I want to say "Thank You", first of all, to Susan, the moderators, and all the wonderful people here for creating such a warm, welcoming, and safe place. This is one of the few places, maybe the first, that I have felt safe enough to share this aspect of myself.
I am AMAB (assigned male at birth) but you can see by my forum name that I am not wholly comfortable with that. At this time, I would best describe myself as non-binary. (I plan to post more about coming to that awareness in the relevant thread in the non-binary section.)
I have known that I have feminine aspects and attributes since I was about 5 years old (I am 64 now). However, knowing them and "owning" them are two separate things. Over the past few years I have made peace with them. I enjoy some of my masculine aspects and some of my feminine aspects. And, then, there are other times when they get in the way.
I first became aware of Susan's Place a couple of years ago as my searches and investigations into expressing my feminine side led to here. However, I didn't really explore here (because I wasn't really ready to share that side of myself with anyone).
I'm a Life Coach (my feminine side has helped A LOT with that) and I finally listened to my own advice about owning all of one's aspects and taking responsibility for what one does with them. Part of that, to me, means taking whatever time I need to work through my issues, taking care of myself, and going at whatever pace I need... rather than other peoples' pace. I finally started placing self-care at the top of my list (even though I have been advising others to do that for years and years).
I've been journaling about this and about my explorations for a couple of years and have realized that I need to be a part of a wider social circle that might understand my struggles... and, at least, sympathize if they can't understand. I have already come to see how many people here have many of my own experiences.
I look forward to a long and warm relationship with all of you.
Hugs,
Jackie
