Fenway Health will be starting a new transgender support group in very early march, I am considering attending but its not a short drive and I will need to take the day off, plus pay for parking...still its tempting.

here is the page

http://fenwayfocus.org/2016/02/new-transgender-support-group-launching/?utm_content=27151445&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

not sure if that's done right but a cut and paste should solve the problem. Sorry

Serena

My therapist was trying to get me to go to that. The day and time is kind of a pain for me. I work in Boston but live in Salem and take the T.

So cool! Thanks for sharing...Yay!

Ok decided I am actually going to go, at least for the first meeting. Now my new decision of the day, do I get dressed and go get a hair cut or continue to put it off. Difficult life changing decisions we make every day. :-P

Serena

Quote from: Valwen on February 19, 2016, 03:32:54 PM
Ok decided I am actually going to go, at least for the first meeting. Now my new decision of the day, do I get dressed and go get a hair cut or continue to put it off. Difficult life changing decisions we make every day. :-P

Serena

Yay!

In answer, no no hair cut yet, it continues to grow wild and free. Soon it will become a nest for rare wild birds and because they are endangered I will not be able to get rid of them!! Doomed!!!

So next Tuesday, I gotta wake up get showered and dressed, go to the local middle school because the Massachusetts primary is that day, there is useless voting to do. Then drive my car that needs lots of work done into Boston pay a ton of money for parking and feel car sick for the whole meeting before driving home again, so looking forward to it. :-)

Ohh and I should eat at some point in that mix.

Serena

Well hooray for wild unruly hair! Me too! But boo for the expense/carsickness bit. I keep wanting to get a haircut too, something girly, but then I just want it all to keep growing too. Decisions...

Anyhoo, so glad you're going, me too! I am super excited, though I may be all shy and quiet when the thing actually happens. Depends on how many people are there. Sometimes large groups make me uncomfortable. But I think it will all be good. I might be working all day, but I hope I will have the day off so I can wear something nicer. It is supposed to be warmish.

so the meeting had a much larger turnout than I had assumed I would see there must have been 25+people there from all levels of transision and on different paths.

Over all I found it a mostly enjoyable experiance, I am not sure if I will go again, it was a very long ride and I get car sick on even shortish ones right now I am all bleh after driving home, Up side it turns out the parking garage right next door is only 10$ after 4pm so that was wonderful. I will say though it was one of those times and places where I was super aware of my voice and hating it.

Serena

I was hoping to get over there but my schedule said no this week. I hope to be there for the next meeting.

It was indeed wonderful, though there were a lot of folks. I really needed that, apparently. I love that it was such a diverse group too. I will be there next month too, Devlyn I hope you can make it!

On a side note, Serena your voice sounded fine to me. It was lovely to meet you too.

In general I truly hate my voice I always feel like it's the most likely thing to give me away, there are other things that bother me like my weight/fat distribution and lack of any curves but at least with that I have hopes that more time on hrt will help. My voice I can do nothing about, and I can barely tell a difference between when I do nothing and trying my hardest. Over all lately I get more down about my voice than anything else, and hearing do many women with different voices made me super aware of how not great mine is, at least to me.

Serena

I guess it always comes down to how we feel about ourselves more than how others perceive us. My facial hair drives me crazy but others tell me it's not noticeable. And don't get me started on my hair line!

Lately I keep thinking about the Against Me! song Paralytic States the line that goes "Standing naked in front of that hotel bathroom mirror, in her dysphoria's reflection she still saw her mother's son"

Other people may only see and hear women when they interact with us but we can remember a time when we were living a nightmare. That trauma stays with you.

Now the big decision, do I go to the second meeting. I have to decide soon to take the time off. I have been trying to kill the stress ball I got at the first one but it's painfully resilient. :-P

Serena

I totally intend to keep going.

I hope that my presence didn't contribute to your stress though.

I have been embracing socializing and it all got rolling after the last fenway group.

Ohh no you and everyone there was great, any stress I may have felt is based on the hour drive to get there and needing time off from work for it. I always worry about things before them but once I am there things are fine. Ok my car needing work also concerns me on such a long trip. Ohh the comment I made about the stress ball has nothing to do with stress, I just like trying to break it. :-P

Serena

Very late to the party here...
How open are these things?  Meaning, friendly?

I'm local, heard about this today, work in the city - but I'm the type who wouldn't pass visual inspection by a blind man from a darkened football field away.  :-P

And I'm not going to dress female, I'd stay in male drab, as I live in male drab, so I don't want to put others off (I'll do that when I open my mouth, probably, but why rush things?  ;-) 

What we want and what we can have are often two different things, and we make do with "good enough." I'd rather not step on someone else's "good enough" in pursuing my own, so if it's more intended for those "in the pipeline" so to speak, I can easily delay this part for a while (but might be a long while.  :-(   )

-Dianna

The first meeting had a wide range of people from those who where just starting to deal with things to a few who shift back and forth to some full time. Some are very new and others transitioned decades ago. A complete mix of mtf, ftm, non binary and other. Over all it was very friendly very welcoming and you should go dressed however your comfortable.

So I say go if I get the day off I probably will though I didn't ask for it off so that's doubtful.

Serena

Dianna, totally come join in hon. No matter how you present all are welcome and already part of the group. Serena is right, the whole spectrum of trans folk and the whole range of stages was present at the first one. There was a broad range of ages too. I for one hope you'll come along!

Just realized that I have somewhere else I need to be tonight so I won't make it. The BATS group meets tonight and is enby heavy, I kinda need that right now. Sorry y'all.

I was there last night. It was a very welcoming atmosphere, and OMG, the view of Boston out of the ninth floor is absolutely amazing. And there was food, so I'm sold!

There were several non-binaries there, and folks in many different phases of transitioning (or not). They have added a second monthly meeting on Fridays at noon I believe, but it is in one of their other buildings. I won't be able to attend any of those due to work. I hope to see some familiar faces next month!

Hugs, Devlyn