stop living your own life and start living someone else's. Which is no different to the thing you're trying to escape.
You have to be you, Emma. Whoever that is, and however that is. You have to do things because you want to, not because you feel you have to. Because you're scared people will get tired of hearing the things you have to say. Forget all that, okay? Other people don't own you. You own yourself. This is YOUR life, and yours to make it how you want, when you feel you can. However long that takes. We all have our own "Rules of life". What applies to us doesn't necessarily apply to everyone else, and it's a bit self centred to think it should.
Be you. At your own pace.
I love you, sweetie. And I believe in you. Always.
L X
Post by: Oldandcreaky on November 02, 2020, 05:57:39 pm
O&C I will update the visual, Brooklyn-style. As we wheel over the Brooklyn Bridge enjoying the city skyline, the entire conversation would be centered on, which pizzeria do you want to go to, what toppings and of course which red wine would you prefer? ;D ;D ;D
Pammie stop encouraging O&C. This thread is all about my transgender angst. What will I be able to talk about once I transition??? ;D ;D ;D
To all of you that continue to just be there for me I just to say a very heart-felt “Thank You!”. Your words constantly raise my spirits and my hope.
Warmest regards and a massive hug,
Emma
Which pizzeria? Why, all of them, of course! Keep finding reasons to smile, Emma.
Post by: Emma1017 on November 03, 2020, 08:29:07 am
I started a new thread today, Chapter 5: I am Emma. I expect it will be a far happier thread but I do reserve the right to share being upset periodically.
Many hugs,
Emma
Post by: Northern Star Girl on November 03, 2020, 08:44:15 am
Dear All:@Emma1017
I started a new thread today, Chapter 5: I am Emma. I expect it will be a far happier thread but I do reserve the right to share being upset periodically.
Many hugs,
Emma
Dear Emma:
I have already started reading your new thread, Chapter 5: I am Emma.
To make it easier for your followers to find it, here is the LINK to your new Chapter 5 thread:
---> https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,254640.0.html
I am looking forward to following your replies and comments on your new thread, and, of course, it is your blog/journal/thread and you certainly can reserve the right to share being upset periodically.....
For any of us, things do not always please us as we are in our life journey.
HUGS and best wishes,
Danielle
Post by: Emma1017 on November 04, 2020, 06:34:29 am
Where is the new thread posted? I don't see it on the Member Blog page?
Post by: Northern Star Girl on November 04, 2020, 08:13:02 am
Thanks Danielle. The new thread will definitely reflect that I am feeling so much better with who and what I am but I know there are still a lot of bumps along the way.
Where is the new thread posted? I don't see it on the Member Blog page?
@Emma1017
Dear Emma:
You put your new thread "Chapter 5" in the "Male to female transsexual talk (MTF)" sub-forum.
This morning I will move it to "Member Blogs" where it belongs.
The LINK to your new thread will remain unchanged after I move it.
HUGS,
Danielle