Do you feel your social life has improved or deteriorated after transitioning?

[Lucky Peach]

Honestly speaking, my social life has improved. Dramatically I might add.

I the beginning things were a little hard for me, so initially things took a downturn. Friends were always accepting and supportive, I was just very timid about myself. I started to come out of my shell a lot more and after just a few months my life has been a lot busier and much more fun for sure.

[twit]

Mine would be a lot better if I didn't still tend to pull back from people. I get invitations to visit, etc, but I still shy away from friendships and such.

[Stephe]

I have way more close friends now than I did living as a guy. I feel I am more open and friendly, carefree? Hard to explain but people seem to enjoy being around me. I honestly lost one friend when I started living full time, he was an extreme homophobe and assumed everyone would think he was my gay lover if we stayed friends or something silly like that. *waves bye to a moron* And just to note, none of my new friends are trans or part of that process, they are just new people I have met.

I know now everyone has had the same experience but my transition was a huge positive as far as my social life.

[Snowpaw]

I feel like my social life has improved greatly. I never fit in as a guy. Always quiet as a mouse etc. Now I am much happier, while I get more crap for it I at least have my circle of friends, a understanding of my life and the ability to use that to be more social ^_^

[Cindy]

I now have friends and a social life.

I also have respect for myself and I do not loath myself.

I walk tall and happy, I smile and I communicate with people. People talk to me just in passing.

I have made friends with people on this forum who are life long friends that I respect and trust with every detail of my life. They have kept me going and I would do anything for them.

My pretence at being male was lonely and grief stricken. I survived because of my strong will, but it was an existence and not a life.

To be totally blunt there were times when I thought my male pretence was happy. Once I transitioned I understood what happiness is, and I realised that I had never been happy.

I am happy now,

Cindy

[eli77]

Given that I'm posting this at 3:50 am and I just got home, I'd say improved. It's so much easier to talk to people when you aren't miserable all the time.

[Elsa]

Definitely improved!!!

I feel a lot more happier and open when I interact with people and when people see me happy they are usually more open and friendlier.

my mind is at peace with who I am although I can't wait to get out of this stupid boy mode that's getting on my nerves at times.
I am really happy about what HRT is doing to my body and mind

[justmeinoz]

I have made more really close friends in the 18 months since I went FT than in the 55 years before.  Considering my conspicuous failures at dating before I married, I can't say it has got much worse, although things might be looking up in that department too. I now have club and support meetings to go to, so I am generally out at least one night a week. 

Karen.

[kelly_aus]

To be totally blunt there were times when I thought my male pretence was happy. Once I transitioned I understood what happiness is, and I realised that I had never been happy.

I am happy now,

Cindy

I just had to quote this part, as it is so true for me.

To actually answer the OP, my social life has improved. I still have all the same friends and family as I had before transition, plus a bunch more friends, Cindy included.

[Amazon D]

I finally don't have to suffer from trying to be a normal male. I am not. I am not totally female either. I am a spirit who doesn't suffer from the affects of testosterone nor do i have to shave and all my hair is still here. I can play female or male or non. Spiritually i am me and i no longer am hung up on the superficial of my outer shell. I can build things and i can cook and be a caregiver and be trusted and i can trust myself to act the same 24/7 so yes my life has definately improved but i had to go thru it all and come out the other side and not get stuck in the superficiality of my appearence. Yes i transitioned and looked pretty hot considering starting at 41 and having much destruction from T from testes.  here see for yourself some of my past pics http://web.archive.org/web/20070503033734/http://hometown.aol.com/danielegrl/myhomepage/news.html   

http://web.archive.org/web/20050205065104/hometown.aol.com/danielegrl/

http://danielegrl.u.yuku.com/gallery/ls/aid/24837

Today i do not try to be anything i am not.

Some of you are females and seek males and some are lesbians and some are celibates like me..

I can go anyway i want but i can only go the way that i am.

I no longer am used by women for sex because i use to have a rather large thang and sex drive

yes freedom is what it is about for me.

you have to decide what it is you seek which will take time and effort.. god willing as well as your willing to go thru hell to find your heaven

[Cindy]

Just on tht Sis,

I've bought a new BBQ!!!


Have to get the boys and girls and boys together to celebrate.
Hugs


CJ

[Joann]

Hi Apples,

Catherine's presence, ?

Is this another TG site?

[justmeinoz]

New BBQ Cindy? That will really get the irons hot! 
Might see you girls after exams are over, feel the need of a Summer Bike Run.

[PaigeMtl]

I'm going to be quite sincere with this one: My biggest fear in life is being alone. During my entire life it's been like that (partly my fault, partly being socially kicked one after another). I though I could like living as a hermit, accept that dying alone was not that bad and just spend my remaining time on "single player" hobbies. Real truth: I can't do that anymore. The reason for going to therapy (not GID therapy) was to overcome my difficulties for making new friendships, lose my fear to enter into romantic relationships, and develop social skills / destroy my extreme shyness.

I started off in the same way by going to a therapist for my social phobia (I am not saying you have this btw). I worked on that for some time as a regular guy (well the best I could anyway) and gradually worked my way to coming out. Things were not as overwhelming for me this way. My fear of going back to a being a 'Him-mit' is greater now than sitting down next to a random person in a cafe and starting to converse.

Today when I cannot go out and present myself as female (for any reason) I feel like an imposter which is reflected in my less happy attitude.
I talk and smile much less in male drab. So I believe myself to be: a person who is interested in meeting and exchanging with others by saying hello with a big smile on HER face.

[judithlynn]

This is an interesting thread.

[Cindy]

The thread has just answered itself

Karen and Kelly are friends and we meet up. Karen has been sentenced to vaginal servitude in Tasmania (it used to be a penal colony , sorry), but is occasionally let free to travel to civilised parts of the country. Kelly and I  go out for dinner, coffee etc. I never knew either of them before transitioning. Now they are friends.

Well as friendly as you can be with a Tasmanian: down girl down, Cindy wields the branding iron in protection.

[opheliaxen]

My social life got better.  It is easier to connect with people when you don't hate yourself

[justmeinoz]

It is nice to actually HAVE a social life.  Outed myself again as a dyke at bike night at Joe's Garage cafe, and nobody gave a damn.  Lots of riders M and F from all over.  Too busy laughing at me holding the back of a friend's little commuter bike off the ground while the Uni MCC President tried to do a burnout  wearing full race leathers.   
Same when I scooped a hot-dog out of the pot and said it was the closest I was getting to anything shaped like that!     Great bunch.

Karen

[kelly_aus]

The thread has just answered itself

Karen and Kelly are friends and we meet up. Karen has been sentenced to vaginal servitude in Tasmania (it used to be a penal colony , sorry), but is occasionally let free to travel to civilised parts of the country. Kelly and I  go out for dinner, coffee etc. I never knew either of them before transitioning. Now they are friends.

Well as friendly as you can be with a Tasmanian: down girl down, Cindy wields the branding iron in protection.

Yes, Cindy and I are friends.. I enjoy her company. The last time we went out for dinner, I was quite drunk and had flouro pink hair, she didn't say a word about either - and for that I will love her eternally..  I still owe her an apology for my drunkenness...

[Cindy]

Yes, Cindy and I are friends.. I enjoy her company. The last time we went out for dinner, I was quite drunk and had flouro pink hair, she didn't say a word about either - and for that I will love her eternally..  I still owe her an apology for my drunkenness...

No you don't silly. And I did comment about your hair, I thought it was cute, but not for me. I've gone an auburn brown with blonde highlights and curly, quite different to how you saw me last, and it is my real hair

Friends are friend because they have a friendship. I met you a long time ago (well not that long) and trusted me with a very precious secret, as did Sarah. You don't forget friends who share their souls.

Hugs Sis

CJ