Congratulations Jasmine!Β My employer has done all they could to make me feel at home to.Β Good change is happening.
Last week, I had requested to meet with my HR department as I'm in transition and I'll have to live full time as female for a year before my therapist will recommend me for for srs. I haven't mentioned to anyone that I was doing this. I feared that the entire department would look at me and cast judgement amd male things hard. Long story short, last Friday, I came to work as Samantha amd had my meeting as Samantha and I was welcomed without any fear. My immediate boss even welcomed me. I'm so glad I decided to take that huge step and it jas been such a relief. I'm able to be Samantha and it feels amazing.
Hi Samantha,
That is amazing news to hear. Any time I hear about a company embracing someone who is in transition my heart leaps for joy. I admire your courage and wish you well on the rest of your journey. Love β€οΈ and hugs π€
Danielle ππ
This is awesome news Jasmine,
I wish I had seen this sooner than now. Been busy and have not kept up.
Best Wishes to you, you are so brave.
-Terri Anne
I found the same support at my employer.Β We need to consider ourselves blessed in that regard as many do not have this same experience, but things are changing.Β For anyone reading this, if your employer has an Employee Assistance Program or equivalent they are an even better place to start than HR as they can help you understand policies and resources before anyone at your company needs to know.Β Just remember HR represents everyone including your boss and is there to try and strike the balance.Β EAP's are there to help you balance your personal and work life.
Hugs, Cloe
I once read an anecdote, true story, allegedly, about a marriage in which the man was a drinker. Not an alcoholic, necessarily, but a drinker. With time and effort, his wife weaned him from the bottle β¦ and then discovered he was a far less interesting person.
We tend to think in terms of black and white. Why, I donβt know. Perhaps itβs the security that comes with bold boundaries. Admittedly, we need a secure foundation in order to venture into uncharted territory; thatβs the way human beings seem to function. We are hopeless, arenβt we. π
Personally, I interact better on line when Iβve had a few. It sort of washes away the crap that pollutes the ordinary mental conversation that goes on continually. Thank Goddess for alcohol.
I want to be Lacey Chabert. For those of you unfamiliar with the actress, she makes movies for the Hallmark Channel. She is so feminine.
Sometimes you just have to laugh. I look at what we were saddled with as a birth defect β not the fact that weβre female, but the fact that we got the wrong body for who we are. Itβs a pretty profound defect, but there are others as profound as ours. I think of Stephen Hawking and Helen Keller. These are two people who could be forgiven for just sitting on the sofa and drinking themselves into oblivion; but, instead, they went on to accomplish more than most unafflicted people do. Keller in particular amazes me. Despite her disabilities, she became bilingual. Itβs unimaginable. When trans people start feeling sorry for themselves, I think about Helen Keller. No matter what I achieve in my life, no matter how much I overcome, I will never be the woman she was. What an inspiration she is.
Trans women are so beautiful. I didnβt realize this, before coming out to myself. Before coming out to myself, I saw only the flaws, the ways we didnβt measure up. Now, I see the heart. I love my sisters. Their beauty does not rest in their conformity to cis norms, but in their fidelity to who they are, to their vision, and their attempt to be true to it.
Some time ago, after I had come out to myself but before I was presenting full-time, I was working for Walmart when I was approached by a trans woman for assistance. She may have only been a crossdresser; I donβt know. She was obviously not a cis woman; but she was beautiful. She took my breath away. I pray that I might always have such courage, because passing is so elusive. For so many trans women, passing is the be-all and end-all of existence; and the fact of the matter is, some of us will never pass. This Amazon didnβt pass; but she was beautiful. I wanted to fall at her feet and tell her so. We, too, can be beautiful; itβs more a matter of personal pride and integrity than anything else.
Although we are the constant victims of social injustice, I hope we never allow ourselves to become ensnared by the idea that politics is the answer to our problems. Power games have little to do with real life. Real life has to do with relations between people, one-on-one. This must have been true in the Soviet Union, and must be true in China today. It must also be true with us. Iβm not saying we should dismiss the political scene; itβs real, and it affects us. But I do say that it shouldnβt be our primary focus. The will of the individual, as expressed in the vote, means very little; the whole system has been co-opted and corrupted by interests more powerful than we will ever be. We better serve our own best interests when we take food to a suffering neighbor, volunteer at a local charity, or help some individual in distress. Trans women are beautiful; suffering has made us so. Let suffering flower into compassion, rather than bitterness. All human beings suffer. We suffer in our way, they suffer in theirs. Itβs all the same.
I thank heaven that Iβm a woman. In any form, in any guise, with whatever attendant hardship, I get to be me. Cis people will never get this about us. I donβt know what cosmic plan made people like us possible. I donβt know what purpose it serves for us to be as we are. But I thank heaven Iβm a woman, any kind of woman, because itβs who I am, and who I must be.
Iβm having outpatient surgery on Monday. Iβd be grateful for prayers, or any kind thoughts.
For what itβs worth.
Thank you for sharing this. I am happier for you than I can possibly express.
Women of every kind have to put up with so much B.S., just to get by. It's wonderful that you have this kind of support.
Help your sisters.
I marvel and yearn to emulate those that just one day show up at work as a woman. Just to be you come what may takes guts. "This is who I am and I'm putting it out there" That is an inner strength and spirit I can't conceive of. Nothing but awe and admiration for you