this one<\/a>.<\/p>\nThen …<\/p>\n
Imagine it is your job,<\/p>\n
Every workday,<\/p>\n
To get in your boat,<\/p>\n
Which isn’t too small to be on the big lake,<\/p>\n
But only barely not too small …<\/p>\n
And drive it out towards the middle of the lake,<\/p>\n
And then turn around at midpoint and head back to shore.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
Who knows …<\/p>\n
It’s your job,<\/p>\n
You like it,<\/p>\n
And you take it seriously.<\/p>\n
You with me so far ??<\/p>\n
Good,<\/p>\n
Then …
\n
\nImagine …<\/p>\n
That when you’re on the lake,<\/p>\n
Doing your daily journey,<\/p>\n
You experience:<\/p>\n
The most beautiful, relaxing sunrise;<\/p>\n
The friendliest hello from a fellow boater passing by;<\/p>\n
A wave crashing over you from behind catching you totally off guard;<\/p>\n
Pleasure from your adept recovery from the wave;<\/p>\n
A nice conversation with a boatload of strangers that pull along side you for a chat;<\/p>\n
A bit of oddess seeing some coast guard folks pointing at you with smirks;<\/p>\n
A wave drenching you from the side, again unseen;<\/p>\n
Still pleasure from another adept recovery from the wave;<\/p>\n
A nice chat over the radio from a friend you have heard from in ages, what a great surprise;<\/p>\n
Resignation seeing the coast chat folks chatting with the boatland of friendly strangers with whom you recently chatted;<\/p>\n
The kewlest phreaking teletype over the wire from someone you barely know telling you what a great boater you are and to keep it up;<\/p>\n
The boatload of strangers passing by you again, this time not pausing to say ‘hola’, but just taking fertive glances as they pass;<\/p>\n
A big ass wave crashing down on you from the front, soaking you to the core; and,<\/p>\n
Still pleasure that you’ve still got the boat under control and remain on your feet. <\/i><\/p>\n
Now imagine that little cycle there repeats itself,<\/p>\n
Every 15 minutes of the day,<\/p>\n
All day long.<\/p>\n
Then add to it an undercurrent of choppy waters,<\/p>\n
Not even close enough in severity to ever be a threat,<\/p>\n
But exhausting to have to deal with all day long.<\/p>\n
That’s pretty much what every day in January was like for me …<\/p>\n
Hence my lack of postage,<\/p>\n
As I got my sealegs.<\/p>\n
You see,<\/p>\n
The nice comfortable stealthness of my transition known only among friends, colleagues and professional peers with respect and courtesy,<\/p>\n
Became a bit more commonly talked about by people who just found it fun to talk about me,<\/p>\n
While I also found myself tossed into settings where my function was having to be discussed or disclosed more frequently and openly than I desired,<\/p>\n
Not that I ever deny my function when asked,<\/p>\n
It’s just that it really doesn’t need to be discussed in some forums where I found it being talked about.<\/p>\n
It was a really wild month.<\/p>\n
I had some of the most positive of experiences one could ever imagine …<\/p>\n
Words and\/or expressions of kindness and support from people …<\/p>\n
In ways I never would even vertured to wish for,<\/p>\n
And then the same day I’d get the rudest of e-mails.<\/p>\n
I’d then have a totally easy comfortable work experience,<\/p>\n
Some wicked kickass good times with friends,<\/p>\n
Then find my function having to be unexpectedly disclosed to another stranger.<\/p>\n
Goofy,<\/p>\n
Repetitive,<\/p>\n
Tiring.<\/p>\n
Then, of course,<\/p>\n
I just had to deal with the normal ups and downs that living a life in the woodwork entails.<\/p>\n
Which is a similar, more routine, 15 minute cycle of waves when having encounters with:<\/p>\n
People that know,<\/p>\n
People that don’t know,<\/p>\n
A combination of the two,<\/p>\n
Some that are just figuring it out on the spot,<\/p>\n
Some that I have to tell,<\/p>\n
Either then or later,<\/p>\n
Some that know and have a problem with me so I have to refrain from interaction,<\/p>\n
Some that know and who are fine with me so I can just be myself,<\/p>\n
Some that don’t know and who I forget that I look different to so when I am just myself and say ‘hi’, they don’t know who the hell I am,<\/p>\n
And of course,<\/p>\n
Some that don’t know who I’m glad don’t know !! \ud83d\ude42<\/i><\/p>\n
Now granted,<\/p>\n
It’s really not as complicated as it might sound …<\/p>\n
I’ve got my routine down of how to deal with things,<\/p>\n
Which will be shared,<\/p>\n
Along with some of my successes,<\/p>\n
And butterly amusing screw-ups,<\/p>\n
In my upcoming February mini-series …<\/p>\n
Amy’s Guide To Woodworking.<\/i><\/p>\n
Now January wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.<\/p>\n
I’ve totally conditioned myself for such …<\/p>\n
Through my painfully slow and deliberate transitiooooon. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
It’s just exhausting.<\/p>\n
About my only gripe really,<\/p>\n
Is the difference in time zones between me along with those that have known me for a while now …<\/p>\n
And those that just are getting wind of things now.<\/p>\n
For me I’ve been chica ft now for almost 8 months,<\/p>\n
My sex change is quite the old news.<\/p>\n
But for others,<\/p>\n
Just learning about it,<\/p>\n
There’s all the excitement of the news …<\/p>\n
Good or bad,<\/p>\n
Depending on the person.<\/p>\n
I’m just as easy to talk with today about it,<\/p>\n
Open at all times,<\/p>\n
As I was 8 months ago.<\/p>\n
I welcome all questions …<\/p>\n
Will answer anything posed,<\/p>\n
Honestly,<\/p>\n
Seriously,<\/p>\n
Yet Comfortably.<\/p>\n
It’s just that I can tell,<\/p>\n
Because of the time zone difference,<\/p>\n
I’m losing interest in taking the time to answer questions,<\/p>\n
Deal with …<\/p>\n
Those that aren’t making inquiries with any sincere interest.<\/p>\n
I’m generally not rude to them or anything,<\/p>\n
That’s why I have a personal assassin,<\/p>\n
It’s just that whereas a year ago I think I went to great lengths to be patient and understanding while some people might have struggled to come to terms with me …<\/p>\n
Now I’m like,<\/p>\n
I don’t care if you get it, or if you don’t get it.<\/p>\n
Personally, if you don’t get it, I can relate,<\/p>\n
I don’t get it still and I’m phreaking living with it …<\/p>\n
So either you like me as a person and want to have me around in your life in some manner,<\/p>\n
Or you don’t …<\/p>\n
You’re call.<\/i><\/p>\n
I actually feel bad for sort of regressing\/evolving\/takeyourpick to that place …<\/p>\n
Because it makes me feel less nice,<\/p>\n
And believe it or not,<\/p>\n
I’m really a nice person.<\/p>\n
Again, I can be nice because I have a personal assassin. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
However,<\/p>\n
Being transsexual is not fun.<\/p>\n
If you keep your function a secret,<\/p>\n
You’re incredibly strong …<\/p>\n
But your life sucks in many ways.<\/p>\n
If you decide to let your function become known,<\/p>\n
You have to develop a thick skin.<\/p>\n
I’m bound and determined …<\/p>\n
To prove that having a thick skin,<\/p>\n
Doesn’t mean you can’t also have soft skin …<\/p>\n
And be a decent, nice person.<\/p>\n
So over the next month,<\/p>\n
I’m going to share what I’ve learned thus far …<\/p>\n
In my woodworking transition (and for you natals, I’ll start by explaining by what I mean by “woodworking” :)) …<\/p>\n
And my attempt to remain soft.<\/p>\n
It’s really not a how-to guide,<\/p>\n
I’m sure as heck not telling anyone what to do …<\/p>\n
Just offering what I have done as examples in case it’s useful to some.<\/p>\n
Enjoy.<\/p>\n
Oh yeah, and I’m honestly going to try really, really hard to have at least one post each day this month.<\/p>\n
And I’m only 286 e-mails behind at the current time …<\/p>\n
Yay !!! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
(It’s my goal to be caught up by Sunday, but that might be an aggressive goal as I have plans for misbehavior this weekend :)).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Okay … Imagine that you’re on a boat. Not a big boat, ‘Cause that’d be a ship, But a boat … Like this one. Now imagine you’re on a lake, Not a lame ass, puny lake like other states have … But a big, whopping lake, like my home state has … Such as this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":139,"label":"General"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Amy","author_link":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/author\/amy\/"},"comment_info":14,"category_info":[{"term_id":139,"name":"General","slug":"general","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":143,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":775,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":139,"category_count":775,"category_description":"","cat_name":"General","category_nicename":"general","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}