Gratitude for my Feminine

Lucy Sante writing about her transition to womanhood…

I don’t hate myself anymore, am no longer apologetic for my very existence. I walk with pride. I feel exceptionally fortunate, grateful to whatever force cracked my egg before it was too late. I was saved from drowning. (Lucy Sante, I Heard Her Call My Name)

… i feel this sort of gratitude for being able to express myself femininely, though i don’t think i ever felt i was drowning… what i now recognize is that my self expression had been contained in a way that kept me from reaching a point of full happiness with who i was and what i was expressing… the joy that has found me since claiming the right to wear skirts, dresses, flowery things, lipstick, nail polish and all the other feminine things i am excitedly exploring, is enormous… i move through the world with a kind of confidence that i have had only intermittently in the past… the present confidence is much more continuous… i am grateful to a community that has embraced me enthusiastically in my new presentation… this has been decisive in solidifying the confidence i now have to be as i want to be…