Worth the wait

As miserable and stressful as it was to be unemployed for eleven months, it was worth the wait to get this job. I could not have asked for a better job or a better group of people to work with. I feel more at home and more appreciated here after just three weeks than I did at my old job after working there for nine years. It’s such a joy to look forward to going to work again and to be part of a team and feel productive. I guess it’s true that good things come to those who wait. And I feel like I’m starting to recover from all the stress of the past year, and that I’m moving forward again. It’s difficult to think about how there were so many times when I lost hope and felt like I wasn’t going to make it. I never thought I would ever reach such a dark place and that I could feel so hopeless. In some ways I feel more vulnerable because I reached such a low point, but in other ways I feel stronger for having survived it. I’m certainly not the person I was a year ago.

I’ve had to go back to guy mode for work, which has been tough, but I’m very confident that coming out at work when I’m ready to go full-time won’t be an issue at all. I work with good people who are all very open-minded and genuinely care about me, so I know they’ll be supportive when I do come out. The one person I had reservations about, only because I hadn’t known her before, was my direct supervisor, but as I’ve gotten to know her I feel that she’ll also be fine with it. We were talking earlier this week and she happened to mention that there was a transsexual at one of the other campuses, and it was no big deal at all to her, so that made me feel better. And there is a single occupant bathroom close by, so that won’t be an issue. One of the ladies I work with has said a couple of times that she’s jealous of my hair (her hair is gorgeous and I’d die to have hair like hers!), and we always compare hair clips, which makes me laugh because I was so worried about my hair being an issue in getting hired, but it’s not been an issue at all. I’ve even worn my hair down a few times and nothing has been said. So, I feel like all the pieces seem to be falling into place for me to come out at work when the time is right, which I’m thinking may be early next year.