There’s nothing more important in this world than finding people who get you. Not just in a casual way, but in the deep, unspoken way that only another trans person can. The kind of friend who knows what it feels like to stare in the mirror and not recognize yourself, to fight against a body that feels like it’s never fully been yours, to carry the weight of every doubt and every cruel thought that tells you you’ll never be enough.
And on the bad days—the really bad ones—that’s when having someone like that matters the most. Because when I feel like I’m slipping, when the dysphoria sinks its claws into me and whispers that I’ll never get there, that I’ll always be stuck in between, I don’t need someone to give me empty reassurances. I don’t need someone to tell me “it’ll be okay” when they’ve never felt this kind of ache in their bones. I need a friend who knows. Someone who can just be there, who will sit beside me in silence until I’m ready to speak, or hold my hand without making a big deal out of it. Someone who doesn’t try to fix me because they know I’m not broken.
And finding those people? It’s everything. Because before, I thought I was alone. I thought no one else felt the way I did, that maybe I was wrong for even wanting this. But then I met them—the ones who had been through it too, the ones who had the same struggles and the same fears. And suddenly, the weight wasn’t quite as heavy. The road wasn’t quite as lonely.
So if you don’t have that friend yet, I promise you, they’re out there. Someone who will hold space for you when you can’t hold it for yourself. Someone who will remind you, on the worst days, that you do belong. That you are real. That you are enough.