So let's begin by suggesting that this is the first time you've ever put on a pair of silk panties. Probably not very likely! Perhaps that may of happened back in elementary school when you were fascinated by the red pair that pretty little girl with the long blonde curls wore under her Easter dress. I guess the point I am trying to make here; is that some of us have been on this path for a long time. Some are just now coming to terms with it, while others are shrugging shoulders and perhaps saying, "If I could only go back." or something else.
I've always been a thinker, analyzing all the 'what if's' that pop into your head. Today, I consider the question I've asked myself often, 'Ok, so now what?'. You've found your way to this site — and an amazing site where there are over 15,000 members and counting, many who offer their guidance and share their stories. Possibly, most ask themselves that same question. The answer is as varied as the person who asks it. We are similar in our journeys and we are individualistic in our pursuits.
I spent most of my teens and early twenties believing I had a sexual fetish for heels and nylons. I loved seeing women wearing them and I loved the rare opportunities I had to wear them myself even more. Just when I thought that was all it was, I bought a dress at a garage sale. I'd seen a similar one on a woman I admired and I had to have it. It wasn't even close to my size, but I paraded around the house in it for an hour before the guilt hit me — I threw it in the trash. 'Ok, so now what?".
While my life moved on - the more I tried to suppress the urges, the worse they got. Until one day I snapped and bought a pair of heels, I found some much needed release. It pretty much stayed that way through my marriage and kids. I found the need to wear women's clothing a sexual gratification for the lack of intimacy in my marriage and my uncontrollable fetish. Then came the divorce and for the first time, I completely immersed myself into being Brina… and I liked it. "Ok, so now what?"
For almost two years, Brina became everything. I lost weight and became obsessed with learning how to walk, do makeup, and dress appropriately. In short, how to be a woman. In a sudden realization and a terrifying moment I asked, "Ok, so now what?". If my ex-wife hadn't stripped me of my self-worth, I might have accepted where I was headed and who I really was, but I didn't. I purged every remnant of Brina and fell in love with a wonderful woman for seven years to prove something. It was beautiful and sad. I never told her and it ate me up. I also stayed true and didn't dress. I didn't need to because we had good relations… until we didn't, and I still didn't dress.
Hindsight is great in helping you connect the dots of your life. After the relationship ended, I fought against Brina until another of those defining moments and I asked the question once more, "Ok, so now what?". I started slowly, just letting Brina have a moment here and there. Although it felt different this time and I knew it! It was ok, I was going to be ok, and Brina was ok too.
The answer had always been there, the internal voice that spoke to me when I needed comfort and support. The part of me that I'd been neglecting, suppressing, and the part of me that was a fragmented individual got my attention. All I really needed was to share my life with Brina. Together, we are stronger, happier, healthier, and a better human being. I have found unity and peace. I had once felt unworthy. Now I understand worth isn't in the perception that others have in the clothes I wear or material possessions, but simply in me liking the reflection in the mirror and in my compassion for others.
"Ok, so now what?" the question rises once again! I really don't have a definitive answer. I can tell you that lots of self-reflection has helped me to see how the disjointed parts of my life have finally begun to merge in a way that makes some sense of all this. This is who I am and I will proudly walk this path forward and deal with the consequences that inevitably will come as a result of it. I like the person that I am becoming and I don't ever want to deny any part of myself ever again. The future will only continue to allow me to evolve into who the person I am supposed to be. I will never stop asking ot growing as I forever ponder on "Ok, so now what?"
