The Long Way 'Round

Not feeling particularly confident today. Not felt this way in a while... Second time I am meeting a new potential client since I've started living full time. Of course I wasn't expecting rainbows and butterflies, that's not how the real world works. Several weeks ago I went to meet a potential new client. I could tell right away that the project manager seemed somewhat confrontational, almost belligerent. I marshaled on, and met the team who I hit it off with. The project was well within my wheelhouse. Now I've been turned down before for gigs -- usually you get back some line like "we don't think the skill sets match" or "we decided to go with someone else". This client made *certain* to send back this response: "Not Interested" Cold. It just threw me for a loop. I tried to get more detail, but to no avail. I'm not one to just ascribe events to who or what I am. When you grow up Jewish you learn to deflect thi...

Like the pine trees lining the winding road I got a name, I got a name Like the singing bird and the croaking toad I got a name, I got a name And I'm gonna go there free I've Got a Name -Jim Croce I've had my femme name since I was 4-5 years old. It became part of my identity. It does  not  even closely match the name my parents gave to me at birth. Some trans-women choose to feminize their male name. I've never understood that. I wouldn't even be bringing this up except it comes up repeated from friend and acquaintances who have known me as "him". The conversation goes something like this: You could have kept the name 'xxxxx', it is a girls name too now days. That is true, I technically could have… Here is thing though… Transitioning is about more than just changing gender presentation, its about resolving the conflict between societal expectations and one’s true authentic self. If you think about it for a moment, the name we...