Quote from: Rachel on August 02, 2018, 08:35:12 PM
I went to the Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference today, then my therapist then electrolysis.
[...]
I felt so out of place at the conference. I use to go there to listen to medical providers about HRT, FFS, hair transplants, BA and GCS. I did all that. I am moderating 4 seminars Saturday. Non of which are about transitioning. I chose yoga and mindfulness and the like.
Hi Rachel,
Have I met you before? Darn, I should've gone to the Trans Wellness Conference. I was scheduled to teach yoga on the first day there, but I had to decline because I wanted to attend my yearly Aikido summer camp. I had a big room scheduled there, too, and it would've been fun teaching there. I used to teach at the big Bikram studio on 15th and Sansom with 40-50 students in the large room sometimes. My pic was in the Philly Metro when they reviewed my yoga studio. Yay!
I'm glad you got to spend some time down in Rehobeth and I'm glad you're finding things to do in the city. I was actually down that way twice this summer, once in Rehobeth in July and once in Ocean City a few weeks ago. My timeline for surgeries is very similar to yours. It appears we're only a year apart on many things. For me, I chose to make the LGBT community a very small part of my life (it used to be a very big part of my life back when I was the infamous Kalina Isato). As a post-op, I've had little real success on dating sites (OK Cupid) having gone out with 22 guys that I'd care to remember (the rest I choose to forget), forming 3+ month relationships with only a handful of them, and keeping two as longterm friends. I've only had one non-call-back (that is, one dinner date and he never called back) and one who told me he got violently ill when he found out I was trans (and the
<not allowed> is an Aikido person, too... so much for the art of peace and harmony... I should tell his Sensei that he's an ass!) On a busy week, I've gone on dinner dates 3 nights a week with different guys. When I'm not having dinner with a guy, I fill my time with fun stuff, like yoga, Aikido, archery, writing (I just finished writing my first book on yoga available at Barnes & Noble), fine dining (I'm a Yelp Elite reviewer and get invited to parties with free food), going to music concerts, etc. I try to keep myself in great shape and I think that's why it's pretty easy for me to meet guys. Meeting guys at straight dance clubs is not a problem for me. Guys seem to like yoga girls. I have a lot of friends, both conservative and liberal and many of them are wacky in their own way. I even have a longtime friend who claims he's genderfluid, but he's more like a fetishy crossdresser. He's cool because he's open to different foods and we dine at different restaurants. He's my foodie friend.
My life is pretty well balanced because I made it a point to live my life to the fullest. I survived cancer and a near fatal car crash in 1998. I was told I had a low chance of living beyond 5 years. In 2003, I celebrated by reinventing myself. I've experienced the joys of parenting and the sadness of divorce. I found love again, or thought I did, twice, living with a man and a trans woman over the years, both long term relationships (5+ years). I've stopped going to therapy ever since I had my GCS back in 2012. My last therapist actually said I didn't need to come back. Every now and again, if I feel sad, my five years of therapy, including my voluntary stay at a psych hospital, has given me enough tools to cope with the big D word. My support system is not other trans people, but just other people, a small percentage of whom are trans.
My point in saying all of this is Philly is a great place. You will be fine. You will meet someone. Don't limit yourself in your dating adventures. Go find as many things to do to occupy your time as possible. You will meet plenty of people that way. Go out with as many guys as you can find. Talk to them, eat with them, do fun things with them, and by that I don't mean sex. The reason why I've avoided much of the LGBT community nowadays is it's all about sex for a lot of the transv* and some of the transs* people (the guilty know what i mean). I'm just *me* and I'm doing quite fine making it as a straight woman by integrating myself into society. Be all that you can be! Sure, there might be an odd look here and there, but everyone gets judged if you think about it. Don't let that get to you. The important thing to remember is women should never cower away from an insulting glance from another woman. That's how some women assert their dominance over other women. Instead, look them straight in the eye, find their biggest flaw (after all, nobody is perfect), and lock onto it and then their eyes in a knowing glance. You will never be dominated by such cretins again. If your opposition is a man, you can just look at him in disgust as if you just told him to
<not allowed> off
Hope this helps. You seem like a good person and I hope you find happiness and greatness in all that you do!
