Transgender Liberty

When Did I Know? I grew up in a town caught between two worlds. One side leaned liberal, shaped by the university nearby. The other leaned conservative, shaped by timber, the industry most people worked in. My side of town was a working-class place, and it could be a tough environment for a kid who didn't fit in. Growing up, there was no such thing as "transgender." I had never heard of trans-anything, and words like gay and lesbian weren't part of everyday conversation, though looking back, there were rumors. I was an awkward kid. I grew up with siblings, a mom who was a good and loving mother, and also a quiet, working, functional alcoholic, carrying the weight of trauma from her own childhood. My dad was protective, loving, and a good man who had lived a big life before I came along. He liked a drink too. Not an alcoholic, just human. They had both done and seen a lot. We moved around a lot before finally settling in that town, where my dad found steady work. At...

Thomas Covey has a rule. "Win Win" the idea is that for anything; any negotiation, discussion, argument, social change, the goal is to seek "Win Win" not "Win Lose", or worse "Lose Lose". The goal is that if we work together we ALL can win.  Life isn't a football game, it isn't red team versus blue team, it isn't them and us. Yet there are forces that seek to pit us against each other, to stir the pot, to keep us ALL living in fear, to keep us divided. The news does it, politicians do it, and religious forces can also do it. All of these forces generally resort to using Fear to control people. In Frank Herbert's book "Dune" there is a moment where Paul (a character) chants "I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer..I will fear no fear"  something like that.. paraphrased here, he is not wrong. I use this all the time, especially when facing a decision or something difficult I have to do.  So how do we address th...

My first blog post. I like to think this post is a little like attempting a first contact. First contact I would imagine would start with a question "Is anyone out there, anyone listening?" And ya.... I do believe we are not alone. So... going with that loose analogy I've decided to put thoughts and observations, my ideas out into the universe from the standpoint of my life as a human, and more specifically as a transgender woman. And since this is my first post let me share a little about myself, an introduction if you will. I am an older Transgender Woman, in process of transitioning.  I have an older brother and sister and a younger brother, I am single, divorced,  I have 3 kids all grown (well mostly),  I have an Ex who I am friends with, I work in the high tech sector, I read wide and deep, similarly I listen to and enjoy all kinds of music. I love animals and nature, hiking and quiet too. I am a human, fallible, I have feelings, I bleed red like we all d...