"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind."

— Dr. Seuss

"It’s just so great when people call me ‘sir.’ Even after seven years, it still rings a little bell inside my heart. It’s wonderful. It’s something that when I was a little kid, I used to wish for. You know, ‘turn me into a boy’ - Pinocchio. And you never really think it’s possible, but it is possible."

— Griffin Hansbury, on This American Life, after being asked what the biggest thing he has gained in transition. The segment ended with the song “To Sir With Love.”

"The first year, the fashion show felt odd to me, as if we were goading them, crafting a troupe of transgender JonBenéts. But we’ve learned that this desire to strut, vamp, slink, march down the runway in tuille, chiffon, lamé, and feather boas, teetering on go-go boots or towering heels comes from deep inside them—at the core of their identity. We couldn’t squash it if we tried."

—

A dispatch from transgender camp for kids. - By Bedford Hope - Slate Magazine

I took out the second sentence, which said “the truth was stranger than that,” because I dislike the idea of calling this strange.

But man I love this.

"Changing how we see images is clearly one way to change the world."

— bell hooks, from Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies (via revolutionnow)

"Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful."

— Mark Victor Hansen

"When sadness comes, just sit by the side and look at it and say, “I am the watcher, I am not sadness,” and see the difference. Immediately you have cut the very root of sadness. It is no more nourished. It will die of starvation. We feed these emotions by being identified with them."

—

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

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This is a secret of mine in dealing with dysphoria. A lot of people ask me what I do to make dysphoria better. I often talk about things you can do when you aren’t feeling dysphoric to build up yr self-esteem and help increase alignment between yr body and yr mind, but there is something you can do at the time: get all buddhist on it.

You can acknowledge that the dysphoria is there, without identifying with it and letting yrself be consumed by it. The dysphoria does not equal the hurt that comes from dysphoria. Dysphoria is at its root an emotion - our reaction to it is the feeling - the hurt. Learning about buddhist philosophy and psychology has really helped me prepare my mind for the hurdles of both every day life and the difficulties specific to the trans experience. I strongly suggest looking into this and practicing “watching” emotions rather than identifying with them.