Whole

Men and women are really not all that different and when you allow for individual traits you realize that we are talking about minor divergences. Much of the time we are dealing with issues of socialization instead of the deeply innate.

Living as I do has allowed me to see this up close with one of the more remarkable differences is the way women relate to each other. They tend to be more open but then this has been encouraged in them versus what was discouraged in males. Men of my father's generation, for example,  were encouraged to be more stoic and stiff upper lip to a point where some were deeply lonely.

I am always myself and aside from allowing certain mannerisms to flourish that I had suppressed, I have understood that my essential core was always the same and that I wasn't putting on a costume or a fake persona. It can take time to learn where one resides on the expression and identity axis without sufficient field testing and introspection. For me it became increasingly clear that I wasn't two distinct characters but in fact only one.

My conclusion is that our core is entirely independent of what we wear or what we do to our bodies. While I acknowledge and respect all decisions made by people to improve their chances to blend successfully into the world as who they feel they are, it is that internal journey that will ultimately provide us the answer about what steps to take.

No matter where one resides within the human mosaic, our authenticity is a highly personal one which should mature along with everything else about us into wholeness; very much what I see youth trying to do right now where there is no hidden other life because they don't need one.