Back to our regularly scheduled transition program ...
My electrolysis continued today. Progress is happening! Gradually I and others are noticing the changes to my lip and chin areas: smooth, clean, shadowless. It's worth the discomfort. I'm happier every day. I look forward to having a clean, smooth, hairless face and neck and breathing easy!
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Mom Would Have Been 64 Today
With so many people celebrating the Canuck's playoff finals, many are reflecting back 17 years ago. Seventeen years ago today, I was in the midst of a maelstorm. My mother had been struggling with breast cancer since about 1988-89 and her condition was not getting better at this point. My grandfather had been diagnosed with stomach cancer a couple of months earlier. While he was in the hospital, another relative, who had been visiting him every day, died suddenly from kidney failure. I was finishing up my undergraduate degree in Communication Studies. My grandfather died on Friday, May 27, the same day my degree was drawn up. As relatives arrived in town for the funeral, my mother arrived by train. She had been estranged from the family for some time. She lived alone in an apartment building in the Meadowvale area of Mississauga next to the lovely, but sombre Lake Aquitaine Park (pictured above).
My grandfather's funeral was on Wednesday June 1, 1994, the same day my mother turned 47: her last birthday. I remember the surreality of a birthday cake with candles being brought out during the wake at my grandmother's house. Next door, one of our neighbours was getting married: out went the wedding procession, in came the funeral procession. A couple of friends of mine had their first child that year, in the spring. Births, deaths, weddings, funerals, splits, reunions: that was '94. By the end none of us were the same.
I often wonder what would have happened had she lived to see me grow into the person I am today.
This song and movie were on my mind all summer that year:
My grandfather's funeral was on Wednesday June 1, 1994, the same day my mother turned 47: her last birthday. I remember the surreality of a birthday cake with candles being brought out during the wake at my grandmother's house. Next door, one of our neighbours was getting married: out went the wedding procession, in came the funeral procession. A couple of friends of mine had their first child that year, in the spring. Births, deaths, weddings, funerals, splits, reunions: that was '94. By the end none of us were the same.
I often wonder what would have happened had she lived to see me grow into the person I am today.
This song and movie were on my mind all summer that year:
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
In Flux
Things have been in flux for a few years now, and seem to be getting more so every day. Old friends move on, new friends move in, relationships change shape, old colleagues retire, new ones are hired. Old, favourite neighbourhood haunts close out, or are torn down, others, usually less personable go up in their place.
Friends marry, become parents, married friends separate or divorce. Others change careers or go back to school. Fellow community gardeners move away, even out of the country. I've hosted a local radio program (under my male name up until now) for nearly five years, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have done so; but, at any point, a change in management, a change in managerial ideology, and the show may be one of many to become permanently part of the station's history. I do my shows often like I learned to breathe in the years after my mother's death, as if each breath might be my last. Fortunately, I still breathe, and live, to this day.
Of course, I too, am in flux, my body morphing into a softer, more feminine shape. Some react positively to my changing physical reality, others coldly, still others oscillate daily in their reactions.
In all of this flux, I need to ground myself in meditation practice again. To experience flux is one thing; to be in flux requires real ground.
Friends marry, become parents, married friends separate or divorce. Others change careers or go back to school. Fellow community gardeners move away, even out of the country. I've hosted a local radio program (under my male name up until now) for nearly five years, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have done so; but, at any point, a change in management, a change in managerial ideology, and the show may be one of many to become permanently part of the station's history. I do my shows often like I learned to breathe in the years after my mother's death, as if each breath might be my last. Fortunately, I still breathe, and live, to this day.
Of course, I too, am in flux, my body morphing into a softer, more feminine shape. Some react positively to my changing physical reality, others coldly, still others oscillate daily in their reactions.
In all of this flux, I need to ground myself in meditation practice again. To experience flux is one thing; to be in flux requires real ground.
Friday, 20 May 2011
Not by the Hair of My Chinny Chin Chin
Started electrolysis work on my lower lip and chin today. It went well. On the way home from the appointment, this evening, I saw lots of guys heading home after the hockey game; many were quite rowdy. Inevitably, my mind wandered over to the possibility of being clocked, singled out and ... worse. Self-defense has been on my mind a great deal lately, as I go out more often. Discussion in the online trans community about self-defense has been increasing. I've begun taking martial arts again. It does a great deal for self-confidence.
We can't let the phobes win by not going out. Confidence goes a long way against fear.
Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Not me. Not any more.
We can't let the phobes win by not going out. Confidence goes a long way against fear.
Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Not me. Not any more.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Round 2!!!
Today my electrologist and I fought a formidable adversary ... in the Battle of the Stubborn Upper Lip Hair. And, by golly, we won!
Next Friday ... we meet on the field of Chin Hair!
Next Friday ... we meet on the field of Chin Hair!
Thursday, 12 May 2011
4 Months and Counting ...
As of today, I have been on HRT (specifically the androgen blocker Spironolactone in tablet form and estrogen in the form of Estradot skin patches) for four months; I got my first prescription on January 10 and took my first doses two evenings later. The side effects haven't been a severe as I though they would be, but the benefits have made each day a little easier. :)
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Ugly Duckling
I long felt this way ... ugly, clumsy, awkward, deeply inadequate. I tried to forget my body existed, escaping into my mind instead. Years went by without me ever looking into the mirror. Something about me never worked. So I took refuge in the intellect. Although, I learned a lot of interesting things on a cerebral level, my body awareness, and my body, stagnated.
I began intensive therapy, ostensibly around loss and grief, in my mid-twenties. I also started Buddhist meditation and tai chi. I did some personal growth work. Being under this really powerful magnifying glass burned through much of my armor, gradually I came out in various ways. My confidence increased with each step. And then a secret was revealed to me from within. The more I was grounded inside, the more feminine I felt. This was very empowering. I tried to fit into male roles, but none fit. I know this now.
I look forward to finally blossoming the way I always wanted. I can hardly wait to walk through this world completely a woman, beautiful because I am myself. Finally.
I began intensive therapy, ostensibly around loss and grief, in my mid-twenties. I also started Buddhist meditation and tai chi. I did some personal growth work. Being under this really powerful magnifying glass burned through much of my armor, gradually I came out in various ways. My confidence increased with each step. And then a secret was revealed to me from within. The more I was grounded inside, the more feminine I felt. This was very empowering. I tried to fit into male roles, but none fit. I know this now.
I look forward to finally blossoming the way I always wanted. I can hardly wait to walk through this world completely a woman, beautiful because I am myself. Finally.
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