Last night I helped a friend pick up a stove she had bought
second hand. When we got there the guy selling it showed us where he had
stored it and nodded at me: you take that side and we'll carry it
together. There was no question of my female friend carrying it what so
ever. This was a man's job. It didn't matter that my friend is probably
stronger then that guy was, or that it was her stove. We were men and
this is what we do.
Last week I helped out filming a
Virtual Pump DVD. Me and that same friend are in the background with our
barbells. It was quite an interesting experience. I haven't seen the
final results yet and I have no idea how I look on camera but they did
post a picture online of the V-Pump team. Of course they tagged me on
facebook. An old friend of mine, who I haven't seen in ages, sent me a
PM. At first she had just recognized my friend and hadn't really paid
attention to the three guys in the picture. And then she noticed I was
tagged and it was me. It seems I have changed so much that, at first
glance, I don't look like my old girly self any more but really look
like a regular guy.
And then there is the new gym I'm going
to where I'm 'stealth' and no one knows I'm trans and no one bats an
eye when I walk into the men's room.
When I started thinking about transition it was all very abstract. You have some idea of what it might be like but you're not sure. You see other people do it and think it sounds like a good idea. You listen to their experiences, watch people on the street, observe how they behave and everything. You think a lot. But that's all theory. You have no idea what it will feel like. You might think you do, but you don't. No one can tell you what it's like. It's different for everyone. At some point you just know you can't keep going the way you used to and something needs to change. So you take the plunge and you start your journey. And then it becomes a bit like having a baby. You have this long period of waiting, of growing and changing, before it becomes real. A lot of people might think that the surgery is like the birth. I'm expecting the same thing. But sometimes I notice that's not completely true. Unlike having a baby transition is something that happens more gradually. I know quite a few people now who have never known me as a girl. And some people don't even know I'm trans. Experiences like I just described make it real. Slowly you move from 'I think I should be a guy' to 'I'm going to become a guy' to 'I actually am a guy'. Theory becomes reality. It's no longer just in my head. I'm living it. I can feel myself shifting into a new state of being, closer to my true self. I used to really dislike myself but that feeling is slowly disappearing and being replaced by a new confidence I had never experienced before. This isn't just about becoming a man. This is about becoming myself, more then anything else. I am growing in ways I never thought possible. And this is just the beginning. Once I've had my surgery and changed my passport my transition may be finished but my journey will finally begin.
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